Re-purposing a room in a rented property

chilliwow

My partner and I are looking to rent a flat. We've found a great flat that's sold as a 3 bedroom, however one of the bedrooms is where a living room would traditionally be and the current lounge/dining area are in the same space. We obviously don't need 3 bedrooms for the two of us and were wondering how likely the landlord would let us use that room for something other than a bedroom? The property comes fully furnished so we'd have to ask them to take a bed out, but were thinking of it as an option as were looking to rent the flat for a few years.

This is obviously we'd need to discuss but is this something you've done in a rented property or if you're a landlord would you allow this?

pramsay13

As a landlord I would consider it although I would expect you to store the furniture and return it or dispose of it and replace when leaving.

Normally a three bedroom property will be an HMO property so it may well be more expensive than to get one that is a traditional two bedroom property with a separate living room. Chances are all the other properties in the same building will be a similar layout so might be worth seeing if any others are available.

eddddy

I doubt the landlord would mind you using one of the bedrooms as a living room. (Typically, two people in a 3 bed flat would cause less wear and tear than, say, a family of 4 - so the landlord might be pleased with arrangement.)

But asking the landlord to remove the bed might be a problem - the landlord might not have anywhere to store it, and probably won't want the hassle of hiring a van and 2 people to move it etc.

greatcrested

You could simply turn the bedroom into a living room yourself. No need to ask the landlord. rovided at the end of the tenancy you return it to how it was at the start. Of course, that means moving/storing the unwanted furniture yourself, safely.

If you want the LL to remove the furniture - well, all you can do is ask. He may agree or not. A edddy says, there's hassle/cost for the landlord and he may have nowhere to store it. Perhaps offering to pay his removal costs would make it a more attractive proposition for the LL.

chilliwow

pramsay13 said:

Normally a three bedroom property will be an HMO property so it may well be more expensive than to get one that is a traditional two bedroom property with a separate living room. Chances are all the other properties in the same building will be a similar layout so might be worth seeing if any others are available.

We live in an urban area where a lot of the houses are maisonettes so even a 2 bed flat would have the same issue with a very cramped living/dining space and a huge front bedroom!

Thanks for your advice on it, was worried that if we moved the rooms around we’d get into a bit of trouble off the LL.

[Deleted User]

Is it a Victorian conversion?

MovingForwards

Why not rent an unfurnished property, or unfurnished aside from white goods, then you can do what you want with the layout?

May even be cheaper too.

Cakeguts

Don't rent a furnished property if you don't want some of the furniture.  Rent an unfurnished one.

steampowered

It's a perfectly reasonable request. 

Removing the bed may well be worth it for the landlord, especially in the current circumstances when finding other tenants may be difficult, and especially as you are seeking a 2 year tenancy. It probably costs the landlord £100 to get a bed removed, and can probably be off-set against his tax bill anyway.

AdrianC

It's entirely possible that somebody may want a furnished property, but not require one of the beds... Some people moving from a room in an HMO - or out of their parents - may well have their own bed.

And even if you just dismantle the bed and lean it against the wall, it's none of the landlord's business whether you use the room as a bedroom, dining room, home office, hydroponic growing room, torture dungeon...

chilliwow

MovingForwards said:

Why not rent an unfurnished property, or unfurnished aside from white goods, then you can do what you want with the layout?

May even be cheaper too.

Cakeguts said:

Don't rent a furnished property if you don't want some of the furniture.  Rent an unfurnished one.

Unfortunately in the area we're looking most of the properties are rented and come furnished with the high number of students/professionals looking for property. I've looked for unfurnished and the results are coming up short, so we're hoping this would be an option that we might be able to work with in the current climate.