Fixtures, Fittings and Contents List

donbob

Hi all

I have had the fixtures, fittings and contents list through for our house purchase. The sellers have stated that they are planning to take some, but not all of the Trees, plants and shrubs from the garden. Can they legally do this? I have asked for more information from the agent.

Also they have included some carpets within the sale that we do not want, are we within our rights to ask them to remove them when they leave?

As an aside can they seller legally exclude everything on the list from sale, for example the list includes full central heating system and double glazing? Could this be excluded by the seller if they so wished?

Thanks for any info.

bryanb

They own the plants and can do as they wish with them , it's nice they have informed you.
You can ask them to remove carpets, but they might not
Don't think they can exclude CH & double glazing.
Make sure you agree before exchange

Doozergirl

1. Yes if it's in that form.

2. It's not the done thing but I suppose you could.

3. If it is included in the estate agents description then it should be included in the sale which is why they may often refer to a space for a washing machine rather than the actual washing machine. Why you're even asking a question like that I'm not sure but they could exclude anything but it would have to be in that form; therefore it would be agreed by you as part of the contract.

House purchaess and what goes into them is all part of the negotiation of the deal it's not about whether it's 'legal'. There are no laws saying what has to be included in a house sale - what for? If you want something, you negotiate it, if you don't then you negotiate that too.

donbob

Thanks for answering the questions posed, much appreciated.

db

purplebuzz

donbob wrote: »

Hi all

I have had the fixtures, fittings and contents list through for our house purchase. The sellers have stated that they are planning to take some, but not all of the Trees, plants and shrubs from the garden. Can they legally do this? I have asked for more information from the agent.

Thanks for any info.

I have just completed this form for the house which we are selling, and I tried to include as much information as possible (in the extra details section) about anything which wasn't just a standard included.

For example the section about the garden, I wrote that we would be taking all the 'potted' plants and trees etc and leaving anything which was planted in the garden.

Could this be a similar situation to your vendor.

cattie

The seller's of the house I bought 18 months ago indicated on the form that they would be digging up & taking some bushes from the garden. Frankly, I was more than surprised as it's the first time a seller has ever done this. I thought it was really rather petty, but it turned out on completion that petty was quite an apt desciption for these particular sellers.

Soot2006

Depends on the plants ...
When my family moved when I was a kid, we took the fruit trees, the more valuable rose bushes and toparies. We took grafts from some of our larger favourite bushes & trees so they may live on in the new house ...

Welshwoofs

cattie wrote: »

The seller's of the house I bought 18 months ago indicated on the form that they would be digging up & taking some bushes from the garden. Frankly, I was more than surprised as it's the first time a seller has ever done this. I thought it was really rather petty, but it turned out on completion that petty was quite an apt desciption for these particular sellers.

If you're a keen gardener and have some hard-to-grow specimens which would be difficult/costly to replace there's no reason for you to leave them. You can easily pay hundreds (in some cases, thousands) of pounds for good specimen trees/bushes so they're as much of an asset as anything else

donbob

I'm happy to let them take the plants, trees and shrubs within reason. The form provided no detail as to which plants they are planning to take. I have asked for clarification on this point.

They are keen gardeners so it was to be expected I suppose.

Thanks for all answers

Richard_Webster

Plants are in the ground and therefore legally go with the property. Free standing appliances are chattels and are not part of the property and would not be included unless specifically agreed.

These lists were produced because there are a lot of technical differences between what is a fixture (which passes with the property unless otherwise agreed) and a fitting, which does not. So put everything in a list that anyone would think could be either and then the seller can choose. OK, most people don't take central heating radiators, and if they did, the buyer would probably make a huge fuss, but in theory they could.

Years ago my father in law sold a house and removed a street light type light in the front garden. That was before these lists became common. The buyer said it was a fixture and he had to reinstate it. My FIL probably didn't realise that it was a fixture but it would have been caught by "outside lights" on a modern list and he would have to have said that he was taking it and the buyer would have then been stuck with accepting the position.

donbob

Richard

Can