Rentals: unfurnished properties

Mr.Wemmick

Moving back to Ireland after quite a few years away and I am curious to know why there are so few unfurnished properties to rent.

We have all our own furniture: beds, sofa, washing machine, dryer, fridge etc. but it seems that most properties in Ireland are semi or fully-furnished. In your experience of renting, is this always the case?

I am beginning to wonder if we are going to have difficulty in finding a property, or when the time comes, have very few to choose from

MagicMarker

I've never heard of or seen a property to rent in Ireland that came unfurnished. You'd be better off selling your stuff.

ResearchWill

its rare, but they are available, more so in the upper end of the market. But do a advanced search on www.daft.ie and say no to furnished, should show up a few.

I don't know why there are so few unfurnished properties, I rent out an apartment that's part furnished (living room furniture and bed in main bathroom) but the house that I rent is unfurnished which I much prefer, I like sleeping in "my own bed"!

They are out there, but just not too many.

Jehuty42

It's again down to the attitude in Ireland that renting is for young people and students, where the property is just a place to crash and sleep in, and not necessarily a home.

Just go to viewings of furnished places and ask the landlord if he'd be willing to put his stuff in storage while you're renting the place. Will save him money in wear-and-tear.

Mr.Wemmick

Totally agree! I wish to sleep in my own bed, sit on my own sofa and drink tea out of my own mugs/cups.

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't know why there are so few unfurnished properties, I rent out an apartment that's part furnished (living room furniture and bed in main bathroom) but the house that I rent is unfurnished which I much prefer, I like sleeping in "my own bed"!

They are out there, but just not too many.

Lyn256

You can get unfurnished rentals but its not easy.
The property that we rent is unfurnished-like some of the other posters-while renting I wanted the luxury of my own sofa/table/chairs and you couldn't pay me to sleep on another mattress in a rental property.
We got lucky with our landlord-he was willing to remove and store most of his own stuff. Saying that we have his fridge and washing machine as we sold ours as part of our house sale.

On a side note, after weeks of dealing with agents and trawling through daft.ie to find somewhere suitable to live I eventually got our property through advertising on the notice board in our local Superquinn!!

P. Breathnach

I'm not up to speed on this, but I know that some years ago the tenants of unfurnished properties had far more legal security of tenure than had the tenants of furnished lettings.

CricketDude

When I rented I used to only rent unfurnished. They were very hard to find though.

Mr.Wemmick

I do find it strange that there is, in the main, only one type of property available: furnished. Looking at Daft and seeing some upmarket properties with quite high rents, one would assume if you have the money to rent a property of that standard, you would have and want your own furniture in there
Or families with children requiring their own furniture which meets the needs of the family.. or, as written here in previous posts, those of us who just want to sleep in our own beds.

In Northern Ireland and the UK there are lots of unfurnished properties to rent and the furnished properties allocated mostly for the young workers/student population with house/flat shares in mind.

Having lived in Europe too and rented there, it's the same: rent a property and then move your furniture in.

The housing market in Ireland has changed dramatically over the years and as a result more and more people need rented accommodation. You would think there would be more of a balance between furnished and unfurnished and to me, at least, it is strange that there isn't.

CricketDude

Mr.Wemmick wrote: »

I do find it strange that there is, in the main, only one type of property available: furnished. Looking at Daft and seeing some upmarket properties with quite high rents, one would assume if you have the money to rent a property of that standard, you would have and want your own furniture in there
Or families with children requiring their own furniture which meets the needs of the family.. or, as written here in previous posts, those of us who just want to sleep in our own beds.

In Northern Ireland and the UK there are lots of unfurnished properties to rent and the furnished properties allocated mostly for the young workers/student population with house/flat shares in mind.

Having lived in Europe too and rented there, it's the same: rent a property and then move your furniture in.

