Furnished / Squatters rights.

Shelli2

I am currently looking for a house to rent. I have a lot of my own furniture and other bits and pieces. My Dad (who is a landlord himself on another property) says that most places won't let you bring your own furniture as this gives you squatters rights and it's hard to get rid of tenants if they cause trouble, don't pay etc.
I'm not entirely convinced by this. :rolleyes:
Can anyone shed some light on the subject?

I know that with places that are already furnished the landlord may not want to remove a lot of stuff that he would then have to store, but I have been in contact with one or two places that are currently being redecorated, are advertised as furnished but the furniture has not yet been purchased. Surely me having my own stuff would save the landlord some time and money??

J-blk

I very much doubt it has anything to do with squatters' rights TBH. It takes something like 12 years to gain squatters' rights AFAIK and a tenant/landlord relationship with a lease and regular rent payments would work against gaining any such rights, etc.

I'm not sure what the deal is with the places you've seen that are currently un-furnished and intend to get furniture in, but for most places here it's just the "norm" and probably easiest for most landlords to rent places out that way (I still find this odd TBH, as I've lived in other mainland Europe countries and it is normal for almost every place to be completely un-furnished, no appliances or anything even).

the_syco

There's an "unfurnished" search option on Daft.ie

Xiney

that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

We have quite a bit of our own furniture - on account of most apartments having no bookcases, desks, dvd shelves etc. We even have our own coffee table since one place didn't have one (bizarre!)

JuliusCaesar

AFAIK, an unfurnished flat entitles the tenant to greater rights. Unfurnished means no beds, no chairs - no basic furniture. You may be able to ask a LL to allow you move in your own furniture (or supplementary bits and pieces) but the flat/apartment will still be let 'furnished'.

John C

Where I live most of the rented flats are unfurnished at the time of letting.
When people move in, they bring their own furniture, crockery, cutlery, kettles and more.
In my first unfurnished flat there was neither a tap nor drainage in the kitchenette. I hired a plumber at my own expense.

I have read only a few legal cases here where a landlord sues for rent arrears and even eviction. Furnished or unfurnished was only secondary or not mentioned.

The factors a judge asks:
- what was agreed in the written rental agreement
- how much does this tenant really owe
- how many dependents has the tenant

- his ability to pay these arrears
among other questions

Germany is not Ireland.

Victor

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

AFAIK, an unfurnished flat entitles the tenant to greater rights.

I've never heard of anything like this.

shoegirl

Xiney wrote: »

that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

We have quite a bit of our own furniture - on account of most apartments having no bookcases, desks, dvd shelves etc. We even have our own coffee table since one place didn't have one (bizarre!)

Same here. The bareness of many flats on my leaving sometimes shocked me. It goes beyond coffee tables too, in my last place there was nothing in the bedroom beyond a bed and wardrobe and some tiny shelving - not even a chest of drawers, nothing. Its very common.

Most landlords don't think very much about furnishings. Often they just throw in old furniture they don't want, or something very cheap, and don't replace it until tenants complain. Minimal is very common, esp in places with little space.

conorhal

In contrast to places like Germany most flats here are advertised as furnished, I can't imagine it's a problem if you have some of your own stuff, and it does not afford you squatters rights, plenty of people bring items of furniture with them, from study desks to book cases.

As to why a landlord would be reluctant to have a tenant furnish a place that has been advertised as furnished, from personal experience people can have a habit of leaving behind (dumping) old furniture that will then cost a landlord money to remove. Also, what does a landlord do with the existing furniture? I highly doubt that they would want to go to the expense and hassle of putting it in to storage to accommodate your furniture so you would be better off looking to rent a place unfurnished.

Most places are rented furnished because that's the easiest way to let them, unlike Germany we don't have a renting culture where people see their rented accomodation as their home rather then a temporary stop gap to buying.

LittleBook

I must admit, I have heard that (from my Dad too!) about unfurnished tenancies giving more security to the tenant but I've never been able to find anything which proves it's more than a myth. So I suspect it USED to be the case that there were implications for security of tenancy.

As conor said, the attitude to renting in Ireland is different from that of continental Europe where long term renting is common whereas in Ireland people opt(ed) to buy rather than rent for a long time. In France most places would only have a kitchen sink and bathroom fittings, that's it!

It's simply easier to rent out a furnished flat when you know that most people do not have their own furniture and you'll probably be looking for another tenant in 1-2 years. A landlord might accommodate a tenant who wishes to move in their own furniture but I would imagine it would be a bit of a headache.

antoinolachtnai

There used to be more tenancy rights for unfurnished but this distinction appears to have been removed by the 2004 Act.

There is some unfurnished rental stock in the posher areas of Dublin but do not be surprised if there is a premium to it.

There is just not that much Market for unfurnished accommodation.

Still if you find a landlord who is renovating and has no existing furniture he would certainly be happy to defer buying furniture until the second let.

conorhal

LittleBook wrote: »

I must admit, I have heard that (from my Dad too!) about unfurnished tenancies giving more security to the tenant but I've never been able to find anything which proves it's more than a myth. So I suspect it USED to be the case that there were implications for security of tenancy.

As conor said, the attitude to renting in Ireland is different from that of continental Europe where long term renting is common whereas in Ireland people opt(ed) to buy rather than rent for a long time. In France most places would only have a kitchen sink and bathroom fittings, that's it!

It's simply easier to rent out a furnished flat when you know that most people do not have their own furniture and you'll probably be looking for another tenant in 1-2 years. A landlord might accommodate a tenant who wishes to move in their own furniture but I would imagine it would be a bit of a headache.

I find the continental method a bit mad, a mate of mine was renting in Munich a few years back and he had to buy everything from the previous tenant, and I mean everything from the fitted kitchen cupboards to the light fixtures. If he moved it was his intention to sell them on to the next tenant, but what if you couldn't find somebody to buy? Renting a place like that is a bit like buying half a house, so you'd want to be renting long term because if your a highly mobile migrant then renting on the continent is an awful lot of hassle.

bugler

The Irish rental market is geared toward a transient tenant who probably won't stay put for longer than a couple of years at most. There is little thought given to grown adults who might be willing to rent by choice.

Instead, renting is viewed as something only people who can't afford to buy do. There is a generally low opinion of renters (view any residents newsletter). And they are likely to be students, or welfare recipients.

There are plenty of good rental properties around, it's a shame a lot of them are atrociously decorated for as little outlay as possible. But that is Ireland's renting culture.

axer

conorhal wrote: »

I find the continental method a bit mad, a mate of mine was renting in Munich a few years back and he had to buy everything from the previous tenant, and I mean everything from the fitted kitchen cupboards to the light fixtures. If he moved it was his intention to sell them on to the next tenant, but what if you couldn't find somebody to buy? Renting a place like that is a bit like buying half a house, so you'd want to be renting long term because if your a highly mobile migrant then renting on the continent is an awful lot of hassle.

I did Germany too and when we moved into our apartment there wasn't even light bulb fittings not to mention light bulbs. It was a pain in the ass for us as we had to buy a full kitchen too and to make things worse it meant repainting the kitchen even though we were in that particular apartment only 6 months.