Furnished vs. Unfurnished Apartment: Which One Fits You?

It looks like a question of taste, but it's really a question of arithmetic: how long you expect to stay is what determines which option is actually cheaper. A furnished flat costs more monthly and less to move into; an unfurnished one is exactly the reverse. The break-even point between them is what you should work out before deciding.

The basic comparison

	Furnished	Unfurnished
Monthly rent	Higher	Lower
Cost to move in	Low — you arrive with suitcases	High — furniture and appliances
Typical contract length	Shorter and more flexible	Longer
Responsibility for appliances	Usually the landlord's — put it in writing	Yours
Freedom to change things	Limited	Complete
When you move on	You leave with your suitcases	Moving furniture, at a cost
Likelihood of a deposit dispute	Higher — wear on furniture	Lower — the flat's condition only

How to calculate the break-even point

Add up what it would cost to furnish the unfurnished flat to the standard you actually need — not the ideal one — then divide by the monthly rent difference between the two options. The result is the number of months at which the two costs meet.

As an illustration of the method rather than the figures: if the monthly difference is a hundred units and furnishing costs two thousand, the break-even is twenty months. A shorter stay makes furnished genuinely cheaper; a longer one reverses it — and the furniture remains yours afterwards.

When furnished is the clearer choice

• A stay under a year, or of undefined length
• A move for work or study that could end suddenly
• No appetite for moving furniture later
• Needing somewhere to live within days rather than weeks

When unfurnished is better

• A stay beyond two years
• Already owning furniture
• Wanting a space that's yours and stays with you
• Preferring a lower monthly rent over the long run

If you choose furnished: the inventory before signing

Ask for a written inventory of the furniture and appliances with the condition of each item, signed by both parties and attached to the contract, and photograph everything on handover day. Deposit disputes in furnished flats are usually about an item that was already worn and that nobody documented.

And have the contract state who pays to repair an appliance that fails through no fault of yours — the single most commonly overlooked point.

In short

Calculate the break-even instead of choosing on impression: furnishing cost divided by the monthly rent difference. Shorter than that figure, choose furnished. Longer, choose unfurnished.

Browse the property listings, and read our tenant's guide before signing.