Moving house...seller taking summer house

Charrrb

Hi, I’m hoping to get as many opinions possible. Myself and my partner put an offer in on a house last November. The house was absolutely perfect for us. One thing that stood out hugely was the garden. It was spacious, had a nice little decking area and a good-sized summerhouse. We had the viewing during the second lockdown so the sellers stepped aside while we looked around by ourselves but they informed us that "the keys are in the summer house door so just go in and have a look round". Inside the summerhouse, we were more than impressed, they had a blazing electric fire, some cosy sofas and a little bar in the corner! We asked at the time if this would be staying to which they replied "it is highly likely to stay due to them downsizing". We put in an offer that evening. Fast forward 2 months and on the completion of the property forms, low and behold, the summer house was stated as ‘not included in the sale’ and the seller would be taking this with them. We were gutted but also, this was never included in the sale brochure information and although the seller has said at the viewing that this was ‘highly likely to stay due to them down-sizing’ we didn’t really have a leg to stand on. Fast forward another month and we discover that when the summer house will be removed from the garden, this will leave a large concreted base in the centre of the patio garden. We feel a little cheated, as this isn’t the garden we saw when we viewed the house and put the offer down on. We hadn't anticipated having to do any work on the garden and won't have the money to do so initially.  Would anyone agree it would be fair to ask the owner to rectify the huge whole that is going to be in the garden by either putting down patio that matches the rest of the garden? I don’t want to be picky but we put the offer in on a house that had a ready-made garden and we hadn't anticipated having to spend money on this. It is also coming up to spring/summer and so we were incredibly excited as we envisaged spending a lot of time in the garden as we are moving from a flat with no garden.  We had got over the fact that they are taking the summer house but to now find that the patio was done around this concrete base and so we would have a concreted hole in the centre of the garden just isn't what we expected.

Soot2006

Since all the electrics and foundations are done, you could plan to rebuild a new summer house.

Drop your offer by the cost of a new summer house?

Don't offer to buy it ... You might find it stays behind anyway. They are not easy to move.

moneysavinghero

Work out how much it would cost you to build a summer house to the same spec as what was there when you viewed.
Then reduce your offer by this sum. You offer was made based on there being a summer house there. You should not have to pay for an imaginary summer house.

You may then find that they decide to leave the summer house after all.

wilfred30

A concrete base is not a hole.  You can ask the vendors to match it to the rest of the patio but they don't have to agree and, IMO, are unlikely to.

If it's that much of a problem to you, you might want to consider whether the issue is more important to you than the house.

es5595

You're unlikely to get many replies, as reading that huge block of text is very difficult to read!

TL;DR - sellers are taking the summerhouse, despite saying it was 'highly likely to stay', can I ask them to remove the huge concrete base to make the garden useable

I'd speak to your estate agent and explain how disappointed you are with the lack of summerhouse, as you were intimated it would be remaining, and offered based on that. Nonetheless, you understand they are taking it with them, what are their plans to make good the garden? And then once they've agreed, get them in writing via solicitor. 

Are you prepared to go somewhere else? I imagine a heated, insulated summerhouse would set you back in the region of £10-15k, you could use this as a basis for reducing your offer, but beware they might pull out entirely. 

VintageHistorian

I'd probably be a bit annoyed, but ultimately it's probably not the only reason why you bought the house.

Maybe the vendors said "highly likely" to secure the sale. Or maybe they genuinely meant it and then, in the intervening months, realised that they can actually fit it in their new garden and want to take it with them. There's no point getting upset about whether or not they were lying, you can't prove it either way.

The base isn't really an issue, as it means you'll be able to add your own summerhouse there in the future without having to pay for a concrete base to be poured in, so that's one potential cost out the way.

Your options are: A) Ask how much extra they would want for the summerhouse to stay in place, Ask for a reduction in cost for it (but keep in mind that a summerhouse may only be a few hundred pounds and is it really worth going through the fuss of amending your mortage etc for it?) or C) Just suck it up and let it go without a fuss.

The thing about house buying is that once you actually live in the property, you realise you want things differently from the people you bought it from. Especially as seasons change and you realise how much or how little time you spend in bits of the house or garden.

Irishpearce26

I agree with others that the foundations are a good asset for you to add your own summerhouse. Regarding getting a reduction i don't see this happening as you say it wasn't included in the selling brochure or your contract. The sellers also don't have an obligation to do anything with the foundation either. If you can live with it and save for a summerhouse or think of other things you can do with the base. As frustrating as it is your hands may be tied here.

lookstraightahead

I reckon they are trying their luck to get more money. I works give them two options - either to leave it, or if they take it then they need to make the garden good. If they leave the base, surely this is leaving behind 'rubbish'.
Why are people like this! Personally I would say I'm pulling out. 

Doozergirl

As soon as I saw that the summer house wasn't staying, I'd be renegotiating!  It's not okay to say 'more than likely' staying and then exclude it if your offer was based on it. 

It wasn't in the brochure, but you did ask about it.  That's a big object to use as a carrot and then pull away.  

wilfred30

It's worth remembering that 'highly likely' that it will stay is not 'it will definitely stay'.  They have obviously changed their mind, which they are entitled to do.  Maybe that was why they didn't have it included in the Sales Particulars in the first place as they didn't want to be legally obliged to leave it.

I think you would be unwise to reduce your offer by the amount it would take to replace it.

wilfred30

lookstraightahead said:

I reckon they are trying their luck to get more money. I works give them two options - either to leave it, or if they take it then they need to make the garden good. If they leave the base, surely this is leaving behind 'rubbish'.
Why are people like this! Personally I would say I'm pulling out. 

As well as not being a hole, a concrete base is not 'rubbish'