Would tenants and landlords welcome the roll-out of unfurnished accommodation

pxdf9i5cmoavkz

The_Conductor wrote: »

Honestly- I genuinely think unfurnished rentals are the way to go.
I fail to comprehend how/why furnished rentals are still in vogue in Ireland and the UK in the 21st Century- it simply makes no sense for a significant cohort of tenants and landlords.

I genuinely think there would be a lot of tenants and landlords- only too happy- to let/rent unfurnished units.

jamesthepeach wrote: »

The problem with unfurnished is that there needs to be a nice chunk of the market both looking and letting.
It's a chicken and egg situation. Not enough people want unfurnished so it's not there. But if there were a lot of unfurnished places on the market then people would find it easy to move from unfurnished to unfurnished.

Also there are rules that don't allow a landlord to actually let unfurnished anyway.

I have seen places let without a mattress more and more lately. A good thing in my view as tenants always would be happy with have their own mattress and tbh mattresses should only be used by the one person/couple and never recycled to another person.

Also a landlord will only buy the cheapest lowest quality mattress they can get anyway as it has to be thrown out after almost every tenant anyway.
For some reason tenants take of the protector and then put it back on before they leave.

We should make a website asking this simple question and see what the population of Ireland says.

The_Conductor

Angelo Shapely Taco wrote: »

We should make a website asking this simple question and see what the population of Ireland says.

Simple poll added to this thread for you.

The_Conductor

On foot of the Threshold thread- where I put up a simple poll on whether people would welcome 'unfurnished' dwellings in the rental market- I thought it might be helpful to have a more comprehensive discussion on it here.

New poll options added. Feel free to add any comments you might have (below).

riffmongous

The contract situation would need to change too. Where I live it's the norm, but so are 5-10+ year contracts.

jimmycrackcorm

It won't work very well unless there is a mass traction in such supply. People will be reluctant to invest significantly in their own furnishings when the availability is limited. Someone, either tenant or landlord will have to deal with storage otherwise which makes it unattractive.

It's also a restriction for many cases where the rentals are by shared tenants.

I don't foresee any great uptake in the near future.

The_Conductor

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

It won't work very well unless there is a mass traction in such supply. People will be reluctant to invest significantly in their own furnishings when the availability is limited. Someone, either tenant or landlord will have to deal with storage otherwise which makes it unattractive.

It's also a restriction for many cases where the rentals are by shared tenants.

I don't foresee any great uptake in the near future.

Honestly- I think this will be driven by tenants moreso than by landlords.
I 'get' what you're saying about storage- at least, initially- however, once a landlord makes a conscious decision to let a unit unfurnished- leave it unfurnished in perpetuity?

Tenants- have been sporadically seeking unfurnished accommodation- including in executive class lettings- since the 1970s. There was a long running joke about Apple renting a warehouse to store unsuitable furniture that some of their US staff insisted on bringing to Ireland- but our rooms/doorways were too small for them..........

There definitely is demand out there- to what extent- I don't know- but I honestly think the critical mass that you speak of, most probably is there 'as-is'.

Lumen

The_Conductor wrote: »

There was a long running joke about Apple renting a warehouse to store unsuitable furniture that some of their US staff insisted on bringing to Ireland- but our rooms/doorways were too small for them..........

My neighbours have just moved here from California.

They brought a range of televisual devices. The one in the master bedroom is 80". That's a lot of inches for a bedroom. :pac:

Their 135" projector is currently out of service as there aren't any rooms big enough for it.

pxdf9i5cmoavkz

The_Conductor wrote: »

Simple poll added to this thread for you.

It's a start. Though I'm seriously considering going all out with this.

The_Conductor

Angelo Shapely Taco wrote: »

It's a start. Though I'm seriously considering going all out with this.

I did a more comprehensive 10 option poll in a separate thread- it deserves its own thread.........

Edit: Thread merge and tidyup

Sueffun

I live in South Africa and all rental accommodation here is unfurnished. What do you do with your own furniture if you want to rent in Ireland? We are hoping to retire there soon and at the moment have a huge amount of " stuff". Some I will sell but it still leaves a lot and then what do you with the furniture that comes with the rental.
I find that whole concept rather strange, do people not buy their own things if they rent?

