Hello,
Not sure if this is the right place to ask but here we go.
My friends and I moved in our second year flat and we’re pretty happy with it. The only thing is: we’re missing some furniture.
The flat was supposed to come semi-furnished but since there is no official definition, we don’t really know if we have a right to claim the missing furniture (mainly kitchen table and chairs).
The property currently includes beds, drawers and kitchen appliances like fridge and oven (no microwave, no desks and stuff like that).
It is our understanding that fully furnished mean you just have to move in and everything is already there while semi furnished means you have the basics furniture (beds, table, chairs, appliances). But we cannot find an official definition so guess it varies.
Can we ask our agency for (at least) table and chairs to be added to the flat as part of our agreement? What can we do if they refuse?
We asked for an inventory of the flat multiple times (before and after moving in) but never got one.
What is typically included in semi-furnished rentals?
Any help welcome!
11 comments
Semi furnished means it comes with some furniture.
That’s it. You get what you get and you have no right to “claim” any more
What you’ve sounds like what I would anticipate getting if a place said semi furnished. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth asking for more. Landlords quite often have bits of furniture they’re looking for somewhere to house. But if they refuse, I’m not sure if you have any recourse to force them to, since, as far as I know, semi furnished isn’t a legally defined term.
Right so does the tenancy say fully or semi furnished as you mention both in your post? If semi, that usually means whatever the landlord/lady has lying about (in my experience). If it’s fully furnished then yes, I’d politely call them and say given its a student household and it was stated as fully furnished we expected desks as we need somewhere to work. And of course, we still need the rest of the paperwork.
Semi-furnished is just “some furniture” so whatever’s there. Take pictures of everything.
For anything else – try Gumtree, and Facebook marketplace too if you’re happy to deal with crazies, there’s a lot of great stuff for free/very little money. We furnished a whole flat for like less than £200.
There’s no ‘typical’
Semi-furnished is not a technical term.
It is just a way of the landlord saying ‘not all the stuff is there’
It is pot luck.
So no, you can’t ask for anything else. But you can (as others are saying) get hold of it dead cheap e.g. from Freecycle, or a charity shop (near us, Prince of Wales Hospice is ubelievably cheap, and BHF is nationwide but slightly less cheap in our town).
Semi-furnished just means whatever is there, you have no right to claim anything more. Chairs/tables are cheap from used furniture/charity shops.
By definition “semi furnished” just means it includes whatever furniture happens to be there. It could be a single bedside table or a flat that is almost fully furnished.
Unless there was a written promise of a kitchen table and chairs then you have no basis on which to ask them to supply one.
Did you not view the flat before you moved in??
The first flat I ever moved into back in 2003, was marked as “semi-furnished” this was because there was an ikea frame wardrobes in the main bedroom! Nothing else lol
When you move in there should be an inventory which states what the landlord is providing.
When I was at university it was normal to be provided with: oven, fridge, freezer, washing machine, sofas, microwave, bed, wardrobe/drawers, desk and chair in bedrooms
Optional extras that some uni houses get: dining table and chairs, tumble dryer, dish washer, TV, cutlery, plates, pans. I got some of these at some houses, at others we had to buy or bring our own. Sometimes it was stuff that previous students had brought and not taken home and the landlord kept it. One kitchen was pretty well equipped with random stuff that had been left over the years.
It sounds like a pretty good amount of furniture for semi-furnished, though not having an inventory is a bit concerning – you definitely need to make your own including the condition it’s in and take photos ASAP.
Then email it to the landlord and state that this is what you understand the inventory to be, since you haven’t been provided with one. Otherwise they could potentially shaft you for “desk needs replacing” or something when you leave.
I agree with the other semi-furnished comments on here, but I’ve never heard of a student house having no desks included? That’s very odd imo