How to dress and furnish a rental property
Tuesday, 15 February 2011 5:13 PM
Stella Savage, director of property furnishing company Fully Furnished, explains the key factors to take into account when furnishing a rental property. Interview by Ele Cooper.
1. Dressing your property with furniture makes it more desirable to prospective tenants
"When there's a unit with, say, three available apartments, the property that has furniture in there will look more attractive in the marketing material and people will generally take that apartment over the empty ones, even if it is being let as an unfurnished property. Also, landlords can rent furniture just for the marketing period and then say to the tenant, 'You can either have it furnished or unfurnished.' It opens them up to two different markets."
2. Base how thoroughly you dress your rental property on the type of tenant you want to attract
"If you're demanding quite a high rent and you want to minimise your void period, it's a good idea to go above and beyond with regards to dressing. But I don’t necessarily think that details like whether you're going to supply bed linen and towels will make or break a deal - particularly if you're a smaller, regional landlord. If you've dressed the property with lots of artwork and extra details but you're actually planning to take most of it away once a deal has been agreed, discussions need to take place to make sure the tenants are aware that this will happen."
3. Think carefully about how much furniture you want to provide in a rental property
"This will vary from person to person: while basic furniture requirements - for example a bed in the bedroom - obviously need to be met, some tenants will ask for a full kitchen pack, a Hoover and so on. The bigger landlords in London prefer not to go into that kind of detail because you might find that a tenant walks off with something and they then have to replace it. Supplying lots of smaller items is hard to keep track of, inventory-wise."
4. It's better to buy pricier, better-quality furniture that will last in a rental property
"I'm an advocate of the saying 'If you buy cheap, you buy twice'. Scrimping on the furniture isn't economical in the long run: it's far better to invest in good-quality, solid furniture that's going to last for a minimum of four years, then you don’t have to be time-wasting, running to IKEA and building new furniture every time something gets damaged. If a good-quality table gets scratched, you can just rub it down and repair it - it's more economical to do that than replace it."
5. Neutral designs will widen your property's appeal
"I always advise clients to go for the neutral option, particularly in the main reception rooms, because then you broaden your market. If you've got a neutral colour scheme in your tables, chairs and sofas, you can always change the look and feel by using colour in the cushions and rugs. The areas where you can have a bit more fun are the media rooms, which are popular these days in larger houses, and children's bedrooms."
6. Take advantage of the wear and tear allowance
"The Inland Revenue has a wear and tear allowance whereby if a landlord furnishes a residential property they get up to ten per cent net rent back, and if they replace an item, they can claim the net cost of the replacement piece." (For more information on this, visit Hmrc.gov.uk)
Stella Savage is the director of Fully Furnished, which provides furnishing solutions to the property industry. The company provides sale packs and rental furniture to the relocation market, and is the UK's number one in providing emergency furniture to people suffering forced/emergency relocation. To find out more, visit Fully-Furnished.com.
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