Let property either unfurnished or part furnished says Lawrenson of Letting Focus

Whether to furnish a property will depend to a great extent upon the needs of the local market.
And this varies by where you are in the UK and the type of “tenant market” you hope to attract. But even then, there are no hard and fast rules and it pays to be flexible.
For a start, it’s always useful to ask a letting agent for their advice and to scan sites such as Gumtree.com and Loot to see what tenants are looking for in terms of furnishing!
In broad terms the only tenants who are most likely to want a fully furnished let are those on short term lets – where the tenant may typically be an executive (maybe an expat or may be from “out of town” on a secondment) and typically working for a bank say & who wants a furnished crash pad for those precious hours he is not working. Many of these types of let are short term lets. And in this market segment you are competing with hotels and serviced apartments – hence the need for fully furnished accommodation.
Students renting house shares may also expect furnishings – and for there to be at least a sofa, table and possibly beds as well as all the usual white goods.
However, outside these sectors, I would say that it is usually possible to get away with “part furnished” – which in itself can mean a lot of different things to different people – but to most it means white goods only or, in a few cases, the addition of a sofa and possibly a bed.
Families (including those on local housing allowance) seem to have a preference for unfurnished as they usually with have all their own kit, including often, white goods. However, most, though not all, will want you to provide a cooker.
So, for my properties which are 2 and 3 bed flats and houses, I tend to go for “part furnished” and that does me fine! I get tenants, no problem!
Sure, I do lose a few who want more furnishings - but not that many. And if I really like the tenant and they would prefer a few furnishings, I can always cut the rent a bit to get them signed up – and that way they can use the extra cash from the saved rent to get a table or a bed. That usually works a treat. So, my message is, be flexible as far as you are able.
The other big advantages of letting with minimal or no furnishings include…
No need for you to get expensive contents insurance.
It will take less time to do the inventory - also thereby saving on cost if you have someone else (a letting agent or inventory clerk) do this for you.
There will be less stuff to get damaged so therefore less chance of a dispute / arguments / hassle at end of tenancy
Tenants with their own stuff tend to stay longer and in my opinion they are less likely to become bad tenants than someone whose possessions are all in a suitcase.
ABOUT LETTINGFOCUS.COM and DAVID LAWRENSON
I’m David Lawrenson of landlord consultants lettingfocus.com.
I’m the author of “Successful Property Letting - How to Make Money in Buy to Let” which for the last 2 years has been the UK’s top selling property title - buy the UK's top selling property investment book.
It is fully up to date with all the recent changes to tenancy deposit schemes, HMOs, licensing, capital gains taxes and it has new sections on buying property below market value.
I’m an expert property journalist , property speaker and a well known buy to let blogger
I contribute to newspapers and a host of property websites, write a number of columns in the press and I can provide landlords advice
I also work as a consultant helping banks, building societies, housing associations and web portals with their buy to let and property products and services and am a regular speaker at property shows.
You can read more of my blog & find details of my networking, advice, property mentor programme at my website.What’s unique about lettingfocus.com is that we offer you help as an independent property coach because unlike most people in the buy to let and property “advice” business we are not linked to a property company, a developer, an agent or bridging loan financier and do not receive commissions from any of these sources.If a property investment is lousy – We’ll tell you straight and we will tell you all about buy to let and property investment - the good and the bad and we won’t make silly promises that you’ll become a millionaire overnight.
Copyright: David Lawrenson 2008. This blog is updated once a week.
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