Rubbish removal from a house i sold

Tasha1972

We sold our house 5 weeks ago,we ckeaned it thoroughly and left it in a very nice condition,i even cut the grass fir them.however we left 3 mirrors,a radiator and old bike and a small peice of glass in the car port as we ran out of time to move.Didnt think anything of it but after a week got an email from the vendors solicitors to say could we come and move the rubbish.i was gobsmacked as it was only a handful of things and i thought why cant they just take it to the local skip? When we moved into the house it had so much rubbish me and mu husband cleared it ourselves.so i emailed my solicitor to say that we have not got time and that they could go to the skip with it.thought this would be the last of it.Another week later i get another email saying that if we dont move the rubbish they want £100 for a skip and compensation.At this point my pateince was bearing very thin!!!! So again i replied back saying we are not coming to move this so called rubbish! I didnt hear anything once again for another two weeks,to my horror yesterday i get another email from the solicitor saying that they now want £150 pounds to get the rubbish removed and that we are in breach of contract.My husband is fuming he replied back saying that we are not moving any rubbish and that if they want to take us to court so be it! My qustion is will this stand in court? Are these people being petty and what should i do?

libf

If you didn't clean up, then the buyers are quite within their rights to do this. Why should they have to do it because you can't be bothered?

Pixie5740

Remove the rubbish.

The new owners might not have a vehicle large enough to accommodate the rubbish you have left behind to take it to the tip and want to pass the cost of having the rubbish on to you....which is fair enough.

I'm not sure but I think that if you buy a property and the vendor leaves items in the property, even if it is junk, then the buyer can't just go disposing of it without the vendor's permission.

paddy's_mum

Tasha1972 wrote: »

Are these people being petty

No, you are!

Why do you consider their time and effort as less valuable than your own?

What should you do? Remove your items from their property.

stator

The radiator and the bike could be collected for free by a scrap metal collector. However you might as well just go and pick up the rubbish. Or pay someone to go and collect it for you. It will be cheaper than letting them invoice you through the solicitors

Eejay

They are being petty but you should have had the stuff moved and they can charge you.

When we sold our flat we were told that if we didn't get rid of every last thing that was not mentioned in the documents then we would be charged to have them removed. This was after weeks of asking whether the woman wanted the few bits of furniture and leaving them as long as possible because she wasn't responding and we wanted to make sure. In the end we swapped every lightbulb for a cheap one (we had energy saving halogens at £6 each!) and took every shelf and coat hook that hadn't been mentioned and quickly filled the holes as neatly as we could as there was no time to sand them down. I thought if they could be so petty about it, I could too

fairy_lights

Tasha1972 wrote: »

i was gobsmacked as it was only a handful of things and i thought why cant they just take it to the local skip?

Unbelievable. You left your unwanted junk in the house and think the buyers are being unreasonable for wanting it removed. If it was only a handful of things why couldn't YOU have taken it to the local tip?

maninthestreet

Which clause of the contract does your buyer's solicitor claim you have breached?
Some council offer a limited 'large item' collection service for items that may be too large to transport to the 'recycling centre'.

cte1111

If they are prepared to take it to the small claims court, then their claim probably would stand up. However it is very unlikely that they will do so. Legally you need to leave the property empty, apart from any items that have been listed on the property information sheet. Many of us have experienced items being left and removed them ourselves, but technically you are in breach of contract and they could take you to court for costs that they incur in disposing of these items.

Landofwood

Yes they are right and you are wrong.

While I find it mildly amusing that you are fuming over this situation, I'm sure the people in your old house are fed up of storing your items for free.

If it goes to court they will win, so it's up to you.

Look up 'vacant possession'.

pinkteapot

You've been slightly unlucky I suppose, in that most buyers would have seen the rubbish, cursed your name, decided you were a t*t, sighed, and taken it to the local dump themselves.

But, they're well within their rights to ask you to take your belongings. Work out what's cheaper - going and getting the stuff yourself or paying for their skip.

The fact that when you moved in it was full of rubbish is completely irrelevant. The people you bought from shouldn't have left it like that and you could have pursued them if you'd wanted. Two wrongs don't make a right.