Can a tenant replace sofas in a furnished lease?

seb75

Hello

I have signed a furnished lease in June for two years.
A few weeks into the lease, I have discussions with the landlord because the sofas in the flat are really uncomfortable... My wife has back problems and she can't stay too long on the sofa.

I asked the landlord whether we could buy our own sofa instead but he wants us to pay for storage if we remove the sofas... he does not offer any alternative...

My inventory simply mentions : 3-seater sofa and 2-seater sofa.
If I buy my own sofas and decide to leave them at the end of my tenancy and just give away his sofas to a charity, is there a risk that the landlord can ask me to pay something when I leave?
I don't care leaving my own furniture in there, it's just that we want to be able to enjoy our living room!

Thanks for your help

Seb

Cornucopia

If you want to protect yourself, you need to come to an agreement with the LL now.

G_M

of course.

The furniture is his so you cannot just chuck it away.

Either reach agreement (written) for replacement, or store it yourself to replace when youleave.

Werdnal

How would you like it if someone "borrowed" something of yours, radically changed it in some way and then returned it?

Not on for you to dispose of the LL's property. You took the property as it is and are required to return it in the same condition, less fair wear and tear, which does not include changing the sofas and expecting the LL to accept your replacements!

franklee

It may cost more to store them than they are worth.

You could offer the landlord the value of the sofas now. If you can buy them with the landlord's agreement they will be yours to dispose of. Or if you don't mind upsetting the landlord you could get shot now and settle up at the end of the tenancy when the sofas will be deemed to have had another two years wear and tear and be worth a bit less. You will owe the landlord a fair amount for the loss of the sofas.

To calculate their worth you look at what they would have cost new, work out their expected lifespan and then price them based on that. So if they cost 1,000 and are expected to last ten years and are five years old at the end of the tenancy then you pay 500. See here for examples in calculating apportionment:

http://www.arla.co.uk/information/deposit-protection/betterment-and-apportionment/

I do not think leaving your new sofas is a good offer as if they become the landlords he will be responsible for checking they meet fire regs etc. and he may not like your choice. I'd offer cash so he can buy his own if needed for the next tenant or keep the money if not.

Do the current sofas have all the fire safety labels?

Alternatively buy your wife a chair and store just one sofa elsewhere.

wannahouse

we had this problem in the last house we rented.
the sofas were bought new about 30 years ago, when it was the landlords home, and are still there now, so i think they still think of them as "expensive and new" even though they are incredibly uncomfortable and beginning to fall apart!
we ended up barely spending any time in the lounge as it was very uncomfortable to be in.
same with their "antique " dining chairs that needed new seat pads put in and resprung, as you were basically sitting on the frame edge, and one of the seats even fell through when one of the kids was sitting on it.
the landlords were not interested in hanging any of the furniture at all, despite our polite requests due to discomfort.
The only reason they could get away with it as it was a "quaint" old stone mill and had character..i would never have rented a place with furniture like that if it didn't have other things going for it, but to put it bluntly, alot of landlords are complete tight wads.
we spend our money carefully on our rental flat, but i certainly would not expect any tenant to use a piece of furniture i would not find comfortable or acceptable and i like nice quality stuff, however, i spend my money wisely and buy good quality sofas etc, second hand, so at a fraction of new price, so instead of putting in a nasty argos table or sofa, i can put in very plush, comfortable and attractive pieces without blowing the budget..
unfortunately, your landlord sounds like a tightwad, and behaving like this leads to high tenant turnover, as people can only put up with some things for so long!

franklee

wannahouse, I'd be surprised if sofas 30 years old meet fire safety regs. They should still have the labels on. Didn't the regs change in the late eighties (1988)? Also if you are buying second hand you need to make sure they have the right fire safety labels if you are putting them in a let property alough I think antique furniture is excepted.

aileth

Discuss it with the landlord. My parents had to put some of LL's furniture in storage when they moved into their rented house for the same reasons.

pinkshoes

seb75 wrote: »

Hello

I have signed a furnished lease in June for two years.
A few weeks into the lease, I have discussions with the landlord because the sofas in the flat are really uncomfortable... My wife has back problems and she can't stay too long on the sofa.

I asked the landlord whether we could buy our own sofa instead but he wants us to pay for storage if we remove the sofas... he does not offer any alternative...

My inventory simply mentions : 3-seater sofa and 2-seater sofa.
If I buy my own sofas and decide to leave them at the end of my tenancy and just give away his sofas to a charity, is there a risk that the landlord can ask me to pay something when I leave?
I don't care leaving my own furniture in there, it's just that we want to be able to enjoy our living room!

Thanks for your help

Seb

But surely this is the whole point of a FURNISHED let i.e. it comes with furniture! I've lived in several furnished properties, and have never had a comfy sofa or decent bed! They're usually all cheap stuff!

Just put the sofa in storage and buy your own!

Is there not another room you could put one of the sofas in?

HappyMJ

You will not always be committed to the entire 2 year tenancy. There will usually be a break clause written into the contract. You could consider terminating the lease and moving into an unfurnished property and buying the furniture yourself.

dancingfairy

Clearly it would be in both parties interests to come to some sort of agreement in advance. You run the risk of antagonising the landlord and if he comes to do an inspection or to do any works for anything he might notice and might give you notice. Also he may try and charge you at the end of the tenancy for depriving him of his sofas and you may have to pay to have yours removed. Obviously it will depends on what sort of proof he has, whether he has original invoices for the sofas, whether he has photos of the house just before you moved in etc etc and how much he is bothered by it.
He may be worried that you will buy a horrid blue/brown/pink sofa instead or maybe he shelled out for an expensive (if not terribly comfortable one) and thinks you'll replace it with any old cheap thing? I would maybe try talking to the landlord again, maybe check he's happy with a certain colour etc but if not at the end o the day you'll have to decide whether it's worth it to you to swap them. Don't forget he can't charge you for brand new sofas, only an amount to represent the life of the sofas you have deprived him of. For example if the sofas costs 500 pounds and were expected to last 5 years then that's 100 pounds per year of life so if he'd had them 2 years you'd have to pay for 3 years worth so 300 pounds.
It's also going to depend on how long you actually forsee yourself living in this property whether you are willing to take the risk or not.
Best of Luck
df