Wasted space – how much rent are you wasting on unnecessary furniture per square metre?

Latest research by leading room share platform, ideal flatmate, has highlighted the cost of everyday household furniture when considering the space they occupy on a monthly rent per square metre basis.

ideal flatmate looked at the cost of the average one-bedroom property and what this equates to per square metre, before attributing a monthly rental cost to each item of furniture based on its size.

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.

Co-founder of ideal flatmate, Tom Gatzen, commented:

“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. ”

Location	Average monthly rent	Average monthly rent per sqm
UK	£719	£16
London	£1,300	£28
Manchester	£739	£16
Bristol	£837	£18

Location	Bed Double (2.99 sqm)	Wardrobe (0.60 sqm)	Desk (0.53 sqm)	Chest of drawers (0.38 sqm)	Sofa (1.92 sqm)	Armchair (0.67 sqm)	Coffee table (0.45 sqm)	Total
UK	£47	£9	£8	£6	£30	£10	£7	£118
London	£85	£17	£15	£11	£54	£19	£13	£213
Bristol	£54	£11	£10	£7	£35	£12	£8	£137
Manchester	£48	£10	£9	£6	£31	£11	£7	£121

Location	Average monthly rent	Average monthly rent per sqm	Bed Double (2.99 sqm)	Wardrobe (0.60 sqm)	Desk (0.53 sqm)	Chest of drawers (0.38 sqm)	Sofa (1.92 sqm)	Armchair (0.67 sqm)	Coffee table (0.45 sqm)	Total
Kensington and Chelsea	£1,950	£42	£127	£25	£22	£16	£81	£28	£19	£320
Westminster	£1,842	£40	£120	£24	£21	£15	£77	£27	£18	£302
City of London	£1,777	£39	£116	£23	£20	£15	£74	£26	£17	£291
Camden	£1,582	£34	£103	£21	£18	£13	£66	£23	£15	£259
Islington	£1,521	£33	£99	£20	£18	£13	£63	£22	£15	£249
Hackney	£1,495	£33	£97	£20	£17	£12	£62	£22	£15	£245
Tower Hamlets	£1,408	£31	£92	£18	£16	£12	£59	£21	£14	£231
Hammersmith and Fulham	£1,400	£30	£91	£18	£16	£12	£58	£20	£14	£229
Wandsworth	£1,365	£30	£89	£18	£16	£11	£57	£20	£13	£224
Lambeth	£1,300	£28	£85	£17	£15	£11	£54	£19	£13	£213
Southwark	£1,300	£28	£85	£17	£15	£11	£54	£19	£13	£213
Brent	£1,250	£27	£81	£16	£14	£10	£52	£18	£12	£205
Haringey	£1,250	£27	£81	£16	£14	£10	£52	£18	£12	£205
Ealing	£1,200	£26	£78	£16	£14	£10	£50	£17	£12	£197
Merton	£1,200	£26	£78	£16	£14	£10	£50	£17	£12	£197
Newham	£1,200	£26	£78	£16	£14	£10	£50	£17	£12	£197
Richmond upon Thames	£1,200	£26	£78	£16	£14	£10	£50	£17	£12	£197
Greenwich	£1,150	£25	£75	£15	£13	£10	£48	£17	£11	£189
Barnet	£1,150	£25	£75	£15	£13	£10	£48	£17	£11	£189
Lewisham	£1,100	£24	£72	£14	£13	£9	£46	£16	£11	£180
Enfield	£1,100	£24	£72	£14	£13	£9	£46	£16	£11	£180
Hounslow	£1,100	£24	£72	£14	£13	£9	£46	£16	£11	£180
Kingston upon Thames	£1,100	£24	£72	£14	£13	£9	£46	£16	£11	£180
Waltham Forest	£1,075	£23	£70	£14	£12	£9	£45	£16	£11	£176
Harrow	£1,050	£23	£68	£14	£12	£9	£44	£15	£10	£172
Hillingdon	£1,000	£22	£65	£13	£12	£8	£42	£15	£10	£164
Redbridge	£990	£22	£64	£13	£11	£8	£41	£14	£10	£162
Barking and Dagenham	£950	£21	£62	£12	£11	£8	£40	£14	£9	£156
Bromley	£950	£21	£62	£12	£11	£8	£40	£14	£9	£156
Sutton	£925	£20	£60	£12	£11	£8	£39	£13	£9	£152
Croydon	£900	£20	£59	£12	£10	£7	£38	£13	£9	£148
Havering	£875	£19	£57	£11	£10	£7	£37	£13	£9	£143
Bexley	£800	£17	£52	£10	£9	£7	£33	£12	£8	£131
Inner London Boroughs	£1,476	£32	£96	£19	£17	£12	£62	£22	£14	£242
Outer London Boroughs	£1,063	£23	£69	£14	£12	£9	£44	£15	£10	£174

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