Inventories....

[jinny]

We sold our house in May this year due to mortgage arrears.
The company we sold it to let us rent it back from them, we never signed an inventory with them for the things we have in the house which are ours what we have bought over the last 14 yrs.
The company have told me that in the new year, they are coming to "revamp" the place, and obviously we will have to move out to temporary accomodation whilst the work is being done.
We have a solid marble fireplace which as you can imagine cost quite a bit of money, and the cooker/hob which is built in, was only bought in 2003, we still have a "coverplan" on that. What i would like to know is this, can we take those items out ourselves, as i was told by a neighbours private landlord, that we have the right to do that, as we never signed an inventory, i have looked in the tennancy agreement, and there doesn't seem to be anything there with regards to that either. Many thanks, Jane.

[MrShed]

It has very little to do with an inventory, and more to do with the conditions when you sold the house. Were such built in fixtures and fittings included with the sale of the house? This will determine ownership of the items in question, and obviously if you are actually the owner you can do what you say, if you are not you cannot. And the ownership question is not at all based upon who originally bought them, it is dependant on whether they were sold as part of the house. With regards the inventory, anything "movable" yes you would be right....I think you will have more trouble justifying removing fixed items on the basis of no inventory.

[jinny]

Thanks for your quick reply!
Yes, i would say these items are "moveable" as even if we had sold the house to say "joebloggs" we would have taken the fireplace and cooker/hob with us, or at least sold them as extra's like some people do with curtains carpets etc. I don't want to sound bitter, but i would hate for someone to come in and smash the fireplace up, or rip the cooker out.
By the way, the fireplace which we bought, my parents helped out with the cost at the time, although we did pay them back, i know a lot of people say their relatives buy things etc, but like i say, i wouldn't want to see it all smashed up for nothing! If they do the work, could i not come to an arrangement with them ie; sell the items to them if they can use them elsewhere? ie; another property, as i have a feeling they will "shell" the house.

[MrShed]

OK first of all when I say movable I mean not fixed....it is obvious that the fireplace and cooker were fixed.

And there is only ONE simple question here. DID these items get sold along with the house or not. If not, you can do whatever you like with them. If they did, you can't.

[jinny]

Yes, they were sold along with the house, so i will enqiure if they are going to throw them away when they come to do the house.
What i can't understand is that my neighbours landlord told me i could take them out if ever we moved! as he had the opposite view to yours, by saying that if we signed nothing, then we can take out what is ours if we moved out.
Thanks for your advice! Jane.

[MrShed]

But as you have just admitted they are not yours!

[justaboutsane]

When we purchased a house 2 years ago there were several items left behind, ie a Piano and wardrobes. The previous owners said they were coming to get them as the wardrobes had been offered as extras and we refused them. after 2 weeks and no contact from the previous owners we spoke to our solicitor who stated that any items left in the property after completion would automatically become the possesion of the new owner.

When you sold the house you should have completed a Fixtures and Fittings form as part of the sale, what did that say about the Cooker Hob and Fireplace. the form has tick boxes which say things like, Included in the sale, not included or N/A... You should refer back to this form for queries on ownership.

If these were not included on the form then they are now the possession of your landlord and as such he has the right to do with them what he wants.