Do’s and Don’ts when Moving House.

1st February 2003

T. Wyn Jones

Remember the Enid Blyton character Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby whose motto was “Do unto others as you would wish them to do unto you”. Well in moving house there are certain niceties that you should adhere to.

Do’s and Don’ts when moving house.

Remember the Enid Blyton character Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby whose motto was “Do unto others as you would wish them to do unto you”. Well in moving house there are certain niceties that you should adhere to. These include: -

1. Do leave the property in the condition the purchasers saw it when they first viewed. Actually this is a legal requirement.
2. Do remove all items not included in the sale – that includes your old cooker which no longer works, your magazine collection stored up in the attic etc….
3. Do clean the property when you remove all your furniture, after all its only good manners. It is also a considerate touch to leave the half used paint tins that could be used to freshen up the relevant rooms once the furniture has been removed.
4. Don’t remove light bulbs, door handles and other fixtures and fittings unless you specifically state in the contract that you would be removing such.
5. Don’t remove the plants from the garden or paving slabs from the patio, unless again you stated such in the contract of sale.

The general rule of thumb is that if the “items” are affixed in some way to the property i.e. screwed into the wall or planted in the garden then they form part of the property and as such are included in the sale - unless you specifically state otherwise in the contract of sale.

One further point.

Don’t forget anything as the new owner can claim that the items you left behind are now his. A remarkable example of this point was the purchase of a local farm and farmhouse some 30 years ago. On completion of the sale the vendor left behind a table - amongst other things. The purchaser gave notice to the vendor that if he did not remove his belongings by a set date then he would claim them. 2 years ago the table was sold at auction for in excess of £180,000. A costly oversight!

Wyn Jones is a partner of McCartneys, Property Agents and operates from their Ludlow, Tenbury Wells & Cleobury Mortimer offices. For further information on Property Matters he can be contacted on Tel 01584 872153 or wyn@mccartneys.co.uk