100% lol. There are some total overreactions and snobbery in this thread to what is simply just a minor cultural and class difference (class because, some of the replies in here basically read like 'eww! those dirty *poor people* who can't even afford their own furniture and appliances')
In the UK I rented a couple of fully furnished properties because a) too poor to buy all the appliances and furniture etc right away and b) I wanted to remain "mobile" - when the lease was finished, I put my clothes, books, etc in the back of the car and drove away. Often, people who are on temporary work placements or students etc don't want all the hassle.
Then later in life when I was ready to settle down, I got an unfurnished place and got all my own furniture and appliances, but then that meant that "moving day" from that point onwards became a much bigger headache where I needed to hire a van or removals company.
*Then* when I moved to Australia I did the exact same cycle again, starting completely from scratch (got really lucky finding a rare fully furnished place in Australia) then the next place was unfurnished. I think it's good to have the option to have both for people in different situations in life
I've only ever rented furnished in the UK and unfurnished in Aus, it struck me as being really odd that you'd be expected to bring your own furniture to a house you don't own.
Really you don't furnish the place yourself, eventually you'll be the last one in a sharehouse and all the furniture is free or probably more commonly it is gifted by family when you move out, potentially second hand.
In my home which was unfurnished, I bought the fridge, inherited one broke, and my work chair, everything else was a gift or abandoned by a previous flatmate.
This happened to me. I was the last one in a share house and inherited a lot of stuff (some useful and some not!) the only thing I did realise was that each time someone moved out I refunded them their portion of the bond meaning that when it came to moving out the end of lease clean came completely out of my pocket. I got the full bond back, but still had the expense of paying for a two living room, three bed, 2.5 bath townhouse clean…so perhaps I didn’t come out on top 🤔
I haven't used either of the irons since moving here, either... I bought it thinking "shirts, will need an iron" and then realised all I'd packed were non-iron ones that the creases shake out of if you hang them in the bathroom while showering.
So we've used the same amount of iron, but I've paid for a lot more. I think this means you are winning.
How much more expensive was it compared to unfurnished, and can't there be something in-between?
Partially furnished should be a percentage, or some sort of point system. I bet that exists.
Don't know the cost difference, sorry.. I only had a few days to find a place as I was flying back to the UK and needed to get keys before I left, so viewed two, took one. I didn't actually check if the other one had a fridge included!
Would the tenant still need to bring their own bed tho? I think for hygiene reasons people should buy their own bed? Then again… I just thought of hotels.
Things can vary by country. I am from the US. Before I moved to Oz, I rented for 19 years in various places across 6 states and every place had a fridge. There was often a communal place with commercial washers and dryers and I would generally bring my own microwave.
That would be my main worry. Sydney land lords and ladies are cheap as fridge. If they can save 10 bucks by making your live harder, they will save 10 bucks. Never lived so cheap for so much money before.
> If they can save 10 bucks by making your live harder, they will save 10 bucks. Never lived so cheap for so much money before.
Our front door handle & lock needed replacing. It was one of those ones where the same key works for both the handle lock and the deadlock above it.
So instead of replacing the both the handle lock & the deadbolt… they just replaced the handle lock. So we had to use two keys for the front door… And it was a different colour.
It’s a small thing, and *very* small compared to the other bullshit we put up with. But it’s so indicative of their attitude towards the property.
If it was me, I would have replaced the whole thing.
Super old and inefficient + poor energy rating cos those are cheaper to buy.
When my secondhand 10 year old LG fridge died, and we replaced it with a slightly larger 3 year old secondhand LG, our electricity bills actually dropped.
Also any appliance provided by a landlord needs to be tested and tagged by an electrician every two years (in Victoria). When's the last time you had a home appliance checked by an electrician when it was working, 'just in case'? Big disincentive to provide appliances.
yup same at my workplace (industrial warehouse) someone got a big lecture when found to have plugged his own charger cable in to the wall socket. They take it soooo seriously, with checks every however many years.
I am a Landlord. We got the fridge as the size of the fridge hile was so bespoke a renter would have to buy. We tried to be lazy landlords and give it to Defence Housing Authority. They wouldn't touch it, as the expectation was Defence Personnel would bring their Fridge and Washing machine.
Likewise, we had to interstate for a few years and rent our house out. We left our fridge behind as the fridge wouldn't fit. This should be the way.
My ex rented a place with a fridge built into cabinets. Somehow, unsure how they thought they could get away with it, the lease stipulated tenant responsible for maintenance/replacement of fridge if damaged.
This was 2019 so pre crisis, he got that changed before moving in, fridge carked it 2 years in (not his fault) and landlord was ropable but thats what you get when you rent a place with the built in fridge!
I came to say exactly this. I removed a broken dryer that I had never used from my old apartment before I moved out because if I had bought a new one I would have been responsible for maintenance costs.
If the rules let me buy one and say to the tenants if it breaks you have to fix it, I'm washing my hands of it then I would have. But too many people would abuse that rule rather than use it for good so they don't.
We rented a place with an "as-is" washing machine and it was fine. Before we moved in, the agent called us and asked if we'd like a machine left as the owners didn't need it. We said yes, and a condition that it would not be replaced if it broke was added in to the lease. We didn't pay any extra for it, saved us buying a machine (our old one was stuffed) and the landlord didn't need to move a washing machine.
Fridges are an appliance with a plug. Ovens are hard wired on their own circuit and you need to licensed to be disconnect/reconnect them, or they’re gas.
Only 1 rental I’ve ever had, had a dishwasher. Same with air conditioning. They’ve become standard over the last decade or so but older places don’t have them unless they’ve been recently renovated. Rented 15 places as an adult.
Most furniture isn't easy to move, but you can get furnished places too.
However I'd rather have to move my own decent fridge rather than use whatever cheap as possible piece of crap a landlord would provide.
If they were required to supply one I bet at least 75% would just provide a tiny bar fridge.
Also I know everyone hates landlords, but it would just lead to increased rents as well.
>whatever cheap as possible piece of crap a landlord would provide
And we all know that even if it worked properly and was new enough to be even vaguely efficient, in many cases it would stink and/or be stained with who-knows-what.
