Deputy head of Residential Property, Kerry Sharples, recently called for contracts to contain a ‘clean and tidy’ retention clause – where a sum of money is held over until after completion to ensure all of the sellers possessions have been removed and also that the property is in a clean and tidy condition.
When buying a residential property the contract between a buyer and seller will contain a special condition stating ‘the property is sold with vacant possession on completion’
`Many people assume that simply moving out of your property on completion, with your furniture and personal possessions is adequate and see no problem with leaving rubbish in the shed, Kerry advised, after compiling a list of some of the unusual items sellers fail to take with them on completion.
Animals, ashes and fridges full of out-of-date food have been some of things greeting buyers, who then have to incur costs and the time to arrange removal of the possessions that don’t belong to them.
If the costs incurred are under £10,000 they can potentially be recovered.
Read Kerry’s article in full to learn more about the issue facing homebuyers.