The Difference Between a Furnished and an Unfurnished Apartment

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A List of Fittings and Furnishings

A furnished apartment should include general fittings and furnishings that will allow the tenant to live there normally upon his or her arrival. Accordingly it should be furnished with the following essential elements:

• Sleeping arrangements (bed or canapé) with a comforter or blanket, and sheets; also a table, chairs and/or armchairs, closet, and lamps.
• For bedrooms specifically, a complete shading device system should be installed (shutters, curtains, blinds, awnings, etc.).
• The apartment should also contain the necessary fittings to accommodate everyday life. The kitchen should include general household appliances for the preparation of meals (hot plates or a cooking-range/stove, and a refrigerator), as well as the cookware (saucepans, frying pans, etc.). Tableware should also be included (plates, flatware, glasses, etc.).

Having only some of the furniture (a sofa bed, a table, and a closet, for example), is not enough, however, to be considered a furnished apartment. The lease of the apartment is thus liable to being reconsidered as an empty apartment, or an unfurnished one.

The legal framework and the taxation of the unfurnished apartment is very different from furnished ones. For instance, the rent of the unfurnished apartment is renewable for 3 years by tacit agreement instead of a 1-year renewal for furnished apartments.

In order to avoid your apartment from being reclassified as an unfurnished one, (loi du 6 juillet 1989 / law of 6 July 1989), we have compiled a list of ‘fittings and furnishings' that should be in your apartment. For your convenience, you can download and print the PDF below.

Download Our List of Fittings and Furnishings (PDF)