Unless it's a fully furnished place (which I've rented and the fridge was fine), I'd rather deal with the hassle of moving my own fridge instead of dealing with that. Including the times we've put the fridge in the laundry or the garage because the allocated space was ridiculously skinny or too short for the fridge we already owned.
The flipside is that I think it's really strange that in the US, the fridge is often included when you BUY a house. If I want a second-hand fridge, I'll buy one of my choosing.
I think one reason the fridge stays with the house is a lot of kitchens are designed with one size fridge in mind and it can be a pita to find the right size. Like my current one, the cabinet is very specifically built around the fridge. Our stove is also an unusual size and when we needed to replace it we had limited choices that would fit the counter cut out. So leaving appliances makes sense because they are often specific to the space.
In Australia, fridges from most manufacturers (Samsung, LG, Fisher & Paykel, Hisense etc) tend to be of about half a dozen or so basic size classes and the size of the fridge space usually correlates with the size of the house. A basic 1 or 2 bedroom apartment usually has a space for a ~330 litre fridge, a standard 3/4 bedroom house usually has space for a ~520 litre fridge and a large house/mansion usually has space for a double door/french door fridge ~600 litres.
There are exceptions to this, of course, but I’ve noticed this is the usual trend
>the fridge is often included when you BUY a house
We sold our fridge with our house in Australia because we had it professionally plumbed in for ice and water and it wouldn't have fit in our new kitchen anyway. The house recently sold again its still the same fridge in the photos so they obviously never replaced it.
You can get a perfectly serviceable fridge for $600 that should last at least five years (conservatively). Amortised out, that adds about two bucks thirty to weekly rent. But you're right: these "fully equipped kitchen" leases will go up by about $25 a week to compensate landlords for the appalling inconvenience of having to provide liveable conditions to their ~~serfs~~ tenants.
I have rented in Ireland, where rentals come fully furnished and unfurnished rentals are rare.
We NEVER had a full sized fridge, only bar fridges. Now I know Ireland does not have the climate of most of Australia but it’s a fkn pita having to share a bar fridge with three other grown adults wherever you live. You do end up eating worse because you can’t freeze and have minimal cold storage. I’d rather move a fridge any day.
I used to live in an apartment that had no pantry. I put my fridge where the kitchen counter just....ended. I stored food mostly in the fridge and in the cupboard next to the sink.
Looking back on it, it was really weird. I can't trust a landlord to provide a fridge if they won't even provide a cupboard.
Cheap shitty fridges are the worst.
I don't understand why renters (like myself) would choose sub par appliances..
I even take my own dishwasher because the ones supplied at rentals are dog shit.
I also currently have a longer term lease. I have an agreement with my landlord that allows me to upgrade things that mutually benefit us both. I paid half for a new larger hot water system because the one that we had was garbage, and the landlord had no requirement to replace. So what if it cost me $1000, but $1000 over five years or so for a nice shower for the family, as opposed to feeling like an old man pissing on my head is worth every penny.
Oi go easy. As a landlord i put in quality appliances so theyre less issues in the long run. I rented my place with a washing machine, and on one of the inspections it was revealed that my machine had a problem and the tenant chucked it out and now uses their own. Because mine wasnt explicitly on the lease agreement its just gone. Peeved. I woulda been happy to replace it as a tax thing and capital improvement.
In Germany and other European countries you don't even get a kitchen. Nothing at all, just an empty room where you're supposed to put your own kitchen. No sink, stove, cupboards or anything.
I've heard of this, but it just seems weird as fuck. Kitchen fitouts are god damned expensive. The last thing I would want to do is move into a rental with an empty room with nothing in it.
It seems prohibitively expensive and wasteful.
I've love to hear someones actually experience of this.
A friend of mine from Germany told me this same thing and it weirded me out.
Then the told me she’d moved in to that apartment when she finished Uni at 21. We were standing in that kitchen on her 35th birthday. I asked and her rent had gone up twice in that time - by €50 the first time and €35 the next.
It’ll never happen but I would love German style laws for renters in this country.
Right?
Same friend only moved a couple years ago (at 43) when she & her husband bought a house in the countryside to be closer to his family.
Literally she lived in the same apartment from the end of Uni, through dating in her 20s, to marriage, to 2 small children. Because rent stability.
I would ABSOLUTELY live in my current place for 10+ years if I could be guaranteed my rent isn’t going up another $50 a week next year (bet it will, based on my neighbours since the same people own all the units).
It’s why Ikea does kitchens.
Also in Germany and Austria long rentals are very common, when I lived there my friends parents had a 40 year lease agreement.
It makes sense when you look at rentals the way Europeans do: as homes. My understanding is that in Germany (and many other places) rentals are only for renting. Meaning that there aren't instances of new owners buying these places with the aim of living in them. They're established as rentals, so you can buy one but you have to rent it out, you can only buy places that are for owner-occupiers. So if you're renting a place, you're likely looking at living there for a long time, and want to make it like your home. You basically have the right to do anything with the property as long as you don't damage it, which I think is great. You can make your home into your home. The landlord's job is to provide the living space and fix any building issues, and in return they are paid rent. Makes sense to me.
I don't understand the system to any great extent, but that is how it was explained to me and we had a similar system in Chicago where I grew up, so it doesn't sound too crazy to me. Aussies just have a bizarre view of housing and probably the worst system in the developed world.
You either rent the kitchen, buy cheap, free standing cupboards and appliances or fit it out properly. Rentals in Germany are usually longer term than Australia so it can be a good thing if you're there for a while.
You can get apartments that do have kitchens built in but the rent will be higher. You can also sell your kitchen to the next renter if they want it.
I've moved onto a place with literally just a sink set in 1m of benchtop in the kitchen, I had to byo benches and cupboards. A pain but it meant they could be the height and width *I* wanted, rather than built for people two feet shorter than me. I imagine in countries where this is common to bring the sink, they aren't moving every year or so.
Lol. Probably not as many as here. I have family that have been in the same house for over 50 years with basically the same rent, apart from inflation. That would never happen here.