The housing market in Ireland has changed dramatically over the years and as a result more and more people need rented accommodation. You would think there would be more of a balance between furnished and unfurnished and to me, at least, it is strange that there isn't.

i think the reason its not more available here is that most people would like unfurnished but then when they realize they have to actually buy their own furniture they arent prepared to. so if a landlord was to have unfurnished then he might find it a lot harder to rent.

my friend let an apartment and the tenant asked could he take his own furniture. he said yes and moved the furniture into his garage. i helped him. it took half the day. then 6 months later the guy in the apartment moved out. before he could let it he had to move the furniture back in again.

it was a hassle for him to store the furniture. imagine someone who doesnt have available storage doing the same thing.

but the advantages to a tenant, if they are prepared to invest the first time in their own furniture is you get what YOU like and not the drab hard wearing stuff thats usually in there. and you always have your own bed, couch, table etc. if i told you what my friend has had to clean off tables, couches and beds before letting again you would get sick. yet people renting think they are clean enough. if only they knew the history of what they are eating off and sitting and sleeping in.

Mr.Wemmick

CricketDude wrote: »

i think the reason its not more available here is that most people would like unfurnished but then when they realize they have to actually buy their own furniture they arent prepared to. so if a landlord was to have unfurnished then he might find it a lot harder to rent.

my friend let an apartment and the tenant asked could he take his own furniture. he said yes and moved the furniture into his garage. i helped him. it took half the day. then 6 months later the guy in the apartment moved out. before he could let it he had to move the furniture back in again.

it was a hassle for him to store the furniture. imagine someone who doesnt have available storage doing the same thing.

but the advantages to a tenant, if they are prepared to invest the first time in their own furniture is you get what YOU like and not the drab hard wearing stuff thats usually in there. and you always have your own bed, couch, table etc. if i told you what my friend has had to clean off tables, couches and beds before letting again you would get sick. yet people renting think they are clean enough. if only they knew the history of what they are eating off and sitting and sleeping in.

..and therein lies the problem of renting furnished properties: not many seem to respect furniture when it doesn't belong to them and landlords have the bother of a huge clean up and repair/renew furniture again and again. Far better for a landlord to have a tenant with their own stuff - the likelihood then being, the tenant taking good care of their own furniture will also take better care of the landlord's property.

Furniture is not as costly to buy for a first time renter - not as much as it use to be anyway - and you can get by with the basics to begin with and buy more as you go.

It was unfortunate that your friend had a bad experience of a 6 month turn around but I wouldn't have thought that was typical. Most renters if going to the bother of putting all their furniture into a property are unlikely to upsticks and move on so quickly as it's too much hassle. I would have thought too that most landlords would ask for a yearly lease, no? Especially if they do not want the bother of having to clean, re-advertise and find another tenant.

5uspect

In a similar position ourselves. Most likely moving back towards the end of the year for a new job. We're starting to keep an eye on places now to get an idea of what is available since unfurnished is so rare.

It's not a problem in London where there is a mature rental market.
Ireland however is all about house shares with crappy furniture and beds.

BailMeOut

In same sitiatuion renting unfurnished. Look for empty houses for sale and offer to rent. There will be lots to choose from.


What part of Ireland are you returning to. Pm me if you want as went through process a couple years ago.

5uspect

BailMeOut wrote: »

In same sitiatuion renting unfurnished. Look for empty houses for sale and offer to rent. There will be lots to choose from.


What part of Ireland are you returning to. Pm me if you want as went through process a couple years ago.

Now there's an idea!

Mr.Wemmick

Moving to North County Dublin.

Thanks BailMeOut, will PM you

BailMeOut wrote: »

In same sitiatuion renting unfurnished. Look for empty houses for sale and offer to rent. There will be lots to choose from.


What part of Ireland are you returning to. Pm me if you want as went through process a couple years ago.

Gin77

Same problem we moved back from Europe lock stock and barrell cost a fortune in shipping.
Down here in the south east difficult to find unfurnished property but to add another twist need a garage as well for my motorbike.
When you have kids its better to use your own furniture eh?
Most people converted there garages during the boom in order to increase the value and now theres a short fall.