Vanity or Sanity

I shall furnish you with some advice

It makes me weep every time I speak to a poor unsuspecting investor who has acquired a furnishing pack. Unlike the majority of Europe, the UK seems still intent of furnishing property to let; however, you really don’t receive a premium for the very expensive privilege!

There is simply no need to provide a fork, spoon, ironing board and random wall art unless you, the person paying, is receiving a premium for doing so. The best advice I can give you is buyer beware and use this contentious topic as a form of negotiation at the time a tenant has been identified.

Furnishing can be installed with a few days’ notice and the price can vary tremendously. I am firmly of that the view that less is certainly more and invariably future tenants will want some furnishing removed or added to at some point which proves complicated.

I agree that in the event a prospective tenant has the option of either a fully furnished property with all the bells and whistles versus an unfurnished property, then the former is more attractive. That said it does not mean you have to acquire the furnishing prior to letting! If the property is offered to the market on an either or basis this is without doubt a more cost effective and logical approach. In my experience a tenant will always want more than they actually need. Case study: we recently let a central London apartment for a client who was about to pay in excess of £6,000 for a very basic package on the advice of his agent (who dare I say it had an interest to declare, as referral for furnishing packages can be very lucrative!). We advised not to carry the upfront cost and wait until a tenant expressed an interest. When a tenant was found by CRPI they did require a sofa, bed, mattress and dining table, at which point we negotiated very favourable tenancy terms and 12 months’ rent up front. Had the furniture package already been installed with many items not required this negotiation could not have taken place. I rest my case. Furnishing lecture over.