Damn! 50 years? I'd be okay providing a *lot* for 50 years of stability! To be honest, more than okay. Gimme a 20 year lease with no increases and I'll rebuild the bloody kitchen, bathroom as well.
Same! I’d happily stay in my place 5+ years if they kept the rent the same and made it so I pay for basic repairs - I’ll happily pay for the gutters to be cleaned or to replace the dishwasher or A/C if I had a long lease with no chance of huge increases.
You stay for many years, generally. Visited a mate in Munich and not only was his apartment a proper living place (4 actual-sized bedrooms, linen closet, storage, etc) he said he had signed a lease for 5 years, but that basically after that 5 years he could stay the rest of his life in that place. The rent increases are laid out ahead of time, and even if the place is sold to someone else, they can't move in and kick him out. The only way he could be evicted would be to break the law or stop paying rent.
I long for this kind of stability... We've moved six times in 15 years, at a cost of $4-5k to my family each time, because the owner wanted to move back in - except once, it sold for so the rent went up $200/w.
I just don't understand that at all. That seems crazy inefficient. Uninstalling and reinstalling everything would cost a ton, and what if the two spaces are different and your kitchen installations don't fit with the new one?
Yes that’s the case in France. The IKEAs there are always filled with people getting their new kitchen designed. Their rental periods tend to be longer than in Australia though.
I’d argue that fridges are easier to move than beds, especially those mattress in a box ones. They’re an absolute prick to move. Then there’s couches….
They absolutely are. I'm an older female working in youth accommodation so often have to help kids with this, no issues whatsoever in using a trolley to get a fridge out of a property, lever it into a van, slip it back onto the trolley at destination and then whisk it up a few flights of stairs into the new property. Same deal with washing machines and dryers though frontloader washers are the worst, they seem to have literal blocks of concrete in the base to stabilise them.
I always dreamed that a day would come when I would see ‘literally’ used correctly in an on-line exchange. Sorry, excuse me… I’m just feeling quite emotional right now.
You think that’s crazy wait till you find out about the rental apartments in Germany where you have to supply your own kitchen.
https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/comments/zgs5yp/why_does_germany_have_a_culture_of_building_your/
My german grandparents rented an apartment when they were 21 years old, and kept on renting it until well into their 80's, eventually moving out when they just couldn't do the stairs anymore (it was on the fourth floor and no elevator).
They renovated the apartment multiple times while renting - stuff that you'd only do if you owned the place here in Australia.
Do you think unfurnished rentals are a uniquely Australian thing? Because it’s not
It’s simply just one less thing for the landlord to do, then you can also add on that many people would rather just use their own with how shit the one there would be.
Personally I always preferred unfurnished rentals that way there is less of a chance you get fucked over by the property manager
How is that an Australian issue? I rented many different places in the UK and apart from a couple of furnished bedsits, I always had to bring my own fridge?!
Do you eat from the toilet? A study last year found that reusable water bottles were found to have up to 40000x the bacteria of the average toilet seats.
Not enough. A quick rinse when refilling isn't enough. Many bottles also have lots of small hard to clean spots, or moving pieces that act as bacteria strongholds. Hl
And heaven forbid you ever put in anything other than clean water... juice or milk based liquids in a bottle with any amount of moving parts is a nightmare.
> compared to a fridge with god knows how many nooks and crannies to collect filth.
the fuck are you doing with your fridge?
you do realise you don't put food directly on to the shelves? 😂
>I can't think of anything more disgusting than using a fridge that has been used by who knows how many other people.
Then you're an absolute moron.
Why does this subreddit upvote this classist bigotry? Your post is basically 'eww! those dirty poor people who can't even afford their own fridge!'
People usually own furniture and whitegoods in Aus, either passed down from parents or from previous residence. Its better to use youre own stuff rather than a landlords which can potentially be old, bad energy usages, etc and also probably incorporated into the rent. Our rent is high enough already.
ts also less hassles for the landlord, which is beneficial to the renter as their not at the whim of the quality and reliability of the landlord as often.
Because the tenant has to pay the electricity bill. I want my own modern, efficient, correct size for me fridge and not some ugly, noisy inefficient one.
If my food goes off because my fridge dies that's on me, if my food goes off because the property manager takes a week to get a new fridge then that's just more bullshit to fight over.
My taps leak, my doors squeak, my hot water is plumbed into the house with a hose. I don't want to imagine how broken my fridge would be if I had to rely on my landlord to provide it. Even if there was an option for a semi-furnished property with washer/dryer/fridge included I'd steer away from it and want to live somewhere I could use my own to ensure they actually work.
Landlords in this country have to have legislation to provide tenants with a place to dry their cloths... If it isn't legally required, they aren't doing it. Investment properties would be built without windows to save money if it wasn't legally required for a bedroom to have a window.
I personally wouldn’t want to use a second/3rd/4th etc hand fridge. It’s just not very nice, especially if your previous user kept funny smelly things in it.
No amount of deep cleaning will fix it
Oh yeah what a great idea
That way the landlord can own my fridge
So when I move into a rental they’ll give me a fridge that’s been there since 1991, that’s been leaking since 2002 and I’ll have to accept it as part of the exorbitant rent I’m already paying.
Then every time there’s an inspection, I can report the fridge as being old and shit and the landlord will never do a thing about it
Then when I move out they’ll say I “broke” the fridge and then claim my entire $2400 bond with it so they can replace it
Then the cycle continues
Fuck your idea.
So Australian rental laws require any fixtures or appliances provided by the landlord to be maintained by the landlord.
Last time I had a fridge in one of my rentals the tenant left the door open and held the toggle in to keep the engine running to intentionally burn it out, because they wanted me to supply a bigger fridge with a ice dispenser (this was a fill sized french door fridge with pull out freezer).
I know they did it intentionally because they sent me a video with them talking explaining that since I turned down their request they would do this to any fridge I put in that doesn't meet their requirements.
I replaced it with an identical sized hisense and issued them with a bill. They did not pay it, burnt out a second fridge and sent me a text telling me the new fridge is burnt out.