The_Conductor

Sueffun wrote: »

I live in South Africa and all rental accommodation here is unfurnished. What do you do with your own furniture if you want to rent in Ireland? We are hoping to retire there soon and at the moment have a huge amount of " stuff". Some I will sell but it still leaves a lot and then what do you with the furniture that comes with the rental.
I find that whole concept rather strange, do people not buy their own things if they rent?

There isn't really an issue with tenants trying to store furniture- for the simple reason- its not a scenario many tenants have encountered. The multinationals do normally help tenants out with storage- there is a story about when Apple opened in Cork- how they had to rent a warehouse for all the furntiure that their US staff brought over with them.

A big issue for people coming from the US, ZA and other places- is Irish residential units- tend to be very small by international standards. A lot of US people who moved over here with furniture recently (there have been quite a few)- have found they are unable to either get furniture into their apartments at all- or it simply is too large for the rooms they imagined it would fit in.

There are companies that specialise in second hand furniture- including some lovely colonial Dutch furniture shops etc- where you can get really nice second hand furniture (its not cheap though!!!)

pxdf9i5cmoavkz

Sueffun wrote: »

I live in South Africa and all rental accommodation here is unfurnished. What do you do with your own furniture if you want to rent in Ireland? We are hoping to retire there soon and at the moment have a huge amount of " stuff". Some I will sell but it still leaves a lot and then what do you with the furniture that comes with the rental.
I find that whole concept rather strange, do people not buy their own things if they rent?

Hello fellow South African from Durban.

Personally I would sell all of your stuff since you can source everything you need in Ireland or from the EU. Keep a few sentimental items and get rid of the rest. It's just stuff that adds unnecessary stress to your life.

Would it be possible for you to buy a place instead of renting? Or is your plan to rent while you look for a place to buy?

Hoekom wil jy in Ierland aftree? Dis koud!

Sueffun

Sueffun wrote: »

I find that whole concept rather strange, do people not buy their own things if they rent?

The vast majority of rentals in Ireland are fully furnished so aside from things like tv's, bedroom desk etc tenants don't buy furnature nor would many want to either. I do see some people in this fourm say they would want this but my feeing is the vast majority don't as they see renting as a short term thing before they buy and don't want buying furnature until they buy their own place.

Emerald Bitter Bellboy

Emerald Bitter Bellboy wrote: »

The vast majority of rentals in Ireland are fully furnished so aside from things like tv's, bedroom desk etc tenants don't buy furnature nor would many want to either. I do see some people in this fourm say they would want this but my feeing is the vast majority don't as they see renting as a short term thing before they buy and don't want buying furnature until they buy their own place.

People may traditionally have seen renting as a short term thing before they buy, but thats no longer the case. Professional couples in their thirties are struggling to find deposits. I'll be pushing 40 before I have my own place. I've been renting for 15 years already.

I'd be 100% for an increase in unfurnished rentals out there.

Sueffun

Angelo Shapely Taco wrote: »

Sueffun wrote: »

I live in South Africa and all rental accommodation here is unfurnished. What do you do with your own furniture if you want to rent in Ireland? We are hoping to retire there soon and at the moment have a huge amount of " stuff". Some I will sell but it still leaves a lot and then what do you with the furniture that comes with the rental.
I find that whole concept rather strange, do people not buy their own things if they rent?

Hello fellow South African from Durban.

Personally I would sell all of your stuff since you can source everything you need in Ireland or from the EU. Keep a few sentimental items and get rid of the rest. It's just stuff that adds unnecessary stress to your life.

Would it be possible for you to buy a place instead of renting? Or is your plan to rent while you look for a place to buy?

Hoekom wil jy in Ierland aftree? Dis koud!

Thank you for your reply, very interesting discussion. I have quite a few things I want to keep at least one container full.
We will more than likely buy, we came over in May and I loved Cork, prefer the East but prices are much higher than a West Cork, don't want to be more than an hour from a big city, especially for the son that will still be with us.
I'm actually British, emigrated to S.Africa in 1980, things are not looking great here with all the corruption and violence, it's quite scary and I would like to leave before the Rand falls further.
Our three sons want to emigrate, one has already applied to Canada. Living in Ireland would make visiting them so much easier.
I don't mind the weather, hubby not so keen but we will manage. We have PPS numbers already .

