What to leave when you move house

Lesley Garner5 April 2012
The Weekender

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What sustains most people through the hell of house moving is the moment of exhausted relief when the removal van leaves and you can finally relax and look around.

In Hugh Taylor's case his relief was short-lived when he discovered that a paved terrace of ancient flagstones at Eastington Hall in Worcestershire had been removed by the departing owner, ex-barmaid and self-styled baroness, Theresa Hamer. The case is currently in the Appeal Court.

But what is the etiquette of moving house? Last time I moved I found a nice note from the previous owner wishing me a happy life in my new home. Light bulbs and doorknobs were intact. Not so lucky were the ethnic-minority clients of Ilford solicitor Leonard Warren.

They unwittingly bought a house from sellers who belonged to the BNP. The wife walked into her new home, screamed and ran out. The sellers had wrecked the house, ripping out pipes, trashing fittings, spraying graffiti on the walls, even leaving excrement. The buyers were too distressed to sue the sellers or to move in. The house was cleaned and resold.

In Mr Warren's experience, the richer the seller, the more likely they are to remove the doorknobs. One family removed the garden fencing; another client took the lavatory seats.

Buying and selling homes is where two natural instincts - territorial and survival - collide. Which is why the Law Society has a standard protocol form listing fixtures and fittings for house sales. There are three classes of items - included, excluded and doesn't exist.

The law is one thing, but what price courtesy? Drusilla Beyfus, author of Modern Manners, says you should ensure that the first few hours in the new home aren't hell. "The etiquette is to leave minor comforts," she says. "Some soap, a towel, loo paper, a phone and, essentially, electric light bulbs."

What throws most buyers is the sheer pettiness of what gets taken. Property developer Jeremy Flax bought a £3 million house in St John's Wood and sued the former owners for a total of £103,656.11p in removed fixtures, including toilet-roll holders, wall lights, brass cupboard handles, light fittings, the sitting room gas fire, shelving, pots, plants and garden shrubs.

If price negotiations have been bitter, you could face some mean-spirited house-stripping. David and Stephanie Ross bought a dream cottage in Wimborne, Dorset, especially because of its beautiful mature garden, but turned up on moving day to discover that the whole garden - plants, bushes and lawn - had been removed.

Can you avoid such nightmares? Solicitors advise turning up on the morning of completion to check that everything is as you expected. Once you've completed, it's too late.

What most buyers wouldn't mind being removed is the buried corpse of the family pet. Sue Morley of removal firm Abel's says they have been asked to dig up the dog as part of their house-moving service. They politely refused.

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