So I didn't not replace the damaged fridge, they took me to QCAT, I gave the video as proof of what they did (twice) I was ordered to replace their fridge and compensate them 5% of their rent per day they did not have a fridge. Which cost me $600 + $1,050 in rent.
Unsurprisingly they destroyed the third fridge, were behind on their rent, so they pulled off all the skirting boards, cracked tiles and pulled down light fitting before moving out without telling me.
Moraie is, 99% of the time tenants do the right thing, the 1% is why you can bring your own damn fridge.
I’ve had rentals that provided fridges, usually because they’re plumbed in.
It was great not to have to organise a fridge when arriving and leaving.
No idea why people are against it
Looking at the shit that landlords pull on renters, I reckon most of us prefer to have our own fridge, because they'd probably just give us a wet sack and say it's the same thing.
Example: I once moved into a place with a broken oven, on agreement it would be replaced. It was... with one from the tip. Technically still worked. The tradesman who fitted it was laughing so hard he actually cried when we told him this was the "new" oven our landlord got for us. He pointed out that the costs for him to truck it over and fit it were only about $50 less than buying a brand new oven of the same kind.
That's how cheap these bastards are.
Because it's how it has always been.
Renters provide their own furniture.
If you can pick up a rental and shake it - what falls out is NOT included in the rent.
Thus, provide your own washing machine, fridge and other furniture.
Because white goods ARE furniture in Australia.
I always thought this was one of those things where appliances that were hard-wired or plumbed in, like dishwashers and shower heads, come with the rental while things that plug in to a wall socket are not.
In some parts of the world, fridges are hard-wired (and even plumbed, if it's a gas fridge). But in Australia almost all fridges plug into a standard wall socket no issue.
My girlfriend owns a house which she rents. She had provided a fridge, freezer, washing machine and the real estate explicitly told her to remove them, because she would be liable for them.
Chicken and egg problem, renters always bring their own fridge because they're expected to. If you supplied a fridge, they would ask you to remove it so they can put their own fridge in.
Considering the quality of appliances the landlords provided during my time as a renter, I'm glad I can bring my own fridge.
If I never see another Omega/Kogan appliance as long as I live, it'll be too soon.
Chef stovetop/oven combo are a bloody good product. Sure they might not look that great or have all the bullshit bells and whistles but you can bet your arse they'll turn on when you need them to and heat up 10-20°C colder than you want them too.
Most people have their own fridges. I have rented one property where the fridge was supplied. The cavity was reasonably small and would have had to take a fridge up multiple flights of stairs.
The owner owned all 36 apartments in the block, so he would have gotten a good deal on the fridges.
Otherwise, landlords would avoid them as they are something that can break and something that needs to be kept clean by tenants.
Definitely true I can’t even fit our fridge into our kitchen won’t go through the door not a huge fridge, house built in 1920 not modern standard door size
Fuck that a million times. Fuck that. I don't want some shitty old fridge that a thousand people have used and broken before me, which chews more electricity than the rest of the appliances combined.
I'm sorry, I actually think the opposite is crazy. As either a renter or a buyer, why on earth would I want to have to deal with some random piece of whitegood that someone else I've never met has chosen to buy - quite likely at the lowest price possible, and just as likely have not given as much of a shit to keep clean and in good working order compared to something they've bought themselves?
This is something I've seen people pick apart a house over in those "we show you 4 properties and you pick the one you like the most" TV shows. "Oh the appliances are white, I don't like that." - what the actual? You've decided to strike a $400/500/600k house off the list because of a $400 fridge you could just as easily replace yourself in one afternoon? Get out of town.
>why on earth would I want to have to deal with some random piece of whitegood that someone else I've never met has chosen to buy
Multiple reasons, for example, it's built in to the house, or they want to remain "mobile" without getting bogged down by too many large appliances
Its weird, because when I rented out my place for a while the property manager wanted me to move my fridge and washing machine out despite me being happy to leave them there to save tenant the issue of getting there own, plus washing machines are fucking heavy and I just couldn't be arsed moving it. I agree with fridges really should be staying with the house, once you find a fridge that fits just keep it there. If you're renting there is no second guessing what fits
It's not really saving the tenant from getting their own though. They probably already have a fridge and washing machine. It just means they now have nowhere to put them.
Landlords would buy the cheapest shittiest fridge possible. Then when it inevitably breaks down you'll have to fight tooth and nail to get it repaired like we do everything else in our rentals. I'd rather lug my fridge around than use some shitty landlords fridge.
It's like the dryer that came with my current place. They used it in their marketing material but it's a piece of shit and doesn't dry anything. it's wall mounted so now it's just in the way for me to supply my own.
The problem is more systemic and demand related. Because renters are used to supplying all their own furnishings, fridge/freezers included, when landlords consider adding these items to a rental contract, it generally has no impact to the rental income, and can reduce the applicant pool (as most have their own). Landlords are then liable for maintenance of any included items in a tenancy agreement. Why take the extra accountability for nothing?
Just the way it is in Australia. Thats it.
You can rent fridges, but they are cheap enough to buy. Even a bar fridge is a good start.. Whats that $50 - $100 for a good 2nd handy.? It'll do the job fine & get you going.
We own all our whitegoods. Fridge, dishwasher, washer, dryer, it's all mine.
The only thing landlords provide is an oven/stove.
I like it that way tbh. I can have the size I want/need, not what the landlord is willing to spend.
I don't know if it's still the case, but I remember it being common to see fully furnished places in Brisbane (especially apartments in the city). But I haven't seen that as an option here in Melbourne.
oh god thats a funny one. we own fucking everything, its a pain in the ass if you like to move about and minimalise.
I remember living in the UK the rentals would almost always have fridge, washers, couches, tables, chairs, the whole shebang.
I agree it’s bloody annoying, but the way rentals are setup at the moment I wouldn’t want to rely on my landlord to supply a fridge promptly if something went wrong with the old one
The fridge warranty probably cant be transferred to a buyer of the house. LG specifically excludes it .. so
Also an investment property is bought from a PPOR owner,and so investment property owners don't have the fridge...
It would be better if the consumer guarantee law transferred the warranty of the appliances ... And better for LG too as moving the fridge can damage it... Wouldn't it be better if it stayed with the house ??
