Furniture in a rental property

Sometimes we come across clients that would like to place or leave furniture in their rental property, believing it will be beneficial and more attractive for new tenants, and also a way to increase the rent return of their investment.

Certainly if the property is being used for holiday accommodation, short term executive or even for student accommodation then can be quite beneficial. However for a traditional rental property we have found this isn’t a good idea. Here are some reasons why:

Furniture care- other people never tend to look after your possessions the way that you do! A few bumps, scratches and stains isn’t a problem if you do not own it. Unfortunately human nature doesn’t work too well in this instance with the care of your furniture! 

Compensation on damages- it is difficult to get an order of full replacement or fair compensation should a dispute regarding damages make its way into a court or tribunal. This process can be quite disheartening for a property owner as monies awarded (if awarded) are never enough to replace or properly repair an item! 

Restriction of new tenants available- as most tenants have their own furniture, providing the tenant with such items severely restricts the pool of available tenants wanting to rent your property. 

Possible theft issues- a tenant who may require furniture can be more inclined to be ‘transient’ therefore possibly helping themselves to pieces of furniture should they vacate without due notice! 

It is our belief that residential property should be provided vacant and furniture free, and we encourage any clients who may have furniture in a rental property to consider removing/storing or even selling any furniture items should the property become vacant again. 

Property management needs to be as stress free and ‘conflict-proof’ as possible, so that you can enjoy your property investment and property management experience better.