To ask if an unfurnished flat offered for rental could be furnished?

[CaragianettE]

Currently looking for flats to rent, but there's not much good coming up in the area I'm interested in. Something nice did just come up, but it's unfurnished, and I need furnished. Is it worth contacting the estate agent and worth asking if the landlord would be willing to consider a furnished let? Is this something people do? Or would they just laugh at me because they'll have plenty of viewings from people who want unfurnished?

YABU - no point in asking
YANBU - it's worth asking, sometimes the landlord will agree

DD rented an unfurnished flat for a year.
We bought some furniture from The British Heart Foundation and they delivered it.

My parents were Landlords before they sold up and they told me that everything they provide they are responsible for and have to replace when broken. They therefore provided nothing.

You could ask, but I think it's unlikely a landlord will buy a load of furniture for you so you can move in tbh. It would only work if they had other furnished properties they could move things from. Furnished properties tend to cost more though, and they can't go and remove bits from let properties, so I think it's unlikely.

Also, it's not an appealing scenario for a LL to have a furnished let, as they need to maintain everything they are renting to you. And the LL has no idea whether you are a thirty stone weightlifter who likes jumping on the bed.

I don't think they'd agree to buy furniture for you.

Furnished flats often have different types of leases so I don’t think you can just ask for furniture.

I’d ask. I’d consider if if I was a landlord. They might / will put the rent up though. Could you furnish off Facebook market place ?

I think it's unlikely a landlord would want to go to the effort of supplying and maintaining it, particularly when there's a high chance the next tenant will have their own furniture and they'll then need to empty it again. Better to sort yourself. In the context of rent/deposits etc it wouldn't cost much to get some secondhand furniture.

You don't want to do that, trust me!

The world is full of unscrupulous landlords/ chancers who offer 'furnished' flats then fill them with decrepid/ half-broken/ uncomfortable/ impractical/ ugly furniture (which the unfortunate tenants then have to live with whether they like it or not - and potentially get charged if anything falls apart while they're living there).

You'd be far better off (financially as well as mentally) renting an unfurnished place and then sourcing your own furniture. Which can be pretty cheap - if you check out free ads, charity shops (which often deliver for a small charge) and ask friends.

Why are you so keen to get a furnished flat?

If you rent a furnished flat all your furniture has been used by 3 or 4 families at least before you, so that's the benchmark for acquiring furniture.

Rent the unfurnished flat. Go to your nearest charity shop furniture warehouse which is full of pretty good quality stuff. You will be able to pick up the basics very cheap, including delivery - much cheaper than the additional rent a landlord would charge you for sourcing furniture in exactly the same way.

When your tenancy period ends you can donate the stiff back to the same charity and will still be better off than with a furnished let.

I've only ever rented furnished flats so far. I'm sure it happens, but this hasn't been my experience, the furniture has all been fine (and sometimes nicer than fine). If I went for a viewing and the furniture was ugly, impractical or half-broken, I wouldn't rent the flat.

I'm single with no kids, looking for a one-bed, so it won't have been used by families.

We rent out a flat and have been flexible on furnished / unfurnished. It will depend on if the LL has stuff to go in there I’d have thought. They’re probably not going to want to buy stuff for you.

You’ve said yourself there’s barely anything coming up. Supply and demand for rented properties is out of whack and I’d suspect the landlord will be inundated with people wanting it. Locally there’s 15 plus applications for every rental with people begging to be chosen and offering six months rent up front, etc.

i Really doubt the landlord would bother

Where do you imagine they will acquire the furniture?

There is stuff regularly coming up, just mostly not stuff I personally would want.

Get what you need off Freecycle/marketplace pages/local facebook pages/Olio for free

We had a furnished flat and had to clear everything out as the tenants wanted their own furniture in!

In 2 local towns the hospice charity have large stores selling furniture of all descriptions, some old, some new, some cheap, some expensive. There is also a BHF in an old supermarket, you could easily furnish a flat fairly cheaply and they will deliver. Some of the hospice shops also sell furniture, the closest to me does a steady trade in sofas, tables and bookcases. I'm rather more picky now, than in my youth, so would always want a new mattress.

What about ask for part furnished. They could put really basic furniture in, like a bed and a chair and a table.
The sort of stuff a bedsit would have.