In any decision about this, the key issues should always be driven by the speed of letting (avoiding void periods) and maximising the rental.
If you provide serviced accommodation or have a holiday let, obviously, you fully furnish a property.
If not, what is best will depend upon the needs of the area & local market.
But even then, there are no real rules and if you can benefit to be flexible as possible.
It’s always useful to us for our advice and to look at the local market – to see what tenants who are looking for. And get a sense of what the market is offering for properties like yours by looking at our website, as well as Rightmove or Zoopla.
Beyond the serviced accommodation market, the different “tenant markets” can be broken down into 1) students, 2) young professionals 3) families, 4) expats, 5) corporate tenants, 6) those in receipt of benefits, 7) where your “tenant” is the local authority letting it under a private sector leasing deal to people in housing need.
And within those rough categorizations, some groups fall into more than one category, of course.
To Furnish or Not?
Mainly the only tenants who may usually want the fully furnished option are those on short term lets – where tenants typically may be an executive and typically working for a high-end organisation & who wants a crash pad for the few hours they are not working. This end of the market, is, of course, a type of serviced accommodation. Where the contract is longer term than a few weeks or months, they may want to bring their families and demand unfurnished or just part-furnished. Your tenant’s rent may be being paid by the company who they work for, so we’ll need to validate the company as part of normal referencing processes.
Students renting house sharers may also expect more furnishings – some home comforts (like a bed!).
Families, (including those on local housing allowance), seem to have a preference for unfurnished as they usually with have all their own items, including often, a fridge/freezer. However, most will still want you to provide a cooker.
Advantages Of Letting Unfurnished
There are also some big pros of letting unfurnished or only part furnished……
- No need to worry about whether your soft furnishings comply with fire safety regulation. If you don’t supply any, then the problem is solved.
- Not a need for you to get expensive contents insurance, though many buildings insurances will include a small amount of content cover for things like white goods.
- Cuts the time to do the inventory – (We advise you should let us do a professional inventory, this will protect you in the event of damage beyond fair wear and tear).
- Less items to get damaged, so less chance of a dispute/arguments/ hassle at end of the tenancy.
- Tenants with their own bits & pieces tend to stay longer.
- Tenants with their own items are more likely to appreciate the work that has gone into a property, therefore are less likely to default on rent.
If you let with some furnishings you used to be able to claim 10% wear and tear allowance off the net rent under old tax rules. This changed with effect from 6th April 2017. Now you can only claim for when you renew an item.
