Fully or part furnished?

[Elouera]

We will be renting out our central London flat and ideally would leave beds, sofa, fridge, washing machine etc. Is there any benefit to also leaving a large TV and extras like a microwave/vacuum, or just not worth the hassle is things break? Is there any demand for fully furnished and what exactly is normally included?

Fully furnished doesn't generally include TVs. As to demand it depends on price point and market - families generally want to have their own stuff, young adults fully furnished

It's not worth leaving expensive to replace items which aren't essential and can break (ie TVs) unless you write in a special clause to say that you are leaving the TV, microwave and hoover for the tenant's use and they have no liability to replace it but nor do you. Otherwise, it's easier not to leave them.

If you have someone who wants anything left, they are likely to want the fridge and washing machine.

For the beds and sofa, I guess it depends who you have in - the problem is that if the stuff is nice and in good condition, you may not want it potentially damaged and if it isn't, a tenant probably won't want it!

Some good points, thanks. Its more of an adults flat, with easy access to the city, rather than for a small family, but really depends who is looking at the time.

I would take them out. People are more inclined to look after things that they own.

When i put my flat on the market i was told by several estate agents to market with no furniture. But one said leave it and market it for both. Both times its gone on the market I have rented it within a week whilst other flats in the block have stayed on the market for weeks. But agree don't put anything too expensive in it that would cost a lot to replace. We did leave the TV but it's an older model that wouldn't cost too much to replace.

From experience I'd never let fully or part furnished again. I left a sofa in pretty good condition but for a small rip on one cushion. Within a year, the tenant was saying she wanted a new sofa. When I saw it she'd virtually shredded it - absolutely no way it could have been wear and tear. Unfortunately, my letting agent seemed to look after the tenant's interests more than mine and was fighting her corner. It became more hassle than it was worth for me to keep having the argument. This was never a letting business for me, I was renting it out when I moved in with DP and held on to it for a bit of security until we were ready to buy together. We were always going to sell it eventually so didn't want to be paying out for a new sofa so it just brought the decision to sell forward and I ended up serving notice. Lesson learned.

There is a market in London for fully furnished flats and fully equipped (including new bedding, towels, crockery, small electrical appliances, even pictures on the walls and a few artfully placed nicknacks), eg corporate lets, people coming to work for a year or two but not permanently relocating etc If your flat appeals to that market and is in the right location, it might be worth offering it as fully furnished. You might achieve a higher rent.

You do then have the added headache of being responsible for fixing/replacing things if they go wrong though.