What to include in house sale

beecher2

googler wrote: »

Exactly. In Scotland, this is all decided at the time of offer, and the inclusions and exclusions are specified in the offer letter, and defined by a combination of EA brochure, standard clauses, and the content of the letter.

In E&W, they tentatively agree a price, with no firm decision on entry date, and no firm decision on what's included in or excluded from the sale.

Have no idea why E&W don't follow our system - there's no need for it be so complicated, and seems such a high level of mistrust in dealings.

System

I would leave the blinds as they prob won't fit the windows at your new place and the buyer may have a similar situation at their current place. Plus it gives them privacy for a few weeks and months until they replace them with something they like.

When my parents moved, they left all the curtains and blinds as none of them fitted the windows of their property they moved into.

onlyroz

When my husband bought his flat the vendor even unscrewed the light switches and took them with him.

Niv

onlyroz wrote: »

When my husband bought his flat the vendor even unscrewed the light switches and took them with him.

I think that might be illegal assuming they didnt replace them with basic cheapo ones.

Feel free to correct me if I am wrong here people!

Niv

googler

Niv wrote: »

I think that might be illegal assuming they didnt replace them with basic cheapo ones.

In a Scottish sale, removal of items from the major 'systems' in the house (plumbing, heating, gas, electric etc) which leave it non-functional to a major degree are a breach of contract terms, and would leave the seller open to penalties.

googler

beecher2 wrote: »

Have no idea why E&W don't follow our system - there's no need for it be so complicated, and seems such a high level of mistrust in dealings.

If the folks in E&W are unhappy with it, they should lobby their MP for change.

However, the current or recently previous housing minister (Grant Shapps?) stated in parliament or in committee that the E&W system was fine, and didn't need any change to rid it of gazumping, gazundering and the like.

googler

pinkteapot wrote: »

I wouldn't rely on the EA details.

There's no reason why you can't, if the contract states that the inclusions will be as per the advertised details. Again, standard practice in Scotland that inclusions and exclusions are detailed in the brochure/schedule for the property, and the standard contract terms allow that these will be deemed to be as per the schedule.

After offers are accepted and conveyancing starts, the vendor will fill out a Fixtures and Fittings form for their solicitor which details everything like this. That's the document that the buyer can rely on after completion if the seller takes something that they said they were leaving.

I realise I've stated this before, but isn't it a bit bizarre to be offering a set price for a house without being clear on what's included and excluded from the sale, i.e. without knowing truly what you're paying for?

pinkteapot

googler wrote: »

I realise I've stated this before, but isn't it a bit bizarre to be offering a set price for a house without being clear on what's included and excluded from the sale, i.e. without knowing truly what you're paying for?

We ask about fixtures and fittings when viewing. When we make an offer, we say £XXX including all carpets, curtains, the shed (and anything else we want).

TBagpuss

I would expect all except the blinds to be left, as the appliances are integrated and the wardrobe fitted.

As a vendor, I would almost certainly leave the blinds as it's unlikely they'll fit a new property, and removing them would be a faff! But as a buyer I wouldn't be particularly surprised if you took them.

phoebe1989seb

I agree with those posters that have said expect everything except the blinds to be left, although fitted ones are unlikely - unless moving to a very similar (ie Victorian bay windows) property - to fit.

We have usually taken curtains as these have been chosen to compliment our particular style of furniture/decoration and tend to be fabrics no longer in production. Because we have a collection of that type of furniture we will decorate in the same style/colour schemes wherever we move to. The buyers of our last house wanted our living room curtains (from a double-height bay window), offering to buy them when we said at the second viewing that they weren't included, but we declined as to us they were irreplaceable. Even though they were way too long and wide for the windows in this house I knew I'd be able to cut them down and make enough for the two windows in our sitting room here

Made-to-measure blinds we have always left though.......