To furnish or not to furnish? Discover the pros and cons to putting furniture into your rental prope
In some parts of the country, it's inconceivable that a rental property would come without furniture.
Most properties, particularly smaller apartments, will include basic furniture such as beds, sofas, and white goods.
In more rural areas, it's unheard of to move into a rented property with furniture. It can put off potential tenants and mean that the landlord ultimately achieves less rent.
So why is this? And what are the pros and cons of providing furniture?
Pro: tenants can move in without needing to buy any furniture themselves. This is particularly positive if they move into a city for a new job or rent their first property after University.
Con: It can result in a tenant being relatively transient. If they don't own any furniture themselves and have just moved into the place for a new job, they may move out again just as quickly.
Pro: The furniture cost can be offset against your tax liability as an expense for the property.
Con: you need the available money to invest in furniture before you have earned any rental income.
Pro: The marketing photography will always look good because the property will always be furnished. This will reduce the time needed to remarket the property when a tenant serves notice to leave.
Con: The wear and tear on furniture is high, and you'll likely have to repurchase new items quite frequently.
Pro: You can curate the furniture to have a particular design or style that will likely attract your ideal tenant.
Con: If interior design trends change, or a potential tenant doesn't like the furniture you've purchased, they may choose a different property over yours. This will mean that you need to keep up with current trends.
Pro: The wear and tear on the building itself may be reduced. The tenants will not be moving huge items in and out of the property each time there is a tenancy changeover. Banging the sofa against the doorways and walls and dragging the washing machine across the kitchen floor, causing scratches, will not happen if the furniture stays in the property all the time.
Con: As a landlord, you're responsible for the maintenance of the property. If you've provided furniture, you're accountable for maintaining that too. So, if the bed breaks or the chair, you have to replace or repair that. This can mean that the repairs costs are pretty high for the property overall.
To get this right, I would look at other similar properties on the market in the area and ask the advice of your letting agent.
You don't want to go to the effort and expense of fully furnishing a property only to find out that there are no tenants that require furnishings.
If all properties in the area are furnished, that is likely to be expected. However, if you struggle to find a furnished property on the market in your area, it isn’t something that tenants in your area require. Save yourself the money and the mammoth task of building an entire house of flatpack furniture!
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