Some impartial advice please : sold home, buyer being an arse

Ignore and make them chase it -- it won't be worth their while.

My sister-in-law runs a small country B&B. Last year one of her guests, coming back from the pub, ignored signs directing guests to the main entrance and tried to enter via a side gate which was unlit and had a 'do not enter' sign on it. Of course he tripped and fell and cut his lip. Seemed OK about it in the morning and went on his way. A couple of months later she got a lawyer's letter demanding several thousand for dental work he'd had because he claimed he'd broken several teeth in the fall. There was no documentation from any dentist showing what work had been done, nor any assessment of how much such work should cost. She freaked out but her solicitor got her to sit it out -- he didn't have a leg to stand on: he had been drinking, ignored clear signage, and didn't document his case. He was just trying his luck, bullying a single woman running a small business. Never heard from him again.
 
Cheers all

The other half just wants to pay up for the quiet life.

I, however, just want an end. The guy has already had £2k back for 'roof repair ' the place didn't need until his twatty 2nd surveyor whined on about the garage roof. Yes, it had been repaired but now you've removed those repairs, of course the roof now leaks, you moron

This happened before the final signing of contracts

The cleaning bill is just a piss take. His pictures show the same rooms that he had looked at the week before , the same marks here and there that is normal wear and tear on a house

But it's our former shitty neighbour egging him on, stirring it up to make it look like we're the bad ones for daring to move away.

We've deliberately not told anyone where we've moved to because they will hate us. The new place is huge, away down a quiet lane and the new neighbours have already given us mince pies and moving in cards. Apparently we are a breath of fresh air for them as the previous owners were disliked for whatever reason. Going by the state of the new house, I can see why. BIG dogs!

There's a lot of work to do here but nothing nasty, it will happen when it happens. Concrete flooring Christmas chic for now
 
You mean I could have asked for money to clean the absolute shit hole the PO left my house, garage, garden, etc. in? well crap it's to late now.
hell, the feckers hadn't even finished moving out when I got the keys and I had to help them and let them leave stuff in the garage overnight (which they took the keys for).

You do need to acknowledge it. a simple letter stating that the house was left in fit state for living as shown in pictures attached, any further requests for illegitimate compensation will ignored.
instruct your conveyance lawyer to spent 1 hour on it (they'll have seen this sleeze before), yes it will cost you 200 quid but they know the right words. also check the contract wording very carefully and repeat back what it says.

bumhats, why are there so many of them in this world.
 
Nonsense. I've bought a fair few houses in my time. Including a few tricky ones! If you had taken a wall down between exchange and completion fair cop, but, clean and tidy is a relative term. Where does it outline the level of cleanliness and tidyness this implies? They viewed the house several times, at at those times you were living in it, so it showed very clearly the "standard" you accept as clean and tidy.

They signed a contract based on that condition and level.

The same would go for any other feature. You can't suddenly say after completing that your now not happy with the speed the cooker heats up or that you want a new worktop as its worn. Wear and tear is natural in any building in its fabric and contents...

Thats what surveys are for...and if they had issues, like the roof, they should have been raised and agreed, with compensation on price or a signed off fix, prior to them signing the contract and exchanging them.

Chancers....

Sound like a complete bunch if "See you next Tuesdays" to me.
 
I'd be asking their solicitors to speak to yours in furtherance of the original transaction, and with a warning about incurring further costs.

All correspondence to the solicitors.

Caveat Emptor and all that.
 
Clean and tidy clauses in housing contracts are fairly rare when compared to the amount of houses exchanged.

There must be a reason why this was added in as it’s not standard across the industry.

Whether that be because the buyer had concerns about cleanliness prior to completion or if they had a plan all along. Only a few people will know the answer to that.

Different people have different ideas of “clean”. Obviously massively down to interpretation but likely the buyer arrived to find areas “less than ideal” and if the toilet was dirty by your own admission likely you’d lose in court if it went that far as nobody would expect to get the keys to find that.
 
Clean and tidy clauses are in every house contact in the uk for a while now. Its box 14.4 in the TA6 property information form...

I assume you ticked yes for this.....

14.4 Will the seller ensure that:
(a) all rubbish is removed from the property (including from
the loft, garden, outbuildings, garages and sheds) and
that the property will be left in a clean and tidy condition?
(b) if light fi ttings are removed, the fi ttings will be replaced
with ceiling rose, fl ex, bulb holder and bulb?
(c) reasonable care will be taken when removing
any other fi ttings or contents?
(d) keys to all windows and doors and details of alarm
codes will be left at the property or with the estate agent?
 
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