is there any law what constitutes furnished flat?

[petemurphy]

Hi,

Is there a minimum list of furniture that needs to be in a flat for it to be rented as furnished?


Thanks

[illmonkey]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It's a bit harsh to put a chair in the lounge and say furnished.

But a viewing/check-list will sort out what it comes with.

[Soovy]

No.

Next.

[petemurphy]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

well not so much a law but a list of recommended min furniture.

other half has a flat where we have taken out an l shaped sofa and replaced with a 3 seater one. this is a 2 bed flat and theyre complaining they should have another sofa. they have 4 chairs and a table and a wicker chair thinghy in the lounge too.

wondered if there was a min list i could point out to them

[paulshears]

not sure on the law

When I was looking for a flat the furnished one went right from next to nowt .... to looking like someone's moved on & left everything

Stopped wasting my time looking at furnished flats & looked at un-furnished flats & found a good one pretty quick

Had to get some cash from the bank for bed, sofa, etc. though

[jimmyjam]

I think the heading is misleading. There is no law about what level of furniture constitutes furnished (unless its referencing unfurnished for council tax exemption purposes).
However, more your problem is that you have changed the level of furnishing during a tenancy. This could be deemed as unfair to provide a large sofa, which they saw when they first let the flat and have enjoyed during the tenancy. To then replace it with something smaller is essentially lesser goods and therefore I think they have a case.

Edited by jimmyjam on Tuesday 23 November 12:46

[Magic919]

What about fully furnished? :-)

[anonymous-user]

Just be reasonable and negotiate without coming across as an arse then all should be fine...

[petemurphy]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

girlfriend used to live there she now lives with me so wanted her expensive habitat sofa here. The sofa we put in there is perfectly nice. Dont have much cash at the mo so dont really want to have to get another sofa. I think they will be ok but wondered if theres a list that we can direct them to saying we have already provided much more than normal etc

[jimmyjam]

petemurphy said:

but wondered if theres a list that we can direct them to saying we have already provided much more than normal etc

No

[petemurphy]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

sort of - theyve been there a year with the l shape one but now we want the nice stuff in our flat dont think thats unreasonable. suppose you're right re cost of 1 months rent v sofa.

[Rude-boy]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Read, digested and posting to agree with Tonker. If you haven't got an inventory then I would also suggest that you sort one out now as well. It might sound stupid but something like this can really cause issues with tennants.

[petemurphy]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

nope why should i? no not really the fact is they had way more stuff ( and v nice stuff ) than normal to start with and its just a mare to say oh we want it back now. tbh whole thing needs looking at I'll let her sort it out as they dont pay enough rent etc!

[touching cloth]

An offer made to rent a furnished flat is based on many factors, the flat itself obviously but also the quality and quantity of stuff in it - there isn't a "standard" and their offer might have been more than they would normally have paid for it, but justified based on it being well appointed. You are trying to make a change to that and they are a bit miffed - quite within their rights IMO. You can't argue that a sofa is a sofa is a sofa when you yourselves want the better one.

[Spitfire2]

Agree with the bulk of responses here. If flat was let and lease agreed based on the standard of furnishings (sofa) and you have removed it then you have changed the terms.

I understand why they would feel a bit shafted.

Landlord not playing fair in my view. If the tenants are not paying enough rent who's fault is that? - clue : not theirs

[spikeyhead]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Lets try putting the shoes on the other foot.

Say you'd gone to view a flat that had a knackered bed in. You say you'll take teh flat if the landlord puts a decent bed in and they agree.

You move into the flat and are happy that all is good. After being there a few months the bed is changed to a poor one.

Would you:-

a) think that's perfectly acceptable
b) phone the landlord and complain
c) throw a can of redbull

[Rude-boy]

FWIW when I was renting in 2002 one of the reasons I went for the place I ended up renting was because the sofa was a sofa bed and I knew I would needed a second bed every so often throughout the let when the then g/f and her kids were coming down to look at houses and so on.

No sofa bed would have seen me spending £100pcm more on a 2 bed let.

[john_p]

petemurphy said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

sort of - theyve been there a year with the l shape one but now we want the nice stuff in our flat dont think thats unreasonable. suppose you're right re cost of 1 months rent v sofa.

So did you just rock up there one day with a van after one year of tenancy and go "we're having that sofa .. here's a smaller replacement"

Yeah, I'd be rather peeved if you did that to me.

[Spitfire2]

john_p said:

petemurphy said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

sort of - theyve been there a year with the l shape one but now we want the nice stuff in our flat dont think thats unreasonable. suppose you're right re cost of 1 months rent v sofa.

So did you just rock up there one day with a van after one year of tenancy and go "we're having that sofa .. here's a smaller replacement"

Yeah, I'd be rather peeved if you did that to me.

This is what it sounds like and assuming this is the case it's well out of order.

Edited by Spitfire2 on Tuesday 23 November 16:12