New research by room share platform, ideal flatmate, has taken a look at the cost of basic household furniture when considering the space they occupy on a monthly rent per square metre basis.
After crunching the numbers, the research found that with the average cost of a one bed UK property coming in at £719 a month or £16 per square metre, a double bed alone is accounting for £47 of your monthly rent when considering the total space you pay for.
A sofa accounts for £30 per square metre, an arm chair £11, with a wardrobe, desk, coffee table and chest of draws accounting for a combined £31 pounds of rental expenditure. All in all, even the most basic furnishings account for 16% (£118) of your rent.
In London this climbs to £213 due to the higher property prices, as much as £320 in Kensington and Chelsea with Westminster also seeing this cost exceed £300 per month. The City of London, Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Hammersmith and Fulham, Wandsworth and Lambeth are also home to some of the highest furniture costs per square metre in the capital.
Across Manchester the space occupied by our furniture costs £121 per month climbing to £137 per month in Bristol.
Tom Gatzen, Co-founder of ideal flatmate said, “We don’t often consider the cost of items in our rooms or flats post-purchase but as the size of rental stock continues to shrink while rents continue to climb, we’re paying more and more for the spaces we live in. We’ve only highlighted the cost of very basic furniture when considered in terms of the rental space it occupies, but for many this cost will be far greater as the temptation to buy more than we need often results in unnecessary items.
“Having a cluttered, overcrowded living space is not only potentially detrimental to our social life, productivity and stress levels, but can also mean hundreds of pounds in rental outgoings down the drain as we fail to make the most of our homes.
“While we aren’t suggesting an extreme minimalist lifestyle is the way forward for everyone, it does pay to think about the space you have and how you can make best use of it, for your own personal benefit if nothing else.”
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