How Much More Does a Furnished Flat Cost in London?

Less than the London-wide averages suggest. In the same neighbourhood and with the same number of bedrooms, furnished flats asked a median 6.5% (£150 a month) more than unfurnished flats, across 164 comparisons. The data is 190,954 London whole-home ads first seen 15 July to 12 October 2026. 36.7% of them said whether the home was furnished.

Published 15 October 2026. Asking rents in London ads first seen 15 July to 12 October 2026.

Key numbers

• Furnished premium, same area and size: median +6.5% (+£150 pcm) across 164 neighbourhood and size pairs. Furnished asked more in 112, the same in 15 and less in 37.
• London-wide 1 bedroom medians: furnished £2,145 pcm (13,329 ads), unfurnished £1,700 (4,652 ads). That £445 gap compares different areas, so it is much wider than the same-area gap of £62.
• How ads describe furnishing: of the 70,155 ads that stated it, 53.2% said furnished, 25.0% unfurnished, 7.4% part furnished and 13.8% either (the tenant chooses).
• Not stated: 120,799 ads (63.3%) did not say.
• Part furnished vs unfurnished: a median gap of £0 across 38 same-area comparisons.

These are asking rents in ads that RentReboot collected, not the rents people agreed. "Furnished" here means what the ad itself says. We do not check what furniture is in the flat.

Use the calculator to compare furnished and unfurnished asks in your neighbourhood, and to see how long the gap takes to add up to the cost of your own furniture.

Are furnished flats more expensive in London?

Yes, by a median of 6.5% when you compare flats in the same neighbourhood with the same number of bedrooms. London-wide medians show a much bigger gap: 26.2% for 1 bedroom flats and 33.1% for 2 bedroom flats. Those London-wide figures compare different places. Furnished ads made up 73.0% of ads that stated a status in Central London and 44.2% in South London.

• 1 bedroom: London-wide, furnished £2,145 vs unfurnished £1,700 (+26.2%). In the same neighbourhood, the median gap was +3.8% (+£62) across 57 neighbourhoods. Furnished asked more in 35, the same in 5 and less in 17.
• 2 bedrooms: London-wide, £2,795 vs £2,100 (+33.1%). In the same neighbourhood, +9.0% (+£200) across 74 neighbourhoods. Furnished asked more in 57, the same in 7 and less in 10.
• 3 bedrooms: London-wide, £3,550 vs £2,550 (+39.2%). In the same neighbourhood, +6.1% (+£150) across 25 neighbourhoods.
• Studios and 4 bedrooms: too few unfurnished ads for a fair comparison. Only 379 studio ads said unfurnished, and only one neighbourhood had 30 on each side. For 4 bedrooms, 7 neighbourhoods qualified and the median gap was -10.5%, which is too few to read as a pattern.

The gap is not the same everywhere. Of the 164 comparisons, furnished asked at least 10% more in 62 and at least 10% less in 10. In 55 the two medians were within 5% of each other. A same-area comparison removes differences in location. It does not remove differences in the flats themselves, such as condition, building or floor, so it does not show what furniture alone adds to a rent.

How many London flats are let furnished?

About half of the London ads that state a furnishing status say furnished: 37,337 of 70,155 (53.2%). Most ads say nothing either way. Only 36.7% of the 190,954 whole-home ads in the window stated it.

• Furnished: 37,337 ads (53.2% of those that state it).
• Unfurnished: 17,551 ads (25.0%).
• Either, the tenant chooses: 9,691 ads (13.8%). These say "furnished or unfurnished", "furnishing at tenant choice" or similar.
• Part furnished: 5,159 ads (7.4%).
• Says both without offering a choice: 417 ads (0.6%). We leave these out of the comparisons.

Smaller homes are more often furnished. 78.3% of studio ads that stated a status said furnished, against 50.5% of 2 bedroom ads and 42.4% of 3 bedroom ads. Unfurnished was most common in 4 bedroom ads (35.5%).

The share that says nothing is large, so read these shares as shares of the ads that state it. Ads that do not say could be furnished in a different proportion.

Is part furnished cheaper than furnished?

