When you are looking for a flat or house to rent, you’ll notice that you have to make one choice before starting to look in earnest – whether to rent somewhere that comes furnished or unfurnished.

Renting a furnished place makes a lot of sense as it means that you don’t have to worry about the extra expense of buying furniture, getting it delivered and choosing things that you can take with you to your next home.
However, some of the furnished flats that are on the market have furniture that you’d rather not live with and it can be a pain if you already own some furniture and won’t have enough room for it. And there’s also the fact that the rent is higher on furnished properties.

With today’s reasonable furniture prices, buying furniture for a rental flat shouldn’t cost too much. Almost everywhere you look, there’s a furniture sale on somewhere and you can get some real bargains if you search for them.

When you’re choosing furniture for an unfurnished place, get the basics first before you buy niceties like coffee tables and bookcases. Start with what you need to function properly – a bed, a dining table and chairs, a sofa, somewhere to stand the TV. You’ll also need white goods like a washing machine and fridge freezer – although some landlords supply these even though they advertise the property as unfurnished.

When picking out furniture, try to buy with the future in mind. You want to buy furniture that will suit any style property, as you don’t know what future homes you will live in. Going for classic and timeless choices like oak and pine furniture means that the pieces you choose will suit other places that you live in, as well as the rental you are buying them for today. You can find solid wooden furnishings in many a furniture sale – both online and on the high street.

Overall, it’s probably best to go down the unfurnished route, unless you know you are going to be relocating to another area of the country in a very short time.