Bought flat only to find seller has taken the lawn!

PasturesNew

Whatever you decide.... don't let the grass grow under your feet

tim123456789

thelem wrote: »

Did you ever agree that the lawn was included in the sale? I think this falls under caveat emptor, and if the lawn/garden was important to you then you should have asked your solicitors to list it specifically.

I'm pretty sure that there is a place on the inventory list that the seller fills in for Garden.

It will depend upon what he put here what liability there is.

I've no idea what will be the assumption if he left it blank

tim

pinkshoes

Taking the lawn is a bit like taking an internal wall - ridiculous!

If it was mentioned in the sale details, then talk to your solicitor. I'd expect the vendor to pay for a landscape gardener to put it back to how it was.

mysterywoman10

Can't add much more to the comments above, unbelivable that someone should do it, and all of us thinking of buying somewhere will be making sure it's on the Inventory for the future!!

I can understand taking specific plants, my OH collects specific species and we will be making it clear from the offset to any prospective buyer what we intend on taking and make sure it's clearly defined on the legal documents.

I'm sure your solicitor will be able to help with this though, let us know what they say and good luck with it.

hawk30

thelem wrote: »

Did you ever agree that the lawn was included in the sale? I think this falls under caveat emptor, and if the lawn/garden was important to you then you should have asked your solicitors to list it specifically.

A lawn would be classed as a fixture and so is assumed as being left unless the seller had told the buyer in the fixture and fittings list. The buyer may have the right to take the seller to court for this. OP - speak to your conveyancer.

zzzLazyDaisy

It is my understanding that garden plants (and presumably therefore lawns) are part of the fixtures and fittings of the property and must be left by the seller UNLESS they have expressly stated on the F&F form that they are taking them.

This conveyancing website seems to agree with this view

http://www.sp-law.co.uk/Residential_Conveyancing

You should speak to the conveyancing solicitor first thing. Hopefully a strongly worded letter from your solicitor to theirs should resolve the issue. At the very least they will (should) get some robust advice from their solicitor.

Soot2006

As above

+ with some luck it won't survive the move and they'll have to pay for a new lawn for themselves as well as your replacement lawn.

purt

Why on earth (excuse the pun) would you want to take a lawn? I guess it would save you money in the new place, but the hassle of removing it would surely be prohibitive (although clearly not in this instance!)

paddy's_mum

That little note they left may be their undoing since it clearly demonstrates that they knew they were behaving unreasonably (to the point of outrageous in my view).

Whatever next ... 'Dear Buyer, I've left the toilet pan but I've taken the section of pipe that connects it to the sewer' ...!

I'd be onto their solicitor in the morning and if I hadn't had the garden reinstated at their cost and to a professional standard within 14 days, my next call would be to the Small Claims Court.

The mind boggles as to what justification they had come up with in their own thinking to justify going so stridently against the natural justice of sale and purchase. Good luck.

ElleBR

Thanks all - glad to see that it's not just me who finds it a bit unreasonable! I've made an appointment to visit my solicitor first thing Monday morning, so will let you know what they say!

Googler, the property is in England.

I'm just annoyed because I've been nothing but accommodating to the sellers during the whole process.

It was a popular property - there was a queue down the street to view - and I was one of 5 people who offered full asking price on the very first day it came on the market last September. Luckily, I was a cash buyer thanks to a small inheritance, so they chose my offer, saying that they were ready to move and hoped to complete by November.

It then turned out that actually, they hadn't even started looking for a flat, and the story then changed every few weeks as to why they couldn't move yet, until I put my foot down in January and said we needed to set a date. Then, the day we were meant to exchange, they instructed their solicitor not to do so because they wanted to take a three day trip over what would be the completion date. We then had to reschedule the entire process (costing me money due to a last minute cancelled removal and hotel bills), and eventually completed last Friday.

So as you can see, walking into the property to find the lawn gone just seemed like a real slap in the face after the difficulties they've caused throughout the entire move.

They also offered me the fridge and washing machine (both 6 years old) for £600 each, which I obviously declined, so I'm guessing they're just trying to squeeze every last penny from the flat - at my expense!