Help! Offer included all fixtures and fittings but curtains aren't included?

Help28

Hi all - recently had an offer accepted on a flat which specifically included all fixtures and fittings. However on the returned inventory the curtains have now been listed as excluded. I would consider curtains as part of fixtures and fittings - is this incorrect?!

Thanks in advance for your help!

Slinky

A fixture is something that if you turned the house upside down and shook it, it would stay fixed - something like your bath or fitted kitchen cabinets. Poles would be a fixture, curtains are not.

Help28

Oh help - how do you define a fitting then?

Smodlet

Curtains are furnishings, not fixtures or fittings. If you want them, ask for a price to purchase them separately.

If you shop wisely, new ones do not have to cost that much, you know. Try somewhere like Dunelm; I think they even do cashback via Topcashback.

lynsayjane

I agree, I'd not necessarily consider curtains to be a fitting. To me things that would cause damage/repairs if removed like curtain poles, fixed blinds etc are fittings.

Curtains can be pretty cheap, personally I wouldn't have an issue.

Oakdene

I'd not consider the curtains to be part of the fittings really.

Carrot007

Slinky wrote: »

A fixture is something that if you turned the house upside down and shook it, it would stay fixed - something like your bath or fitted kitchen cabinets. Poles would be a fixture, curtains are not.

A bad analogy. If you did that a bath would certainly fall and the curtains certainly would not.

Surrey_EA

Carrot007 wrote: »

A bad analogy. If you did that a bath would certainly fall and the curtains certainly would not.

I wouldn't expect a bath or the curtains to fall out!!

It may not help in this particular case, but I would advise that rather than using a fairly generic ambiguous term like include "fixtures and fittings" a buyer should list precisely what they are expecting to be included, then there should be no surprises at a later date.

TBagpuss

I agree. The curtain poles / tracks would be considered part of the fixtures and fittings, but not the curtains themselves.

You can make a separate offer, you can raise the fact that you had understood that they would be left and request that the seller agree, or simply plan t put them in - depending on the size of the windows they need not be expensive - IKEA has lots of inexpensive curtains so do places like Dunelm, even Argos.

Slinky

http://www.rics.org/uk/knowledge/glossary/fixtures-and-fittings-chattels/

Slinky

Carrot007 wrote: »

A bad analogy. If you did that a bath would certainly fall and the curtains certainly would not.

Not according to RICS


This depends upon how firmly an object is fastened or fixed to a property. The greater the degree of annexation or physical connection the more likely an object is to be a fixture.