I find it odd that the landlord (and indeed the seller) has to leave the dishwasher but doesn't need to leave a washing machine or fridge.
Anyone know why this is?
Fridges and washing machines.
But for whatever reason, dishwashers are part of the property. And ovens and stoves.
I rented in France once. There, *nothing* is included - you have to buy a stove and everything.
Asked a real estate agent once whether we should leave the fridge and washing machine. I was helping a friend let their place. They said "No. You will have to fix or replace them if they break"
I don't want to live in a pre-furnished rental. I want to bring my own furniture and appliances with me. It's annoying enough that apartments are required to provide a clothes dryer, because I already have my own clothes dryer and now need to find somewhere to store it temporarily because there's not enough room to have both.
Some rentals (like sharehouses) come pre-furnished. This might be desirable for young students without their own furnishings and appliances, but when you're an older person with an established home it's generally expected that you would want to keep your own stuff. Especially when the appliances provided by a landlord are going to be the cheapest, shittiest quality they can find.
You know in Germany people usually have to install the entire kitchen? As in, its just a blank room with water pipes. I find that crazy.
(but then again, renting for 6 months, like in Australia, is unhead of)
I live in a 1x1 unit, middle of town, $250pw. TV cabinet, coffee table, couch, dining tables + chairs, bed + frame, washing machine and fridge were included. It's in a complex of six units and they're all supplied the same things. Pretty good setup for one person. Median price of a 3x2 around here is around $550. Price pw hasn't increased at all since I moved in almost two years ago, never met the landlord but they mustn't be fiending for more cash like all the others are
Ummm, because we have our own taste in furniture. I would NEVER move into a furnished property, especially as the furnished ones I've seen have 30+ year old furniture and appliances. No thanks
After a relative died, I sold his perfectly good white goods to a guy whose job was literally to buy second-hand white goods and deliver them to furnished rental properties on behalf of the real estate agent. So there are landlords who provide fridges, freezers and washing machines. And they don't spend a lot on them either.
Have you ever looked at a fridge in a hotel or a rental that does supply one?
I wouldn't want to store my food in something as dirty and full of mold as that lol.
You could also just find a property that's listed as fully furnished and it will include everything for a slight increase in price.
Yeah renting with white goods would be so useful! North America was like that!!
Least we aren’t Germany and you don’t have to install your own kitchen and floors etc lol
I rent out a granny flat and provide a fridge and washing machine. I spent 10 years living in North America though where those things come with the rental so I guess I've just been conditioned to have it that way.
My fridge blew at the start of last year. I bought a new one and had it delivered the next day. Was able to buy what I wanted.
Now if I had left it to the real estate it'd probably takes days just to get them to listen to the problem, more so for them to send some person out to 'look at it'. Would they repair the old piece of shit? A replacement would probably take even more time, the replacement would be the cheapest smallest thing they could afford.
I'd much rather be in charge of where I keep my cold and frozen goods, wouldn't trust the real estate or home owner to provide something.
It's one thing that I don't like about Australia. We leave ovens and dishwashers but have to take fridges and washing machines us. So bloody heavy and annoying
In a lot of other countries places are furnished which is a lot more convenient. It's painful moving all your stuff every time you move
Tbh I don't want to use a fridge used by another, who knows how clean they kept it. I also know that I need a big freezer due to bulk cooking so I have a fridge appropriate for my needs. My inlaws only need a tiny fridge for what they buy so that have a small one, it's half the size of mine and I'd have to spend a lot more money on groceries if I had a tiny fridge
I would rather die than use someone else's fridge. I can't imagine how gross and dirty it would be, and what if it wasn't big enough, too big, inefficient wrt power usage etc. I feel like hurling when I think about using something that might have been full of rotting, hoarded food or some such. I'd rather just move my own fridge. It's no different to moving a sofa or a washing machine.
> I can't imagine how gross and dirty it would be
.. what the fuck are you doing with your fridge?
>
I would rather die than use someone else's fridge.
Hope you never eat takeaway or in a restaurant then.
Your post is just pure classism and bigotry to be honest. Not everyone is able to afford their own fridge straight away. I'll take the downvotes
Considering everything else you're moving, which will likely include a table, a desk, a couch, a bed and a chest of drawers, a fridge and washing machine isn't that much more volume or weight compared to everything you're already moving.
Um, most fridges here have two wheels. They're apiece of cake to move.
Also, you can buy a good secondhand fridge for, well, for free if you pick it up yourself. Pretty much everyone here knows somebody with a ute. You can borrow mine this weekend if you want, cost ya a six pack.
Wheels on fridges aren't unique to Australia, I've lived in a few countries and have never come across a fridge that doesn't have wheels.
Let's be honest here fridges aren't heavy, it's just the physical dimensions that make them awkward.
With all the comments i guess the real question for OP is.
Why do non australians renter NOT own their own fridge, as the one the land lord provides is going to be under sized, under cooled, energy inefficient and will be the bottom of the barrel and prob wont cool very well.
Landlords would take a month to get it fixed and you'd have no food and they wouldn't pay for your lost dollars.
I'm confused as to why you wouldn't have your own fridge
Because if landlords supplied them, they would have to pay to fix them
Case fucking closed.
100% lol. There are some total overreactions and snobbery in this thread to what is simply just a minor cultural and class difference (class because, some of the replies in here basically read like 'eww! those dirty *poor people* who can't even afford their own furniture and appliances') In the UK I rented a couple of fully furnished properties because a) too poor to buy all the appliances and furniture etc right away and b) I wanted to remain "mobile" - when the lease was finished, I put my clothes, books, etc in the back of the car and drove away. Often, people who are on temporary work placements or students etc don't want all the hassle. Then later in life when I was ready to settle down, I got an unfurnished place and got all my own furniture and appliances, but then that meant that "moving day" from that point onwards became a much bigger headache where I needed to hire a van or removals company. *Then* when I moved to Australia I did the exact same cycle again, starting completely from scratch (got really lucky finding a rare fully furnished place in Australia) then the next place was unfurnished. I think it's good to have the option to have both for people in different situations in life
I've only ever rented furnished in the UK and unfurnished in Aus, it struck me as being really odd that you'd be expected to bring your own furniture to a house you don't own.
