Buying half a house
Many years ago some friends bought their very first house.
Took them a long time to get the money together and they were very excited to finally have a place of their very own.
On the advice of more knowing friends, they turned up on moving in day with a box of lightbulbs, fully expecting to have put one in every room.
Turned out to be a very good idea.
However they didnt turn up with any brass light switches, any carpets, or stair rods.
Or any tiled fireplaces, kitchen cupboards, belfast sink or worktops and any scrubbed wood floorboards for the dining room.
Or any old ornate ceiling roses or decorative plaster coving with a grapes design.
Or any turf or shrubs for the front and back garden.
And the beautiful 1920s staind glass windows in the porch had been replaced with plain glass.
The previous owners however did leave them 2 teabags on a saucer on the draining board and a cheery note to have a cuppa when moving in.
(insomniac-surfer oh go on then, just this once, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 2:35, 8 replies)

They really should have
looked at the inclusions on the contract of sale.

*is estate agent*
(misskitty reeks of sex and turpentine; laudanum afternoons, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 3:24, closed)

Well...
Fixtures and fittings are included in the contract for the house and you have to have a seperate list for any chattels included in the sale?
I don't see the point of taking lightbulbs, despite them technically being chattels- unless they're expensive ones why doesn't everyone just leave them behind and then it's something less to worry about when moving house? :S
(Evilweevil is covered in bees, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 10:36, closed)

I'd check the contract
and if it didn't specify that those things were to be taken, I'd raise hell.

A friend of mine in Luxembourg moved in only to find that the previous owner had removed the furnace. She had the last laugh, though, as she heard later that not only did it fail in his new house but that it damaged a few things when it went.
(louveciennes , Volvospotter, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 3:38, closed)

Yeah, precisely
Prior to buying a house there's a very detailed list of chattels which has to be filled in by the seller. That way the buyer knows exactly what to expect.

If things have been taken when the seller said they would leave them behind, then the buyer has recourse to legal action.
(EuroSong I love horse meat: best of all the animals, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 10:53, closed)

Fixtures, fittings and Chattels
Yep, as per other posts, there should be a list from the vendor of what they intended to leave, however, it is a fairly recent innovation here in the UK.. (last ten years or so)

/Used to be a property lawyer

You can only gasp at these people though... I mean.. Turf, lightswitches...
(Beer Elf Thought this was like a campfire, anyhow, on, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 12:02, closed)

Urgh...
I'm on the LPC at the moment and the Property Law and Practice module is a complete nightmare!
(Evilweevil is covered in bees, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 12:19, closed)

Things were different back then
It was 1987 or 1988.
There was a long involved battle. The previous owners had emigrated to Canada, and most of the missing stuff had ended up sold to a salvage yard.
I cant remember exactly the outcome but I think they got some compensation.
(insomniac-surfer oh go on then, just this once, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 12:46, closed)

I know its stingy
But am i the only one that found that pretty funny? I would never have thought of taking the turf, that is ingenious.
(twocoats, Tue 28 Oct 2008, 15:42, closed)