Why Rent/Hire Furniture?

Hiring furniture can often be the best option both for private clients and companies.

Relocators, relocatees, expatriates, assignees-in: Are you and/or your family faced with the need to live for a limited period in an area of the UK where you don't already have a home, or where your home isn't ready yet? Or are you a relocation agent, letting agent, or HR specialist making arrangements for people in that position? What are the options?

• Hotels are a very expensive solution for anything more than a short stay, and can be stressful—especially for other family members.
• Serviced accommodation gets you some more living space, but is very expensive.
• You could rent furnished accommodation—but the furniture and household goods that come with it probably won't be what you (or your clients) would have chosen.
• Or you could rent unfurnished accommodation and buy the necessary contents—but buying a house-full of new furniture, furnishings, and other household equipment takes time and involves major capital outlay. Once you've bought it all, depreciation is steep and disposal can be a problem—however short your stay, you won't be able to recoup more than a fraction of what you paid.

Compared to any of the above, renting unfurnished accommodation and hiring furniture and other household goods can be an attractive and cost-effective option. For short/medium stays it can be more economic and less hassle than shipping your own furniture here. Click here for some cost comparisons. For longer stays, hiring furniture can also make good sense—either for the duration of the assignment, or to bridge the gap until your own furniture arrives (or departs). Furniture from the USA and some other countries won't always fit into UK houses, which tend to be smaller. Using hired furniture in the UK accommodation (or in place of some of your own furniture) overcomes this problem.

Landlords: With rental furniture you can quickly and conveniently furnish empty property, or achieve a makeover by replacing existing furnishings. And you can furnish up or down in quality to suit the accommodation and tenant (Bradbeers offer two quality grades).

Developers; house-sellers: Rental furniture is the perfect way to improve the saleability of show houses/showhomes and other property for sale. It can transform an uninviting unfurnished house (or a poorly furnished or underfurnished one) into an attractive home that people will want to buy.

Tax implications: Hiring furniture can be tax-efficient, too. VAT-registered companies can recover VAT on rental charges, and payments for furniture rental are fully deductible as a business expense (UK Tax Act, Section 74). See examples prepared by independent consultants.