If a property is advertised as fully furnished should the landlord provide a bed?

emimagine18

I recently had my offer to rent accepted on a two bedroom property. I viewed the flat with my  friend (going to be the co-tenant) and during the viewing the agent said that we could move some of the furniture out of the second bedroom (currently used as office/guest space) so that I could put a bed in it. I was very happy with that solution as at the moment it contains just an uncomfy-looking sofa bed and a huge desk. The agent said to email after the viewing with any proposed changes.

A day later I emailed to confirm if the desk could be removed and sofa bed to make way for a proper bed. I am renting it for 12 months+ and I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a proper bed in my bedroom. The agent replied saying that the landlord lives abroad and will NOT replace or remove any furniture, she also said she had mentioned this many times at the viewing which isn't true as she actually suggested we could move the desk out. I also mentioned about the sofa and desk chair being broken. I reminded the agent that they had told me this verbally and I took it in good faith.

They then replied very rudely to say that they assumed me and my friend were a couple and wouldn't be needing a second bed. On the offer form I specifically disclosed that we were friends, and in the viewing I made it very clear that the small room would be mine and I'd need a bed. I don't think legally I am required to disclose my relationship status at a viewing?

The agent is completely refusing to budge. I cannot afford to rent a storage locker and have no local friends who have the space to temporarily store the excess furniture so that I can make space for a bed (the room is extremely tiny just space for a desk and bed). It will also cost me money to buy a new bed even though the flat is advertised as fully furnished.

I haven't signed the tenancy agreement yet as referencing is underway but I will lose a whole week's rent "committment to rent fee" of around £400 if I pull out now.

Do I have any rights here? 

DullGreyGuy

Were you explicit enough that you meant out of the flat rather than say out of the bedroom and into the lounge? Were you explicit that you expected the landlord to provide the bed?

Did you email them afterwards as they suggested? Did they respond?

I would expect a furnished flat to come with the furniture I saw during the viewing. Depending on if the viewing was done pre or post the last tenant moving out I may even ask them to explicitly confirm that certain items were removed or remain and when making my offer make it conditional on these points. If I want something removed I wouldnt necessarily really expect the landlord to replace it with something else (that then becomes a persistent problem for them) but if I did then again it would be in my offer. 

Not all landlords have big spaces to store items either.

The only time I got into a bit of an argument was an unfurnished house (new build) which didn't come with a fridge/freezer but a space for one to go in. Never rented a place, even unfurnished, that didn't come with one. We bought one and when leaving we put a note on the front of it stating it was ours and would be going (heard estate agents saying it was part of the kitchen). The landlord contacted us before we left and asked to buy it off of us and offered a well over market value for it so the ultimate cost to us wasnt too bad.

As to what it will cost you to pull out, check https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tenant-fees-act in what they can/can't charge

turnitround

I dont think its reasonable to be asking the landlord to provide a bed other than one in the main bedroom. I think its fair to ask the landlord if you can move the furniture round in the house on condition it is put back in place when you leave but no landlord is likely to agree to moving furniture out to put something different in its place.

When I rented a furnished place I had to accept that it came with the furniture seen at the viewing.

fiish

You haven't signed the contract yet, but the standard tenancy agreement usually includes a clause about not removing any of the landlord's property from the property without express permission of the landlord.

I think moving furniture between rooms in the house is fair enough (you would need to make good any damage to the walls or decoration caused by this, and then the act of putting them back before moving out), if you need to make room for the furniture you do need. But unless the landlord has storage space to spare, they're unlikely to be willing to move furniture out of the property for you entirely at their cost, unless you were offering a higher rent to cover such costs.

YBR

As per previous posters, I'd expect a furnished rental to have the furniture seen at the viewing.

Out of interest was it marketed as a 2 bedroom rental, or 1 bedroom plus office?

emimagine18

It was marketed as a 2 double bedroom flat fully furnished. I'm not really expecting them to move it - I'm happy to do this myself but It's more that we told them we would need two beds and we are friends and therefore not sharing and they said this was ok and then later on went back on what they said.

MultiFuelBurner

In answer to your question. No the landlord does not have to supply you with a bed for the second bedroom

emimagine18

DullGreyGuy said:

Were you explicit enough that you meant out of the flat rather than say out of the bedroom and into the lounge? Were you explicit that you expected the landlord to provide the bed?

Did you email them afterwards as they suggested? Did they respond?

I would expect a furnished flat to come with the furniture I saw during the viewing. Depending on if the viewing was done pre or post the last tenant moving out I may even ask them to explicitly confirm that certain items were removed or remain and when making my offer make it conditional on these points. If I want something removed I wouldnt necessarily really expect the landlord to replace it with something else (that then becomes a persistent problem for them) but if I did then again it would be in my offer. 

Not all landlords have big spaces to store items either.

The only time I got into a bit of an argument was an unfurnished house (new build) which didn't come with a fridge/freezer but a space for one to go in. Never rented a place, even unfurnished, that didn't come with one. We bought one and when leaving we put a note on the front of it stating it was ours and would be going (heard estate agents saying it was part of the kitchen). The landlord contacted us before we left and asked to buy it off of us and offered a well over market value for it so the ultimate cost to us wasnt too bad.

Thanks. Yes we were explicit to ask it be removed and replaced with a bed. I emailed afterwards with a list of proposed changes and the agent seemed to completely contradict what they said in person.

I even suggested I would pay for the bed myself but if we could just move the existing sofa bed out that would be great. I don't really want to sleep on a sofa bed for 12 months. We didn't expect when we saw it online that they would put in a bed, but it's more that she said during the viewing that we could so we proceeded with the commitment to rent and then they back tracked.

emimagine18

MultiFuelBurner said:

In answer to your question. No the landlord does not have to supply you with a bed for the second bedroom

Ok thank you. I guess it is a sofa bed for me for 12 months 😅

Jonboy_1984

Could the desk be disassembled and stored flat?

35har1old

Jonboy_1984 said:

Could the desk be disassembled and stored flat?

It might not be a flat pack