"Draft" particulars

bylromarha

Wondering if you can help.

We're buying a house. Our offer was accepted in November. The house had been on the market since September.

Both the draft particulars and Rightmove state (d) it is a kitchen with a freestanding gas range double oven.

We have a hard copy of the draft particulars - it was sent through with acceptance of confirmation of the offer. The Rightmove link now only has bare bones details and under offer. Property Bee tells me this change happened today, but I can find no link of the previous description.

We have finally received the fixtures and fittings form today and the oven has been ticked as not included in the sale.

I was always under the impression that the particulars formed part of the contract - it should have said " kitchen with a space for freestanding gas range double oven" if it was never intended to be part of the sale.

Our concern is we can no longer use Rightmove to show this is how it was advertised and the particulars say Draft, despite being sent to us 2 months after the property had been on the market with them and with the offer accepted letter.

So where do we go from here?

TBagpuss

You can go back and point out that the oven was included in the particualrs and seek to negotiate either that it remains, or that the price is adjusted.

It's possible that the seller ticked the wrong box.

If they won't shift, then you can decide whether this is a deal-breaker for you. Nothing is binding on either side until you exchange contracts.

jbainbridge

I can see why you would feel like you've been done - was it ever discussed with the vendor?

I'd probably contact the EA and discuss it with them first. Then price up a replacement - then negotioate from there.

googler

Surely the particulars can only form part of the contract when in finalised form. Since those you received were in draft form....

anselld

There is no contract until contracts are exchanged. Until that point everything is negotiable.

pinkteapot

You're not in Scotland, are you? If you are then different rules apply.

Assuming England/Wales - I've never relied on estate agent details, only the Property Information Form and Fixtures and Fittings form from the solicitor.

Phone the EA and say you had thought the oven was included as it was on the particulars and you're not happy. You can try to renegotiate the price a bit if you want, or say you want the oven included at the price you originally agreed.

If the seller says 'no' and wants you to pay the original price and not have the oven, your options are limited. You can either go ahead or pull out. Unfortunately, the reality is that with all the costs you'll have incurred so far it's usually cheaper to go ahead and replace the oven yourself than pull out and look for a different house.

We got our F&F list just before we exchanged and found that the sellers were taking most of the curtains. We'd completely forgotten to ask about curtains on viewing, or mention them when we made our offer. We want the house badly enough that we're lumping it and are having to buy new curtains for a LOT of large windows.

Yorkie1

As others have said, if it's a removable cooker (i.e. not built-in) then unless you specifically included the cooker as part of the conditions of your offer, then you can't assume it will be part of the sale.

It's only when you get the F&F form that you find out the situation.

Unfortunately it's common for things to be mentioned on particulars and not included on the F&F form.