Couple stunned by what ‘hoarders’ left in their new home

A couple who bought a house formerly occupied by “hoarders” have been left stunned after collecting the keys. Lily and Ellis were assured their new property would be “cleared” before they took possession – but their TikTok account reveals this was anything but true.

“In your 30s you will buy a hoarder house,” they captioned a video showing their surroundings. “The seller, the estate agent and the solicitor will all inform you it has been cleared out. It is very important you do not believe them.

“This was our completion day. And this isn’t even the worst of it.”

Their footage began with a skip overflowing with rubbish before the couple ventured inside to discover what remained. To their horror, furniture, electrical items, and appliances were still present, whil boxes covered every available space and kitchen cupboards stayed packed with provisions.

The video went on, with Lily and Ellis revealing that the fridge was full – and the former occupant’s clothing was even still inside the washing machine. The duo subsequently returned to the platform, sharing an update on how they tackled the situation.

“Food was actually the first thing we decided to tackle,” Lily explained. “As you can see there was tins upon tins as well as a lot of other stuff. A lot of it was actually still in-date, but a lot of it was not.”

Lily also revealed that all in-date items had been packed into boxes ready for donation to a local food bank, while any out-of-date food had been “bagged and binned”. When questioned about whether any “treasure” remained, she responded “kind of”.

Eaborated further, she added: “Some of the bits are very random – there’s a cowboy hat, a boxes full of Polyfilla… there’s also a lot of tools – it looks like were plans for DIY here. There’s also cotton coverings for painting, a nice tool belt, step ladders, paintbrushes and a tile cutter.”

Lily additionally mentioned that a pair of brand new wallpaper steamers had been abandoned, alongside a dry robe still in its packaging, stainless steel pans and various pieces of kitchen equipment. She concluded: “There were also lots of fishing books and something on the windowsill that I’d be banned for posting. Do you think that’s treasure?”

Writing in response, one TikTok user questioned: “Washing in the washing machine?! That’s crazy. My heart also hurts because someone probably passed away.” Lily clarified the situation, however: “He definitely hadn’t passed away, was sat on the couch drinking a beer on completion day. Not a thing packed.”

Another person asked: “You’re sure there has been no bug or vermin crawling on the food, right? It’s a good deed to donate but only if you’re sure it’s safe for consumption.” Replying, Lily said: “There’s no bugs or vermin. We wouldn’t have even started sorting the house if there was. It’s just quite a lot of stuff. I’m not going to throw away perfectly good food when there’s people who need it.”

A third commenter suggested to Lily and Ellis: “As long as you got it in writing you make them pay for the cleanup. But yes I’d be very unhappy to walk in on that.” Lily revealed: “Unfortunately out seller has no forwarding address currently and we’re being informed it’s a civil matter and we’d need to sue him, we’re looking into it though. But yeah absolute nightmare to walk into.”

While a fourth TikTok user offered guidance: “Property lawyer here. Your solicitor can only inform you what they’re told – if the fixtures and fittings form says they’ll clear the property prior to completion then leaving the property like this is in breach of contract. You can get your solicitors to write to the other side. Keep all receipts etc. as you can add them to your claim if it gets taken further, or they can simply reimburse you!”