Fixtures and fittings

chaskins

Hi,

We have just moved home and on the fixtures and fittings list the light fittings were marked as included in the sale. However when we moved in the vendor had replaced all 5 light fittings with a pendant (light buld on the end of a wire) . Not only that but left holes in the ceiling where the screws had been and also installed the pendants off centre so you can see the plasterboard underneath and so it looks a mess.

Where do we stand? I have informed my solicitor who has written to the vendors solicitor but this was 3 weeks ago and still no reply. Should I take this matter further or just take it on the chin and get new light fittings installed and the damage repaired?

Cheers

Chris

chickmug

Sellers who capable of carrying out this deceipt will not pay up. Seen it many many times.

So my advice is forget it and move on.

Enjoy your new house.

gemstars

Just out of interest, could a buyer ask to view the house again the day before completion just to make sure that everything was as they expected? or is that not the done thing?

princessamy86

Yes, plenty of buyers do this, but I would recommend viewing before exchange as well as you have more chance of doing something about it! It's particularly common with repossessions, as people want to check that nothing has deteriorated internally.

cattie

If you don't get a reply you'll just have to take it on the chin. It's too costly to think about taking them to court over such a small amount of money & any decent solicitor will advise you so.

Legally, vendors can take light fittings as long as they are replaced by a pendant fitting & unfortunately many vendor's can be very sly in saying that they will leave certain fixtures, fittings & other items, only to take them with them when they move.

I had the opposite problem, disgusting items such as a grease encrusted cooker & other pure junk left behind, when I'd made a point of stating that I wished these items to be removed before completion. My solicitor wrote to them, but it brought no joy, only a very pompous letter from the sly old fools I bought the house from.

tbs624

chaskins wrote: »

... take it on the chin and get new light fittings installed and the damage repaired?...

Best course of action. Lousy behaviour by the vendor but trying to follow this one up will cost you in terms of time, energy and money. Tell yourself the light fittings were utter "carp" & lousy taste anyway and concentrate on enjoying the rest of your new home. Some things are worth the hassle, but in the grand scheme of things, a few light fittings and a bit of polyfilla & some emulsion probably aren't.

gemstars

ooh I'd be tempted not to forward on their mail or anything if this happened to me!

MrsMillar

Not exactly same situation as us, but we had told vendor that we didn't want her light fittings (didn't like them at all). But she took them without leaving a replacement (our solicitor said she should have left a basic fitting for us, but it wasn't worth pursuing).

Vendor also left the house really dirty (thank god I'd already booked cleaners to go in), with rubbish lying around and her unwanted furniture that we've now got to get rid of.

I'd have been embarrassed to pass my house on in that state. It really took away the excitement of completing. But we'll just get on with it and make the place our lovely home one day.......

not_loaded

cattie wrote: »

…Legally, vendors can take light fittings as long as they are replaced by a pendant fitting & unfortunately many vendor's can be very sly in saying that they will leave certain fixtures, fittings & other items, only to take them with them when they move…

No. Incorrect.

The vendors complete a fixtures and fittings form which defines unambiguously what is and isn’t ‘in the price’. No matter what they may say during viewings the F&F form rules.

I agree that overall it probably isn’t worth pursuing though.

Were they super duper light fittings chaskins?

superfran_uk

Our vendors said they were taking the light fittings...they took two 'shades' but left the fittings which must have cost a fortune! They also said they were taking the sky dish and left that too, and all carpets, blinds etc stayed too. We were very lucky.

If it had been the other way round however, it would have been annoying BUT at least we'd have been able to justify new ones to our exact taste. The light fitting in the conservatory is UGLY but according to the screwfix catalogue it cost £150 so we're keeping it rather than replace it with something cheap - which is all we can afford right now!

Fire_Fox

superfran_uk wrote: »

If it had been the other way round however, it would have been annoying BUT at least we'd have been able to justify new ones to our exact taste. The light fitting in the conservatory is UGLY but according to the screwfix catalogue it cost £150 so we're keeping it rather than replace it with something cheap - which is all we can afford right now!

Sell it on eBay or Gumtree?