Sueffun

I understood your Afrikaans but I can't write a reply in it

mirrorwall14

I ticked that I'm not a tenant or a landlord but I was a tenant until 8 months ago and lived in a semi furnished for five years. It was liberating and brilliant getting ready for buying our own place. Landlord had one double bed, coffee table, hall table, single bed and kitchen table. That was it. And he was happy for us to store all of that bar the double bed in the shed. House had white goods (microwave, cooker, washing machine, fridge). We bought our own tumble dryer.

I loved it. 100% the best place we ever rented even if it wasn't the prettiest

TheDoc

Massive no from me, i nthe current climate.

If we could wave a magic wand and change the culture and the landscape where that was the situation, I'd say everyone would be happier. Less risk and associated cost for landlords, more responsibility and liability on tenants both buying and then looking after their own ****.

But in the current climate, there is no incentive to take an unfurnished property when you can get one easily furnished in full. Landlords renting unfurnished are looking for the same price as landlords who furnish, so sorry, thats taking the piss. In the current climate as a landlord you go unfurnished and go below market rate passing on the fact you are making savings and reduced cost and risk. You can't have it both ways. A tenant would be short sighted getting unfurnished and kitting it out, likely having to move in a few years and run into issues with with costs of transport, nevermind the stuff they've bought not being eligible for a new property.

IT's a rubbish concept in the current scenario, unless provided with genuine incentive to the tenant by way of reduced rate, but in a perfect world, its probably the ideal letting scenario

Lux23

Unfurnished yes, but I would still expect a property to have a cooker, washing machine etc.

LirW

Voted yes, back home you only get to rent unfurnished placed and if there is furniture in, the previous tenant usually wants a payout for it.
It makes the place so much nicer having your stuff in it and you can change it around and put it wherever you want including getting rid of things that you don't want/need anymore.
The thought of living in a place with some lethal furniture that a tight landlord just got out of a skip because he doesn't want to spend the money on it doesn't appeal to me. I really don't wanna sleep on a mattress 10 other people might have slept, ate and banged on on a longer term.

The_Conductor

Lux23 wrote: »

Unfurnished yes, but I would still expect a property to have a cooker, washing machine etc.

It has to have a cooker, washing machine, clothes drying facilities (it doesn't state it has to be a clothes drier- just drying facilities, a Fridge/freezer and a fully wired smoke alarm system with 10 year batteries (aka- the stand alone ones you'll pick up in Woodies etc- do not suffice). It also has to have a fire extinguisher and other emergency precautions (as detailed in the July SI).

When you're renting unfurnished- its not quite a shell- you get the white goods in the kitchen/clothes washing area- the rest of the house is a freshly painted shell.

Having rented both furnished and unfurnished units down the years- personally, I preferred the unfurnished- even if my home was rather spartan for two years- I didnt' have to worry about anything- and if something broke, which inevitably something did every now and then- I didn't stress unduly about it. A lot of the furnishings- and things like oil rads in the winter- were bought second hand at a Sunday fair that used run in Rathmines (think its still on- but I haven't been in Rathmines in the last 15 years).

As for dishes/delf/cutlery etc (a few pyrex bowls and at least one decent pot and pan)- its easier to get these yourself.

the_syco

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

It's also a restriction for many cases where the rentals are by shared tenants.

In Toronto atm, and the places come;
Furnished
Unfurnished
Room unfurnished

The latter being my current setup. So I brought my bed from the last place, and some knives/forks/etc.

Most places don't have the washer/dryer thing, which, unless all bills are included, is grand. Otherwise people doing multiple loads per week would mean the amount of hydro that I'd be paying would be increased.

The great thing is, if I scratch the bed/closet/locker, meh. It's a scratch. And it won't cost me when I leave.

Eric Cartman

I'd like to see some properties here play germany rules for long term rentals.

You can do whatever you want (non structural) , paint whatever colours, bring your own furniture etc... but you have to put it back to how it was when you leave.