Really you don't furnish the place yourself, eventually you'll be the last one in a sharehouse and all the furniture is free or probably more commonly it is gifted by family when you move out, potentially second hand. In my home which was unfurnished, I bought the fridge, inherited one broke, and my work chair, everything else was a gift or abandoned by a previous flatmate.
This happened to me. I was the last one in a share house and inherited a lot of stuff (some useful and some not!) the only thing I did realise was that each time someone moved out I refunded them their portion of the bond meaning that when it came to moving out the end of lease clean came completely out of my pocket. I got the full bond back, but still had the expense of paying for a two living room, three bed, 2.5 bath townhouse clean…so perhaps I didn’t come out on top 🤔
You can rent furnished in Australia too.
My furnished rental in Aus has white goods - washer, dryer, fridge. Also has an iron, which I wish I'd noticed before I bought one to move in with.
You have two irons, and I (a woman in her mid 40s) have never owned one. I clearly suck at adulting.
I haven't used either of the irons since moving here, either... I bought it thinking "shirts, will need an iron" and then realised all I'd packed were non-iron ones that the creases shake out of if you hang them in the bathroom while showering. So we've used the same amount of iron, but I've paid for a lot more. I think this means you are winning.
How much more expensive was it compared to unfurnished, and can't there be something in-between? Partially furnished should be a percentage, or some sort of point system. I bet that exists.
Don't know the cost difference, sorry.. I only had a few days to find a place as I was flying back to the UK and needed to get keys before I left, so viewed two, took one. I didn't actually check if the other one had a fridge included!
I rent out a furnished and a similar unfurnished place in Australia. The furniture is old and they both rent for the same price
Would the tenant still need to bring their own bed tho? I think for hygiene reasons people should buy their own bed? Then again… I just thought of hotels.
Things can vary by country. I am from the US. Before I moved to Oz, I rented for 19 years in various places across 6 states and every place had a fridge. There was often a communal place with commercial washers and dryers and I would generally bring my own microwave.
Also you would stick with the oldest fridge possible Probably a bar fridge
That would be my main worry. Sydney land lords and ladies are cheap as fridge. If they can save 10 bucks by making your live harder, they will save 10 bucks. Never lived so cheap for so much money before.
> If they can save 10 bucks by making your live harder, they will save 10 bucks. Never lived so cheap for so much money before. Our front door handle & lock needed replacing. It was one of those ones where the same key works for both the handle lock and the deadlock above it. So instead of replacing the both the handle lock & the deadbolt… they just replaced the handle lock. So we had to use two keys for the front door… And it was a different colour. It’s a small thing, and *very* small compared to the other bullshit we put up with. But it’s so indicative of their attitude towards the property. If it was me, I would have replaced the whole thing.
I was wondering why its two keys for my place and only one for my parents place. Probably same thing happened to the door with a previous tenant.
Super old and inefficient + poor energy rating cos those are cheaper to buy. When my secondhand 10 year old LG fridge died, and we replaced it with a slightly larger 3 year old secondhand LG, our electricity bills actually dropped.
Also any appliance provided by a landlord needs to be tested and tagged by an electrician every two years (in Victoria). When's the last time you had a home appliance checked by an electrician when it was working, 'just in case'? Big disincentive to provide appliances.
yup same at my workplace (industrial warehouse) someone got a big lecture when found to have plugged his own charger cable in to the wall socket. They take it soooo seriously, with checks every however many years.
You know hard it is to get them to fix a leaky roof, imagine that but for a fridge.
Because if landlords supplied them, those fridges would be from 1982 and be fucking filthy! Minimum effort, remember?
I am a Landlord. We got the fridge as the size of the fridge hile was so bespoke a renter would have to buy. We tried to be lazy landlords and give it to Defence Housing Authority. They wouldn't touch it, as the expectation was Defence Personnel would bring their Fridge and Washing machine. Likewise, we had to interstate for a few years and rent our house out. We left our fridge behind as the fridge wouldn't fit. This should be the way.
My ex rented a place with a fridge built into cabinets. Somehow, unsure how they thought they could get away with it, the lease stipulated tenant responsible for maintenance/replacement of fridge if damaged. This was 2019 so pre crisis, he got that changed before moving in, fridge carked it 2 years in (not his fault) and landlord was ropable but thats what you get when you rent a place with the built in fridge!
I came to say exactly this. I removed a broken dryer that I had never used from my old apartment before I moved out because if I had bought a new one I would have been responsible for maintenance costs. If the rules let me buy one and say to the tenants if it breaks you have to fix it, I'm washing my hands of it then I would have. But too many people would abuse that rule rather than use it for good so they don't.
We rented a place with an "as-is" washing machine and it was fine. Before we moved in, the agent called us and asked if we'd like a machine left as the owners didn't need it. We said yes, and a condition that it would not be replaced if it broke was added in to the lease. We didn't pay any extra for it, saved us buying a machine (our old one was stuffed) and the landlord didn't need to move a washing machine.
I've rented places with white goods that when they died the LL just said I'm not replacing it, get your own and no rent increase this time.
Doesn’t explain why places come with built in ovens though does it
Ovens are a legally required fixture
REALLY!? WHY that is FASCINATING. The $350/week I'm paying for no oven would love to know more.
At least in Vic, it doesn't need an oven, but it does need a stovetop with at least two burners.
Aah. Well, I have that much.
>Ovens are a legally required fixture Circular logic.
Fridges are an appliance with a plug. Ovens are hard wired on their own circuit and you need to licensed to be disconnect/reconnect them, or they’re gas.
I think the answer is in your question. (Built in)
The words "built in" should explain the difference to a fridge.
Or dishwashers, every rental Ive had has come with a dishwasher
Only 1 rental I’ve ever had, had a dishwasher. Same with air conditioning. They’ve become standard over the last decade or so but older places don’t have them unless they’ve been recently renovated. Rented 15 places as an adult.
