cost of taking old light fittings with me

£150.

 

Unless they are very expensive, more than they cost.

 

That's very reasonable particularly if he is moving from Plymouth to Aberdeen!

 

You really need to give some more details.

 

Probably an hour's labour to take down. Depending on the existing type of fittings in the new house, up to 2 hours labour to put up. Maybe £20 parts on top.

 

"chippie, you plonka!"

funny as funk episode

 

Make sure this is covered in the home buyers report, that the fittings will be removed.

Also it may be worth asking the potential buyers whether they are interested in buying the lights, you may make some money from it and it will save you the hassle of removing them.

 

When you get heavy light fittings it is essential to use the floor or ceiling joists as an anchor point, or, introduce an additional support noggin between the joists.

 

http://www.screwfix.com/p/half-21290-circular-ceiling-light-chrome-60w/71298
With the above type of light fitting (which is similar to what I have in two bedrooms and the bathroom) particularly as I have old lath and plaster ceilings I fixed a sufficiently large piece of 13mm ply or similar between adjacent joists and fastened it with two metal brackets at either side. I then fixed the light fitting with long screws right through the lath and plaster and the plywood taking care not to over -tighten and distort the steel top of the fitting . I then ran a earth wire to the fitting as there was not one there before.
Also when you have a bedroom fully cleared say before you have a new carpet fitted it is a good opportunity to do this for the downstairs lights and fit new fittings at the same time as I don't think that many people just use the ceilng rose, hanging wire a lampholder for any length of time.