In our data, part furnished flats asked about the same as unfurnished flats in the same area. Across 38 neighbourhood and size pairs with at least 30 ads on each side, the median gap between part furnished and unfurnished was £0. Part furnished asked more in 18 and less in 16.

There is no legal definition of "part furnished" in England. It often means white goods and some larger items, but each landlord decides. Ask for the inventory before you sign, because it is the record of what the flat comes with and it matters when your deposit is returned.

Ads that let the tenant choose ("furnished or unfurnished") asked more. Against unfurnished ads in the same neighbourhood and size, their median gap was +15.1% (+£348) across 74 pairs, higher in 64. These ads were more common at higher rents (18.8% of stated ads from £4,000 up, 4.7% under £1,250), so this is a difference between groups of flats, not a price for the choice itself.

Which London areas have the most furnished flats?

Central and East London. Of the ads that stated a status, 73.0% were furnished in Central London and 60.6% in East London, against 48.3% in North London and 44.2% in South London.

• Most often furnished: Waterloo & South Bank (87.9% of 182 ads that stated it), Mayfair & St James's (85.1% of 382), Canary Wharf & Isle of Dogs (84.0% of 2,462), The City (82.4% of 250) and Borough & Bankside (82.2% of 752).
• Least often furnished: Erith & Thamesmead (11.7% of 128), Bromley, Beckenham & Penge (12.0% of 759), Surbiton, Tolworth & New Malden (12.6% of 239), Bexleyheath & Sidcup (13.0% of 208) and Sutton & Carshalton (13.8% of 579).
• 52 of 100 neighbourhoods had at least half of their stated ads furnished.

If you want an unfurnished flat, outer South London had the highest shares: 75.0% of stated ads in Bexleyheath & Sidcup, Erith & Thamesmead, and Sutton & Carshalton said unfurnished. Each neighbourhood links to its average rent page, which shows medians by size.

The same-area premium also varied by region: a median +10.1% in East London (26 pairs), +6.7% in South London (50), +5.8% in North London (40) and +1.3% in West London (43). Central London had only 5 pairs with enough unfurnished ads.

Where is the furnished premium widest?

The widest same-area gaps were in Walthamstow for 2 bedrooms (furnished £2,930 from 141 ads vs unfurnished £1,900 from 98, +54.2%) and in Battersea & Nine Elms for 3 bedrooms (£5,780 vs £3,800, +52.1%). In some pairs, unfurnished asked more: in Paddington & Bayswater, 1 bedroom unfurnished ads asked a median £4,322 (32 ads) against £2,650 for furnished (389 ads).

Small groups can swing a median, so the full table under the calculator shows the number of ads behind every figure.

Do cheaper London flats come furnished?

At the bottom of the market, yes. 74.6% of ads under £1,250 pcm that stated a status were furnished, and 770 of those 1,218 furnished ads were studios. In the £1,250 to £1,749 band the split was closest: 44.3% furnished and 36.7% unfurnished. From £3,000 up, about 61% were furnished.

Is it cheaper to rent unfurnished and buy furniture?

It depends on your area, the flat size and how long you stay. At the London median same-area gap of £150 a month, a 12-month tenancy adds up to £1,800 more for a furnished flat. If the furniture you would need costs less than that, and you can move it to your next home, an unfurnished flat can cost less over the tenancy. Enter your own furniture budget in the calculator above to see the months it takes.

Count the costs that are not rent, too. Moving furniture in and out costs money and time. Upholstered furniture a landlord supplies must meet the furniture fire safety rules. Council tax, energy, water and broadband are usually the tenant's either way: our guide to the total monthly cost of renting in London lists them.

On a tight budget, see where in London you can rent a flat for £1,500, or compare the cost of a room in London with a studio. If you are open to a flatshare, our report on London room rents with bills included shows what room prices cover.

