Having the funds to buy furniture before moving or after?

[Coffeencrochet]

In regards to council housing, would you rather move in ASAP and slowly work on buying the furniture, or delay bidding so you have time to save up and buy all the necessary furniture that you need straight away? For context, the house we've been living in is in disrepair but it's family owned and not rented so not something the council can chase up really. AIBU for thinking that moving out is the priority here and not having a fully furnished property? DH and I both make maybe 40k between us so not much leeway at the end each month to save, and imo if we wait to save we'll be waiting for the rest of our lives!

2 adults? Go for it, and buy the furniture as you can afterwards.
I had a sofa picked up from the garage of my bosses boss (through sweet talking a bloke I knew with a van), a mattress (no bed frame), and a washing machine when I moved in (the cooker and fridge had been left behind). Pans and cutlery I already had.
I saved and saved, and slowly got down carpet, then paint on the walls, then upgraded the furniture. That mattress is still on our spare bed nearly 20 years later and I think it's more comfortable than the new one DH ordered and loves

I'd get into the new property as soon as possible.

Yes I’d do the same - get into the new property and then sort it

If you like it, bid on it - don 't delay you may not see something else you like for a while.

If you are lucky enough to get it, even if you have to go in with an air mattress, kettle and microwave for a bit you'll have the security of knowing you've got it and everything else can follow. It's quite possible to bascially furnish your entire home from a decent charity furniture shop then you can search junk shops and gum tree for the rest.

Are you on the waiting list for social housing? I don't want to put you off but unless you have some kind of extenuating circumstance or live in an area with low demand, you could well be in for a very long wait as the council would say you're adequately housed for now. Unfortunately, loads of people live in properties in disrepair. Its not right or moral but it's the case.

Sorry this is going to turn into a dripfeed! 2 adults and 2 young DC but DC have their beds. We own a fridge, washing machine, kettle, microwave and TV but otherwise the house came furnished. I'm sure we can put together some money for a cooker if there isn't one in the property already, but in my eyes those are the necessities - we've lived in house shares so are used to not living the fancy life of eating at the dining table DH's vision is to buy living and dining furniture, wardrobes and the whole shebang.
@listsandbudgets we're on the list at low priority right now but one DC is currently awaiting assessment for autism and his nurse has written a referral letter for him which I have submitted to the council so they're updating that too. We received an offer for the perfect place recently but the family above us loved it too 😢

When we moved into our current house, which is bigger than our previous, we just bought furniture from gumtree. We had intended it to be a stopgap, but actually it is really good quality, so 8 years later and it is staying

You buy it after, I moved into my council house with nothing.

When I bought my first flat I had bedding and a small tv, from living in furnished rooms in shared houses. A friend lent me a blow up mattress. My parents lent me camp chairs. A moving box was used as a tv stand. It was fine!

When we rented our first home we borrowed a sofa and a colleague gave me some old dining chairs that had seen better days. We bought a secondhand cooker. All you need is a bed and something to sit on plus kitchen stuff. Get bidding now I have so ever done this but it took my friend four years, sorry I know that’s not what you want to read.

You're all my kind of people I am the main applicant on the property site so will definitely continue bidding - it's been 2 years of bidding and I've only started getting emails about property offers so I am jumping at every property that ticks most of our boxes.

Market place is your friend.So many bargains.Getting the property is the main thing you will be very lucky.Which area are you in out of interest?here SW the wait is about 8-10 years even with 2 children with SN.Don’t worry about furniture it will sort it’s self.

Even with the kids and things you do have- bid and move now.

You can always look on olio, freecycle, market place or charity shops for things to get you by until you can buy newer ones in time.

Definitely move first, then buy the furniture. You won't have to worry about anything getting damaged in the move then.

Definitely go for it! Furniture is quite easy to come by as so many people prefer to pass things on when buying new things themselves

@Ragruggers

Market place is your friend.So many bargains.Getting the property is the main thing you will be very lucky.Which area are you in out of interest?here SW the wait is about 8-10 years even with 2 children with SN.Don’t worry about furniture it will sort it’s self.

I'm in NW, when I was in SE there was zero chance of getting anywhere, same as you.

I'm happy to wait for the right sort of property to come through on the site, but not let it slide when one does appear iyswim. Flats can only be considered if its ground floor since DS is non verbal and communicates his excitement through stamping and jumping so that knocks a lot of places off the list.

Get in ASAP , get some furniture from free cycle or cheap on Facebook marketplace and over time buy your own stuff

Move first. We moved into an unfurnished property (rental) and all our furniture is from charity stores. We live in a student area so a lot of bookcases and tables are stuff students leave on the street when moving out.

We slept on an air bed and sat on camping chairs in the living room for a few weeks.

Take the property.

There will be organisations that will help you with furniture

When we bought our first house we didn't have a penny to our name after paying moving costs. We slept on an air mattress for 2 months. It's no big deal, furniture can be sorted out later.

Go for it, it's better to sort out furniture when you move in and can size up exact spots anyway. Search Facebook marketplace and Next Door forum for things you need, furniture charity shops, auctions, stuff neighbours are chucking out, buy one ikea cupboard each month etc. Good luck!

Let everyone you know know now that you'll need a house full of furniture in the near future. If all your family keep their ears open then you'll probably be able to get a large amount of stuff very cheap or free - especially if you know anyone with an estate car or van.

Go for the house , then furnish it for free/almost free from friends & Facebook Marketplace. Gradually replace with stuff more to your taste after that.

It makes way more sense to furnish the house after you have it. You can make do with a minimal amount once you move in and then add furniture after. It would be silly to buy a dining table or sofa that might not fit in your new home.

Lots of people move into a house and then get everything as they go along.

Just to clarify my opinion is that we should move irregardless of savings and just enough for deposit and rent, DH says we should have at least 2k saved away before moving - not the actual furniture itself. Either way we definitely wouldn't buy the furniture beforehand! I work with a company that sells furniture and I've had so many customers asking to return furniture outside of the returns period because their house sale fell through and I have to be the one to tell them its tough luck really
But I will definitely check out Marketplace and the other places recommended here, thank you all :)