Request for furniture to be removed

Hi there,

I recently moved into a property with my family( first time renters). I was told by the letting agent that i can request for the furniture to be removed if i do not want it. We moved in the property and i have requested for the furniture to be removed but the agent is now telling me it will be at my own cost as the landlord is reluctant to pay for the removals.
i think they are trying to take advantage of me as I agreed to buy a new washing machine even though the agent did not mention that there was no washing machine in the property(i saw a dish washer during and thought it was a washing machine :frowning: ).
I think this is misrepresentation (deception must say) but i do not have any written evidence that the agent will remove the furniture.
Please is there a way i could escalate this so that they get the furniture removed?
I am still unable to unpack as there is insufficient space.

Many thanks

It is a tenants responsibility to get anything on which they are relying agreed in writing. It is also a tenants responsibility to inspect the property properly during a viewing. You can hardly blame to agent for your assumptions about the dishwasher. Having said that, if the agent said the furniture could be removed you should keep up the pressure on this and try to get them to admit they said that in writing. As it stands, you have no legal right to require the landlord to remove furniture that was present when you viewed the property.

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Thank you @David122 .

After a couple of emails back and forth, this is what the agent said - I clearly remember saying to you “obviously there is furniture in the property at the moment an it may not be to your taste or you may have your own, so if you want anything removed please let me know!” An you did not! It would have been much easier had you have said this prior to moving in and that way you could have made an informed decision based on the landlords response.
The agent is now saying that we should have let her know prior to our tenancy start date. This implies the agent was not really certain that the furniture will be removed and she has not actually checked with the landlord. We did not move into the property until 04/10/20 but our tenancy start date was 30/09/20. I texted her on 01/10/20 to get the furniture removed but she didn’t reply until I called the office on 05/10/20.

She is now saying that landlord will not remove the furniture so it is up to me.

Sounds like it would be difficult for you to prove they’ve broken the agreement. You probably have to live with this until your fixed term is up and you have an option to leave.

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I agree with David and it is a tenant’s responsibility to get it in writing. It does not matter if you rent from an agent or a landlord. Even I make it clear with tenant’s about furniture and still sometimes I have noticed tenants do ask to remove the furnitures and that is unfair to landlords. Even I have a tenant and I have a solid strong pine wood bed frame and once tenant moved in and asked me to that he want to get his bed and wanted me to remove the bed and I had to clearly said no. Then now he keep saying there a problem with the bed frame where as there is nothing wrong.

Tenants should remember that if tenets want an unfurnished apartment then they should look for unfurnished property to avoid confusion or to make sure get it in writing before signing any agreement.

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image

Thank you @Prafula

Your case is different. Bit if you are left with something that clearly should have been removed. Majority of people would not like this furniture in their home. If it was a good furniture, I would be more than happy to pay for the charity to pick up. What is appalling here is that, the agent knew but just turned a blind eye.

This is the world we live in.

Hi
I look after my apartments and I had a one of the best compliments from so many tenants. A few months ago one of the professional person came to see my apartment and I was told by the person that that I do look after my apartments for rental and mine was best as he saw about 8 apartments in the same in the same development. I got my own trade people and I do make sure my apartments are in best condition. Then he took my flat and his parents were very happy when he checked in the flat.

With every tenant is a learning process for a landlord and I hope you have learnt a lesson this time that next time to get it in writing. Please note agents are agents and they do have their agenda.
Yes this is the world we live in and life is a learning process.

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To break the impasse, the landlord should have agreed to have the furniture removed at his/her own expense, particularly as you had to buy your own washing machine!

If it was me, I would have had the furniture removed at my own expense and then recouped the money by making the appropriate deduction from the next month’s rent. Rent adjustment is the tenant’s only resort when landlords just refuse to do stuff.

You can’t just withhold rent.

The cheapest and easiest way of getting it removed would be via the local council. They would normally charge around ÂŁ25 for this. As you are the council tax payer you would need to arrange this.

I would then ask the LL to reimburse you. You are likely to get a much better response if you show you have proactively resolved the issue rather than breaking your contract by withholding rent. I’m sure most LLs would be happy to cover as a good will gesture and just didn’t want the hassle and expense of arranging privately.

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shock and horror she had to buy a washing machine because she has bad eyesight. ( The agent did not tell her there was no elephant also) Not paying the rent can lead to court action or at least a future bad or no reference at all.

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David122 has summed it up.

You could write to the landlord directly and explain the situation as agent is handling things and the landlord may not be aware of what is going on between you and them.

Otherwise it might have to be chalked up to experience.

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put all the furniture outside and inform agent you are doing so

The worst thing you can do is withhold rent. Letting agents will start section 8 proceedings sometimes within 24 hrs of late payment - after a phone call to the tenant to expedite payment - as it may be a sign of things to come, takes weeks to get to court and they are being paid to act on behalf of landlords. In addition you risk at best a poor reference and at worst a CCJ which will impact heavily on your credit report and hence future applications for loans, mortgages and future rentals. I agree with the others who have said it was your responsibility to check inventory (you are given 7 days once you have received the third party inventory clerks report) and you should also have any agreements about removing any inventory in writing. Its not just about paying for the removal but where it is to be removed to and stored which may not be an available option. In my experience tenants rarely read and absorb the details of their AST contracts - they just sign them - and then expect the Landlord to waive things later or they claim ignorance which is given short shrift in court. I tend to go through salient points and summarize the contract a week in advance of the start date and give the tenants a copy to read through and come back with any questions before the contract commencement date. I rarely get any questions !!!

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Not a good idea as you are responsible for it and you will lose a chunk of your deposit if it is stolen. Try it and see what happens !

You may feel aggrieved but to be blunt this is down to you and you alone. Naivety as a first time renter may have contributed to you thinking you could do what you wanted at a later date. However, you would have had an inventory (I hope) this should have included the furniture, if it did you cannot dispose of it without written landlord permission. If it was not on the inventory you had time , normally up to a week, to sign and make comments prior agreeing to sign. If you did not its down to you.

So if you wish to get rid of the furniture;- 1 get written permission, 2 put it on gumtree for free as this may save you cost. 3 if 2 fails use man with a van or cut it up and take to you local tip. 4 never believe an agent word, get it in writng.

A lesson for all new renters - everything in writing, get all the facts straight before you sign and hand over your deposit, read your AST carefully.

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I have assumed its all scrap and of no use