Fixtures & Fittings

wilberf0rce

Hi All

As part of the purchase price of the house I am buying we have agreed a figure of £5,500 for F&F. I've been advised to get the F&F valued professionally, but have no idea who/what kind of company to get to do this, has anyone any experience of this?

We are purchasing the house for £250,000, and would probably need back up for HMRC to prove we are not avoiding Stamp Duty........

Thanks

sirmosh

I don't think you need a professional, just look at what is being left and find out how much it would cost to replace with a similar second hand item. If you look at what HMRC say are acceptable chattels to pay for then you'll probably find it hard to justify £5,000.

cattie

Exactly what is it you are buying? Anything above 50% of value of items would probably be disputed by HMRC as they will be considered 2nd hand.

wilberf0rce

The current owner has custom made fitted wardrobes in the bedrooms, and lounge/diner (he does this for a living).
They have recently replaced the upsatirs bathroom suite (more custom made cupboards in here) and downstairs loo (more cupboards here) among other things.......

It doesn't sound much but they are of a very good quality......

hazyjo

Sounds like they should already be included in the sale price to me! If they're fitted, they're fitted (ie staying!).

Jx

GAH

No matter how good the quality of the cupboards, If that is it, It would still be difficult to justify £5,500 worth.

LandyAndy

wilberf0rce wrote: »

The current owner has custom made fitted wardrobes in the bedrooms, and lounge/diner (he does this for a living).
They have recently replaced the upsatirs bathroom suite (more custom made cupboards in here) and downstairs loo (more cupboards here) among other things.......

It doesn't sound much but they are of a very good quality......

I would have said the realistic value of those items as chattels is exactly £NIL.

Is it any different to having £1000 a roll wallpaper on the walls?

sirmosh

HMRC say those things are subject to SDLT - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/sdltmanual/sdltm04010.htm

Gra76

I'd say anything that was 'fitted' should come as part of the sale price to be honest. If they are trying to sell you custom made fitted wardrobes on top of the price of the house just tell them they are welcome to remove them.

You'll probably find that the owners will change their mind about how much they want for them as it sounds like it'll take them a while to remove it all.

I'd be argueing the case that fitted wardrobes are specific to that house and they should have included them within the sale price of the property anyway. White goods and curtains etc I can understand, but fitted wardrobes seems a bit like they're just trying to get as much money from you as possible.

cattie

I once paid extra for items including fitted wardrobes in bedrooms, but only because I really didn't want to lose the place & there was another buyer ready to step into my shoes at a higher price if I pulled out. But this was before HMRC brought in steps to limit what could be sold as f&f and how much the vendor could reasonably ask.

As it's all fitted furniture, the vendor will struggle to get it passed. I can understand that the selling of these items is to increase the price that they get for the property & fair enough that they have agreed at £250k to help you out with the stamp duty threshold & for the extra to be paid as f&f. However, a better route is for the furniture not to be described as fitted and to make mention of such things as carpets, curtains, cooker etc, which are allowable items to be passed by HMRC.

Not sure if you mean bathroom suite etc were to be included in f&f, only these would definitely not be allowed.

LandyAndy

wilberf0rce wrote: »

Hi All

As part of the purchase price of the house I am buying we have agreed a figure of £5,500 for F&F. I've been advised to get the F&F valued professionally, but have no idea who/what kind of company to get to do this, has anyone any experience of this?

We are purchasing the house for £250,000, and would probably need back up for HMRC to prove we are not avoiding Stamp Duty........

Thanks

It is very unlikely that your solicitor will let you do anything that would fall foul of the law, for obvious reasons. What have they said about this?