Selling changed items after completion

MikeJXE

EssexHebridean said:

Hang on - are you saying that they have removed radiators - as in central heating - and replaced with electric convector heaters? if so you definitely need to get that followed up on! (Not least as it will send your costs spiraling through the roof!)  

No she's saying the property had top of the range designer radiators when she viewed. The owner has switched them for a cheaper model. Both designs are central heating radiators 

EssexHebridean

The use of the word "Convectors" made me feel it was worth checking on this - hopefully you are correct though Mike!    

LavenderLamb101

Yes still water heated rads.

Also what about down lighters under units in kitchen?

Elliott.T123

Having recently had designer Rad fitted (family discount BIL runs a pluming distributor) they cost an absolute fortune full price! If you are in a 3-4 bed with say 7 designer Rads you could easily be talking £5k for them.

If they were there for the viewing and on the pictures and the TR10 states radiators included I would say it is a fair assumption you will be getting the ones you saw. 

I would go back to your solicitor and ask for advice but I would say the value on this one makes it worth following up on.

maisie_cat

The question is whether the radiators were replaced before or after exchange. If you viewed on exchange day you have a much better case than if you hadn't viewed for 2 months prior to exchange. If the radiators were not defined as a brand or "designer" it'll be more difficult to prove breach of contract.
Either way it's a sneaky thing to do, but I once bought a house that was a divorce sale and the husband removed all the nice electrical fittings. 

pinkshoes

LavenderLamb101 said:

Yes still water heated rads.

Also what about down lighters under units in kitchen?

The downlighters were probably just stuck on and plugged in with the wires behind the kick board so "removable" therefore you can't really quibble over those. If they've left holes around the base and weren't just stick on ones then no they should not have removed them.

The radiators you can absolutely claim for as if they were being changed they should have notified you. Designer radiators are part of the aesthetics of a house purchase. I would make sure you keep the sales brochure with the photos showing the original radiators.

As a first port of call, It might be worth contacting the EA and let them know what has happened, and ask them to contact the vendor to let them know that you are expecting either the original radiators to be returned and the vendor paying to have them re-fitted (which will no doubt involve the boiler being drained and flushed again) or you will source the radiators and the vendor can pay for new ones to be fitted. Tell them you'd like a response within a week. 

diystarter7

LavenderLamb101 said:

Yes still water heated rads.

Also what about down lighters under units in kitchen?

Hi OP

Thanks for that but most of us were clear anyway.
I get you re designer rads, we had our first ones when hardly anyone had them and they do cost a lot more than the standard convertor, a lot, lot more.

From memory, rarely anyone puts down if "radiators are to remian" as its an assumptio and often a safe one but others will possibly have recent and different expereinces. As these days, many of the nicer, newer decorate homes have desginers rads but people dont itemeise them nor do the aderts. What gets itemeised is often the expensive lights but not down lights.

IMO, if it is not detailed properly and I doubt it is, you are on a hiding to nothing

We have bought several properties aover the years and sold 2. I learnt my lesson over 35 years ago about a fence that had falled down on a house we went to view, we offered them a price and subject to fence being replaced. They did replace the fence but with nothing like that ran both sides of the garden plus it was only half a fence, lesson learnet, plus they left trash in the shed and loft and solictor said it was not worth our while pursing - we worked at the time and just moved on but we/I did feel cheated

Thnaks

TheJP

pinkshoes said:

LavenderLamb101 said:

Yes still water heated rads.

Also what about down lighters under units in kitchen?

The radiators you can absolutely claim for as if they were being changed they should have notified you. Designer radiators are part of the aesthetics of a house purchase. I would make sure you keep the sales brochure with the photos showing the original radiators.

Im not so sure if that is fully correct, unless the OP stipulated in the offer that the radiators were part of the deal then i don't see a legal issue if the sellers have replaced the designer ones with functioning rads. No different to taking a fancy light fitting and replacing it with a standard fitting.

EssexHebridean

From memory, rarely anyone puts down if "radiators are to remian" as its an assumptio and often a safe one but others will possibly have recent and different expereinces. As these days, many of the nicer, newer decorate homes have desginers rads but people dont itemeise them nor do the aderts. What gets itemeised is often the expensive lights but not down lights.

IMO, if it is not detailed properly and I doubt it is, you are on a hiding to nothing

Radiators are one of the things itemised in the TA10 - if the "radiators and wall heaters" section was not completed then the conveyancer certainly should have picked up on this - and if the radiators they were leaving were not those present in the photos and when you viewed, then the usual expectation would be that this should be mentioned so you could take it into account. 

mi-key

I guess as long as they replaced them with working ones, then they are sort of within their rights ( in a bit of a dodgy way ) if it wasn't specified they would be staying. Still seems a massive faff the cost of changing them all over, and then would they even fit their next house without lots of work !

I think it comes down to did you buy the house because of those radiators or were they just a bonus, or would you still have bought it if brand new standard ones had been fitted ? I don't think posh radiators really add any value to a house, so it would be hard to prove you had suffered any financial loss