Buying a Repossessed House

discat11

I haven't heard it's illegal to remove electric lamps themselves (aka bulbs) but that it would be breach of contract to remove fittings like built in appliances listed on the inventory, light fittings and wiring/piping.

Whether or not most buyers would chase someone all the way through the courts to get recompense for such a breach is another thing.

My repo had the white goods (listed on the sale docs mistakenly) missing and a highly illegal boiler fitment (venting into an enclosed alleyway) which both needed replacement.
To cap it all between the end of the sale and getting the keys a pipe burst causing an emergency plumber appointment and a good section of wooden flooring to warp badly and need immediate replacement.

ho hum.
Anyhow, just agreed sale on the same house and it's gone up nearly 50k in 5 years so happy days really!

Mistral001

A solicitor told me that if you imagine the house being turned upside down, anything that did not fall out would be considered a fixture or fitting. I am not sure what way that would leave light bulbs as if you considered them to be a fixture or fitting then you would have to consider the associated lamp shade to be a fixture or fitting also. It is still mean as far as I can see. I suppose in these days with low energy and LED light bulbs and various other designer light bulbs costing quite a lot, some people might want to take them with them and might not want to buy replacements just to leave behind.

discat11

I think it's fine to take expensive LED lamps out (after all, some of mine cost over £10 each) as long as they are replaced with something doing the same job.
Luckily as I kept the lamps I replaced as I upgraded I'll stick these back in, they not be as cost effective energy wise or even give as much light, but they are adequate, good quality products.

I tend to be a bit nicer than most I hear of though -carpets/blinds/curtains/poles, I've even offered to leave the TV brackets and cabling to save these having to be taken out & then replaced.

I can't understand penny-pinching however when you're talking about a 50p sink plug or a 99p lampshade, that's just mean.

EitherWalnut

Hello folks - resurecting a dead thread merely to update you on the oil tank situ!

The holes in the cap and lid aren't the type for a padlock as that was my initial thought when I noticed them! Given that every time I checked my oil level it was less than expected, my (reasonable IMO) assumption was that some cheap @sshat was siphoning my oil when I was at work!

Then the drier weather came...

...and I noticed that the concrete around the base of my boiler house wasn't drying out like the rest of the garden.

Yep - a dodgy pipe meant my boiler was leaking fuel this whole time. D'oh! £30 later and it's all fixed. Happy days! :beer:

Old_Git

nicmalauren wrote: »

Hello folks - resurecting a dead thread merely to update you on the oil tank situ!

The holes in the cap and lid aren't the type for a padlock as that was my initial thought when I noticed them! Given that every time I checked my oil level it was less than expected, my (reasonable IMO) assumption was that some cheap @sshat was siphoning my oil when I was at work!

Then the drier weather came...

...and I noticed that the concrete around the base of my boiler house wasn't drying out like the rest of the garden.

Yep - a dodgy pipe meant my boiler was leaking fuel this whole time. D'oh! £30 later and it's all fixed. Happy days! :beer:

Ah how much oil leaked into the ground . Not wanting to be alarmist but this is contamination and you are suppose to have it cleared .This can be seriously expensive.

qwert_yuiop

Indeed. The soiled soil has to be sent abroad, it seems. Someone I used to work with had this problem, and a skip load was taken to Dublin to be shipped out to some decontamination plant overseas. I was told.

BigAl94

House insurance should cover the cost.

EitherWalnut

Oh b0ll0cks. Really?

I don't think it was that much - there's no smell or trace of it now. Boiler engineer didn't mention anything either...