Most furniture isn't easy to move, but you can get furnished places too. However I'd rather have to move my own decent fridge rather than use whatever cheap as possible piece of crap a landlord would provide. If they were required to supply one I bet at least 75% would just provide a tiny bar fridge. Also I know everyone hates landlords, but it would just lead to increased rents as well.
>whatever cheap as possible piece of crap a landlord would provide And we all know that even if it worked properly and was new enough to be even vaguely efficient, in many cases it would stink and/or be stained with who-knows-what. Unless it's a fully furnished place (which I've rented and the fridge was fine), I'd rather deal with the hassle of moving my own fridge instead of dealing with that. Including the times we've put the fridge in the laundry or the garage because the allocated space was ridiculously skinny or too short for the fridge we already owned. The flipside is that I think it's really strange that in the US, the fridge is often included when you BUY a house. If I want a second-hand fridge, I'll buy one of my choosing.
I think one reason the fridge stays with the house is a lot of kitchens are designed with one size fridge in mind and it can be a pita to find the right size. Like my current one, the cabinet is very specifically built around the fridge. Our stove is also an unusual size and when we needed to replace it we had limited choices that would fit the counter cut out. So leaving appliances makes sense because they are often specific to the space.
In Australia, fridges from most manufacturers (Samsung, LG, Fisher & Paykel, Hisense etc) tend to be of about half a dozen or so basic size classes and the size of the fridge space usually correlates with the size of the house. A basic 1 or 2 bedroom apartment usually has a space for a ~330 litre fridge, a standard 3/4 bedroom house usually has space for a ~520 litre fridge and a large house/mansion usually has space for a double door/french door fridge ~600 litres. There are exceptions to this, of course, but I’ve noticed this is the usual trend
it doesn't help when the fridge dimensions are wrong and so in spite of measuring the cupboard, it won't fit.
We had to buy a new fridge when we moved last because ours wouldn't fit. It was a pain in the ass and I am still mad about it.
>the fridge is often included when you BUY a house We sold our fridge with our house in Australia because we had it professionally plumbed in for ice and water and it wouldn't have fit in our new kitchen anyway. The house recently sold again its still the same fridge in the photos so they obviously never replaced it.
You can get a perfectly serviceable fridge for $600 that should last at least five years (conservatively). Amortised out, that adds about two bucks thirty to weekly rent. But you're right: these "fully equipped kitchen" leases will go up by about $25 a week to compensate landlords for the appalling inconvenience of having to provide liveable conditions to their ~~serfs~~ tenants.
Remember they're also in it to make money, they're not going to charge $2.50 letting you have the fridge at cost price
You could say that about all the things in the house though and those few dollars a week add up to hundreds fast.
I have rented in Ireland, where rentals come fully furnished and unfurnished rentals are rare. We NEVER had a full sized fridge, only bar fridges. Now I know Ireland does not have the climate of most of Australia but it’s a fkn pita having to share a bar fridge with three other grown adults wherever you live. You do end up eating worse because you can’t freeze and have minimal cold storage. I’d rather move a fridge any day.
I lived and rented in Ireland in many houses across 5 different counties and I've never not had a full sized fridge.
I used to live in an apartment that had no pantry. I put my fridge where the kitchen counter just....ended. I stored food mostly in the fridge and in the cupboard next to the sink. Looking back on it, it was really weird. I can't trust a landlord to provide a fridge if they won't even provide a cupboard.
Also just another thing to hold the bond over- 'you left a speck of sweet chilli sauce on the bottom of the fridge. That will cost $400 to clean'
Cheap shitty fridges are the worst. I don't understand why renters (like myself) would choose sub par appliances.. I even take my own dishwasher because the ones supplied at rentals are dog shit. I also currently have a longer term lease. I have an agreement with my landlord that allows me to upgrade things that mutually benefit us both. I paid half for a new larger hot water system because the one that we had was garbage, and the landlord had no requirement to replace. So what if it cost me $1000, but $1000 over five years or so for a nice shower for the family, as opposed to feeling like an old man pissing on my head is worth every penny.
And it would be from 35 years ago
Oi go easy. As a landlord i put in quality appliances so theyre less issues in the long run. I rented my place with a washing machine, and on one of the inspections it was revealed that my machine had a problem and the tenant chucked it out and now uses their own. Because mine wasnt explicitly on the lease agreement its just gone. Peeved. I woulda been happy to replace it as a tax thing and capital improvement.
Tenants probably reported their broken washer and the shit REA couldn't be bothered to do anything about it.
Its not a capital improvement its just chattel.
In Germany and other European countries you don't even get a kitchen. Nothing at all, just an empty room where you're supposed to put your own kitchen. No sink, stove, cupboards or anything.
I've heard of this, but it just seems weird as fuck. Kitchen fitouts are god damned expensive. The last thing I would want to do is move into a rental with an empty room with nothing in it. It seems prohibitively expensive and wasteful. I've love to hear someones actually experience of this.
A friend of mine from Germany told me this same thing and it weirded me out. Then the told me she’d moved in to that apartment when she finished Uni at 21. We were standing in that kitchen on her 35th birthday. I asked and her rent had gone up twice in that time - by €50 the first time and €35 the next. It’ll never happen but I would love German style laws for renters in this country.
Id provide my own kitchen for that level of rent stability.
Right? Same friend only moved a couple years ago (at 43) when she & her husband bought a house in the countryside to be closer to his family. Literally she lived in the same apartment from the end of Uni, through dating in her 20s, to marriage, to 2 small children. Because rent stability. I would ABSOLUTELY live in my current place for 10+ years if I could be guaranteed my rent isn’t going up another $50 a week next year (bet it will, based on my neighbours since the same people own all the units).
Every year on the dot it goes up and only once a year because I have to remind them that more frequently than that is illegal.
It’s why Ikea does kitchens. Also in Germany and Austria long rentals are very common, when I lived there my friends parents had a 40 year lease agreement.
