When you’re furnishing your rental property, you’ve got to get the right balance between giving your tenants the right finish and keeping the spend at a level that works for you and makes financial sense for your investment.
How long does furniture last?
Well, that depends on how much use it’s getting, meaning you’ll probably need to replace items more often in House in Multiple Occupancy than in single-let properties. For larger items, you’re looking at around:
- 5-7 years for sofas and mattresses
- 10 years for wardrobes
- 10 years for white goods
- 15 years for beds.
Bedside tables and kitchen/dining chairs might need replacing every 5 years if they’re not treated carefully.
Flat pack
Shops like Ikea and other providers is a popular choice for landlords, especially those with House in Multiple Occupation, because their furniture tends to be unfussy, hard-wearing and good value for money. Landlords who have multiple properties usually go for a ‘standard’ look they can easily roll out across their portfolio. But although it’s a pretty reliable and cost-effective solution, it does leave you with a lot of assembling to do!
Specialist furniture packages
If you want to save some time and effort, it’s worth considering using one of the number of companies that supply whole-property furniture packages for landlords. They have a variety of finishes and budgets and are usually flexible about allowing you to customise packages and exchange items. And, because they have a large amount of ‘standard’ stock, you can generally replace items that suffer wear and tear with either the same piece or something very similar, sometimes in as little as 24 hours. And with quick delivery and no self-assembly on your part, this option can represent good value for money.
Is it worth considering renting furniture or renting-to-own?
You might think renting or renting to own furniture might be a good way of reducing your initial costs and offer an easy way of updating your furniture by swapping it every few years. And some furniture companies, are starting to introduce leasing programs, in an effort to help cut back on the amount of furniture thrown away each year. But while the monthly payments might seem low at first glance, once you add in the additional charges, the end cost of items over time can be much higher than buying it outright.
Sources:
https://www.curbed.com/2019/2/7/18214217/ikeas-feather-furniture-rental-lease
http://landlordfurnitureuk.co.uk/rental-property-packages/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwjpjkBRDRARIsAKv-0O0fzvZ88exxxdcXbjM48OgdHuvLztPmZijwkk1XODKf7Rwpo70bEhgaAruHEALw_wcB
https://www.factotum.co.uk/2017/07/04/furniture-life-span/
The Your Move Content Marketing Team
