Knowledge Centre

What does this entail?

Ready to rent a home? There’s quite a lot involved. First, you look at price, location, number of rooms, but then there’s also the difference between unfurnished, semi-furnished, and fully furnished homes. Are you going for laminate or tiles? And if you go for laminate, will it be light brown, dark brown, or white? What kind of wallpaper do you want on the walls? Or are the walls already painted? Do you need to spend a few days at the furniture boulevard? Or can you take over that corner sofa straight away? And what difference does that make to the costs? So many questions, but here you’ll read all about semi-furnished and fully furnished homes.

Which categories

When you’re in search of a new home, you’ll encounter various sizes and styles. But the inside is just as important. Rented properties can differ in the state they’re delivered in. Thus, we categorize the properties into three different types: unfurnished, semi-furnished, and fully furnished. Below, it’s explained what each entails and what you can do with them.

Unfurnished

If you want to rent an unfurnished property, it means you’re entering a completely empty house. There are no furniture pieces left behind, the floors aren't laid, the walls have no wallpaper, and all utilities are absent. You’ll have to sort out gas, water, and electricity yourself. You must keep in mind that when you acquire an unfurnished home, literally everything still needs to be done. If you’re all thumbs and don’t have the time or desire to handle all this, it’s wiser to look at a semi-furnished or fully furnished home. However, if you love dabbling, building, and doing DIY, an unfurnished home could become your new challenge.

Semi-furnished

A semi-furnished rental is the most common. This term is often confused with fully furnished, which we’ll come back to later. A semi-furnished home provided by the landlord includes floor, wall, and window coverings. This could be throughout the entire house or just parts. Think of tiles in the bathroom, laminate in the living room, curtains and blinds at the windows, and painted walls. You don’t need to dirty your own hands or hire an external company for this. However, a semi-furnished home doesn’t include household appliances or furniture. There are a few amenities, such as a boiler, built-in kitchen, or even a washing machine, but this can vary per property, so you’ll need to check before signing the lease. So, if you’re creative and want to arrange everything yourself without too much DIY, a semi-furnished rental is ideal for you!

Fully furnished

As the name suggests, a fully furnished home includes coverings on the floors, walls, and windows, as well as household appliances and the rest of the furniture. The landlord provides items such as lamps, wardrobes, the sofa, dining table, chairs, etc. It’s a bit like walking into a holiday park cottage; all the furniture is there, and you wouldn’t need to change anything to live comfortably. There’s always room for adding a nice vase, but the furniture in the house is basically the property of the landlord.

Cost overview

It stands to reason that there will be a significant difference in rental prices depending on the state of the home. Thus, you pay a ‘bare rental price’ for an unfurnished home, which is the basic ground price of the property and, depending on the size and location, is relatively cheaper than a semi-furnished or fully furnished home. You’re responsible for the costs of laying floors and dressing the windows and walls. There’s a cost to this, which compensates for the lower rental price.

A semi-furnished home is priced between the unfurnished and fully furnished rentals. You need to purchase or relocate your own furniture and appliances, and you’re responsible for how you live. The cost of the furniture is borne by the tenant but also belongs to the tenant and can be moved if they relocate to another home.

The fully furnished home is, naturally, the most expensive. You pay the full cost package, but you get everything in return. In principle, you won’t incur any additional costs to live in the home. You pay the full price, but you don’t need to purchase extra items.