How we measured furnished and unfurnished rents in London

• Data: London whole-home rental ads RentReboot collected from property portals, letting agents' own websites, landlord-direct sites and classified boards, first seen from 15 July to 12 October 2026 (90 days). We do not name or count individual listing sites.
• Same rules as our London rent pages: the latest ad for each property record, asking rent between £300 and £30,000 pcm, whole homes with 0 to 4 bedrooms, rooms in shared homes left out. These are the rules of our London average rent pages and our room vs studio report. Studios here are 14,646 ads, 2 fewer than in that report, because some records changed between the two runs.
• Furnishing: read from what the ad says, in this order: a furnishing field the site publishes (6,366 ads), a short feature label such as "Part furnished" (46,474 ads), or the ad description (17,315 ads). "Either" means the ad offers furnished or unfurnished. We hand-checked 100 ads classified from labels or descriptions: 99 matched the ad's wording, and 1 ad contradicted itself. We do not use a site's yes/no furnished flag, because it cannot record part furnished or either.
• Same-area comparison: a neighbourhood and bedroom pair is compared only when it has at least 30 furnished and 30 unfurnished ads. The gap is the furnished median minus the unfurnished median. We report the median gap across pairs.
• One ad per property record: London property records do not always join the same home across sites, so a flat posted on two sites can count twice. When we instead count each distinct ad text, rent and area once, the same-area result is unchanged: a median +6.5% (+£150) across 152 pairs, with furnished higher in 112.
• Areas: each ad's ward is mapped to one of our 100 London neighbourhoods and five regions. Neighbourhood shares are among ads that state a status; every neighbourhood had at least 96 such ads.
• Prices: pcm. Weekly asks are converted at 52 weeks ÷ 12 months.

The queries and results are in our code repository under scripts/analysis/london-furnished-vs-unfurnished-2026.

Furnished vs unfurnished London FAQ

Is it more expensive to rent a furnished flat in London?

Usually a little. In the same neighbourhood and with the same number of bedrooms, furnished flats asked a median 6.5% (£150 a month) more than unfurnished flats, across 164 comparisons from ads first seen 15 July to 12 October 2026. Furnished asked more in 112 of the 164 and less in 37.

How much more is a furnished 1 bedroom flat in London?

London-wide, the median furnished 1 bedroom ad asked £2,145 pcm (13,329 ads) and the median unfurnished one £1,700 (4,652 ads). Within the same neighbourhood the median gap was much smaller: +3.8%, or £62 a month, across 57 neighbourhoods.

Are most flats in London furnished or unfurnished?

Of the 70,155 London whole-home ads that stated a furnishing status, 53.2% said furnished, 25.0% unfurnished, 7.4% part furnished and 13.8% either. Most ads (63.3% of 190,954) did not say, so check with the agent.

What does part furnished mean in London?

There is no legal definition. It often means white goods and some larger items such as a bed or sofa, but each landlord decides, so ask for the inventory. In our data, part furnished flats asked about the same as unfurnished flats in the same area: a median gap of £0 across 38 comparisons.

Where can I find unfurnished flats in London?

Outer South London had the highest unfurnished shares. In Bexleyheath & Sidcup, Erith & Thamesmead, and Sutton & Carshalton, 75.0% of ads that stated a status said unfurnished. In Central London 73.0% were furnished and 9.8% unfurnished.

Is it cheaper to rent unfurnished and buy your own furniture?

It can be over a long tenancy. At the median same-area gap of £150 a month, a furnished flat asks £1,800 more over 12 months. If the furniture you need costs less than that and you will keep it, unfurnished can cost less. The calculator on this page shows the gap for your neighbourhood and size.

Should I choose a furnished or unfurnished flat in London?

Furnished suits a short stay or a first move to London, because you do not need to buy or move furniture. Unfurnished suits a longer stay if you already own furniture. In our data, 78.3% of studio ads that stated a status were furnished, against 42.4% of 3 bedroom ads.

Get alerts for furnished or unfurnished London flats

RentReboot watches London portals, letting agents' sites and landlord-direct listings, and emails you new flats that match your budget and neighbourhoods. We try to filter out likely scams, but always view the home and check the agreement and inventory before you pay. Set up London rental alerts.

More guides to renting in London

• How Much Does London Rent Drop With Each Tube Zone?
• How Big Is the Average Flat to Rent in London?
• Average rent in London by neighbourhood
• All RentReboot rent data reports
• Where in London Can You Rent a Flat for £1,500?
• How Much Does a Room in London Cost vs a Studio?
• What Does It Really Cost to Rent in London?
• How Much Deposit Can a London Landlord Ask For?