Any question answered...

There's a certain amount that you kind of expect to be left behind and then bitch about on a cycling forum. I suppose they are within their rights to complain, but I'd still put them in the dickhead category if they are complaining about a couple of tins of paint.

If it were me, I would say the matching stuff was left in good faith as it might be useful for touch ups or repairs. Anything that is totally rubbish, I would contribute to the removal of, but still come back here and bitch about it.

Any idea where I stand on this?

I think technically and contractually you should stump up the cost of having it removed in the most efficient way possible.

Practically, you could avoid it by ghosting them. Up to you if think that's OK.

If they're keeping the existing fittings then those things will come in useful. If they're tearing them out then a few extra bits and bobs to get rid of will be a tiny addition to a huge amount of stuff they have to dispose of. So, in general, I'd say they're being a dick and ignore them or tell them the above. That said, it does depend what you mean by "carpet" if it's huge rolls of carpet that are taking up space, then I could see them being annoyed about it.

IANALawyer, but my impression is that once you've moved house, trying to enforce anything with regard to the previous owner comes down to a cost/benefit analysis. Unless what you stand to gain/not lose is greater than the cost of taking the previous owner to (small claims) court, then you basically have to suck it up.

In any case, presumably these communications are coming via your solicitor, so they should be able to advise you.

some stuff we didn't want that the new owners wouldn't want either

I guess this is probably the kicker. Sorting stuff out after you've moved is enough of a ballache without having to deal with a load of extra crap. You can see why they might be pissed off, depending what it is.

As others have said - unless it’s several trips to the tip’s worth, let them vent their spleen a bit, then just ghost them :-)

When we moved in to our current house, there was a fair bit up in the loft. Maybe 30% of it was stuff that could reasonably be considered ‘useful’ (replacement tiles for the kitchen, paint, etc) but the rest was basically rubbish. Most of its still up there, 8 years later.

Moving is a massive pain in the balls and sometimes, if the new owner wants to be in the house on the day they’ve booked the van/removal company, then they need to give the people moving all their stuff out a bit of slack.

and some stuff we didn't want that the new owners wouldn't want either

Got to ask why?

I mean tiles and paint is good will / fairly standard. But why leave shit you don't want and you know they wouldn't either?