Vendor won't clear property

chappers

It is clear that no one wants these items so they should not be part of a fixtures and fittings list, maybe next time I sell ahouse i can just put 20 black bin bags of rubbish on the F&F and the buyer will just have to accept them. The vendor whether elderly or not is just trying to palm his junk off on the purchaser, if he has people helping him with the sale then they can help him with the removal of his junk.
I would suggest that your solicitor asks for a retention above and beyond the actual amount of disposal, to encourage them to clear the property.
All that being said don't cut your nose off to spite your face

andy.m_2

The vendor will no doubt say that the price accepted was based on the FF&E, you wanted the items removed, you could have paid more.
Most definitely it's a git but in each and every house I've bought and sold there has been items left that we wanted to remove but just ran out of time/effort.
Its almost an occupational hazard of house buying and selling, more so as usually you dont find out this information until after exchange!

With our last house we were in a similar situation to you and we managed to get a cash payment of £350 from the vendor for a skip and a man for a day.

There are a ton of charity shops or boot sellers that will come and clear the place for you for free, dont make it a big issue

kwmlondon

You could agree to organise a house clearance company on their behalf. Deduct the cost of that from the sale of the house and then pay for it to be done between the exchange of contracts and completion. The risk to you would be low as, once you've exchanged contracts, you are both obliged to complete the sale anyway. Also, we're talking about £100 or so, not much when taking into account the money flying around buying a house.

chappers

kwmlondon wrote: »

. Also, we're talking about £100 or so,

Are you sure about that? a skip on the street is over £350 where I live

kwmlondon

chappers wrote: »

Are you sure about that? a skip on the street is over £350 where I live

No, I'm not sure at all, but I seem to remember seeing a house-clearance for £100 card at a newsagent once but I could not be sure. However, it's got to be worth looking into. Could the EA not get some quotes? It's well in their interests to do some brokering on the issue.

hannhol

The problem we're having is as far as we're aware, the EA have been brokering with us on this. We've spoken to them more than once about this and they have told us that the "local charity shop are on standby".

It's not just a case of furniture, there is a gas cooker that would need to be safely disconnected (I may not have made this clear in my original post) which will cost us. However it's not just a case of cost, but also time, again for various reasons I can't go into, it is extremely difficult for us to take the time to supervise a house clearance, at what might be quite short notice.

kwmlondon, that is a very helpful suggestion, I will suggest that to my OH.

DRP

hannhol wrote: »

We are in the process of buying a property and there are a number of furniture and miscellaneous items in it, including white goods and a number of pieces of bulky furniture (double beds, wardrobes etc) and personal items (including two zimmer frames).

We have made it clear all along that we do not want to keep these items and we want the property cleared prior to completion (and ideally prior to exchange). However on the fixture and fittings form it states that the furniture will remain (and does not cover the many smaller items).

What recourse do we have to insist they clear the property? I appreciate we cannot make them, but since one of us would have to, at a minimum, take some time off work to supervise a house clearance, could we knock a bit of money off our asking price.

The seller has really dragged the process out so far, and we're getting a bit fed up with constantly accommodating them.

Grateful for any thoughts, even if it is just there is nothing to be done!

Either offer to go halves on a skip/house clearance company/van hire or if you want to play hardball , tell them to do it.

Your leverage is that you won't exchange until it is done.

LisaLou1982

hannhol wrote: »

The problem we're having is as far as we're aware, the EA have been brokering with us on this. We've spoken to them more than once about this and they have told us that the "local charity shop are on standby".

It's not just a case of furniture, there is a gas cooker that would need to be safely disconnected (I may not have made this clear in my original post) which will cost us. However it's not just a case of cost, but also time, again for various reasons I can't go into, it is extremely difficult for us to take the time to supervise a house clearance, at what might be quite short notice.

kwmlondon, that is a very helpful suggestion, I will suggest that to my OH.

Is it a case of time or money OP?
If its money, ask for the vendor to pay for it and you can get the
agent to organise it for you. Ask them to give you a key undertaking between exchange and completion, get the clearance company to collect the key and let them get on with it. Likewise, ask the agent to get a gas man in to disconnect the cooker. It doesnt cost much, and you dont need to be there. If the house is empty (bar the furniture!) then its not like it needs to be a convenient time or anything.

The above will solve the time and money issue for you

andy.m_2

on street skip can be free from the council if you get 6 names.
Gas cooker disconnection is as simple as unscrewing a lightbulb.
Try not to start your new home adventure with a sour taste and don't over estiate exactly what's involved in getting the place empty.

As unsavoury as all this is to you, in a couple of weeks you will have forgotten all about it and will recall the incident humourously at dinner parties.

martinsurrey

andy.m wrote: »

As unsavoury as all this is to you, in a couple of weeks you will have forgotten all about it and will recall the incident humourously at dinner parties.

They must be some WILD dinner parties!