It makes sense when you look at rentals the way Europeans do: as homes. My understanding is that in Germany (and many other places) rentals are only for renting. Meaning that there aren't instances of new owners buying these places with the aim of living in them. They're established as rentals, so you can buy one but you have to rent it out, you can only buy places that are for owner-occupiers. So if you're renting a place, you're likely looking at living there for a long time, and want to make it like your home. You basically have the right to do anything with the property as long as you don't damage it, which I think is great. You can make your home into your home. The landlord's job is to provide the living space and fix any building issues, and in return they are paid rent. Makes sense to me. I don't understand the system to any great extent, but that is how it was explained to me and we had a similar system in Chicago where I grew up, so it doesn't sound too crazy to me. Aussies just have a bizarre view of housing and probably the worst system in the developed world.
You either rent the kitchen, buy cheap, free standing cupboards and appliances or fit it out properly. Rentals in Germany are usually longer term than Australia so it can be a good thing if you're there for a while. You can get apartments that do have kitchens built in but the rent will be higher. You can also sell your kitchen to the next renter if they want it.
Ok, that makes a bit more sense.
I've moved onto a place with literally just a sink set in 1m of benchtop in the kitchen, I had to byo benches and cupboards. A pain but it meant they could be the height and width *I* wanted, rather than built for people two feet shorter than me. I imagine in countries where this is common to bring the sink, they aren't moving every year or so.
Yeah, but you can get like 10 or more year leases in Europe so you could live in that house forever
Aren't the leases in Germany usually 5-10+ years?
Most German rental contracts are indefinite. Fixed-term contracts are only legal if the landlord has a permissible reason when you sign the lease.
Not always but they can be long term.
They also have leases longer than 1 year and don't have an REA sticking their nose in every 6 weeks to ensure you're sweeping the floor.
How many times a year are they expecting to move house though?
Lol. Probably not as many as here. I have family that have been in the same house for over 50 years with basically the same rent, apart from inflation. That would never happen here.
Damn! 50 years? I'd be okay providing a *lot* for 50 years of stability! To be honest, more than okay. Gimme a 20 year lease with no increases and I'll rebuild the bloody kitchen, bathroom as well.
Same! I’d happily stay in my place 5+ years if they kept the rent the same and made it so I pay for basic repairs - I’ll happily pay for the gutters to be cleaned or to replace the dishwasher or A/C if I had a long lease with no chance of huge increases.
You stay for many years, generally. Visited a mate in Munich and not only was his apartment a proper living place (4 actual-sized bedrooms, linen closet, storage, etc) he said he had signed a lease for 5 years, but that basically after that 5 years he could stay the rest of his life in that place. The rent increases are laid out ahead of time, and even if the place is sold to someone else, they can't move in and kick him out. The only way he could be evicted would be to break the law or stop paying rent.
I long for this kind of stability... We've moved six times in 15 years, at a cost of $4-5k to my family each time, because the owner wanted to move back in - except once, it sold for so the rent went up $200/w.
Hopefully your are renting for a few years to make that pay. What a pain!
I just don't understand that at all. That seems crazy inefficient. Uninstalling and reinstalling everything would cost a ton, and what if the two spaces are different and your kitchen installations don't fit with the new one?
Yes that’s the case in France. The IKEAs there are always filled with people getting their new kitchen designed. Their rental periods tend to be longer than in Australia though.
I’d argue that fridges are easier to move than beds, especially those mattress in a box ones. They’re an absolute prick to move. Then there’s couches….
They absolutely are. I'm an older female working in youth accommodation so often have to help kids with this, no issues whatsoever in using a trolley to get a fridge out of a property, lever it into a van, slip it back onto the trolley at destination and then whisk it up a few flights of stairs into the new property. Same deal with washing machines and dryers though frontloader washers are the worst, they seem to have literal blocks of concrete in the base to stabilise them.
They do, quite literally, have blocks of concrete in the base, & yes, it's for stability.
I always dreamed that a day would come when I would see ‘literally’ used correctly in an on-line exchange. Sorry, excuse me… I’m just feeling quite emotional right now.
"Whisk" a fucking fridge up a few flights of stairs sounds like a nightmare
You think that’s crazy wait till you find out about the rental apartments in Germany where you have to supply your own kitchen. https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/comments/zgs5yp/why_does_germany_have_a_culture_of_building_your/
My german grandparents rented an apartment when they were 21 years old, and kept on renting it until well into their 80's, eventually moving out when they just couldn't do the stairs anymore (it was on the fourth floor and no elevator). They renovated the apartment multiple times while renting - stuff that you'd only do if you owned the place here in Australia.
Do you think unfurnished rentals are a uniquely Australian thing? Because it’s not It’s simply just one less thing for the landlord to do, then you can also add on that many people would rather just use their own with how shit the one there would be. Personally I always preferred unfurnished rentals that way there is less of a chance you get fucked over by the property manager
Yeah nah. I’d rather have my own thanks
How is that an Australian issue? I rented many different places in the UK and apart from a couple of furnished bedsits, I always had to bring my own fridge?!
In Canada you never bring your own fridge. I was so surprised when I moved to Australia
I rented all over the UK and never had to get a fridge.
I can't think of anything more disgusting than using a fridge that has been used by who knows how many other people.
What about a toilet
Do you eat from the toilet? A study last year found that reusable water bottles were found to have up to 40000x the bacteria of the average toilet seats.
Do people not clean their water bottle?
Not enough. A quick rinse when refilling isn't enough. Many bottles also have lots of small hard to clean spots, or moving pieces that act as bacteria strongholds. Hl And heaven forbid you ever put in anything other than clean water... juice or milk based liquids in a bottle with any amount of moving parts is a nightmare.
Easier to bleach a toilet and get it clean compared to a fridge with god knows how many nooks and crannies to collect filth.
What the hell are you people doing in your fridges
You beg you dont know
Me? Nothing. Johnny Meth that was using the fridge last? I have no idea
Evidentially they are using the crisper to make soup in
> compared to a fridge with god knows how many nooks and crannies to collect filth. the fuck are you doing with your fridge? you do realise you don't put food directly on to the shelves? 😂
Am I the only one who changes the toilet seat when I move in? No one ever cleans toilets properly 🤮🤮
Yeah I think this should be normalised more !
In my family we clean toilet seats properly, so we clean the toilet seat after we move in and it is cleaned properly.
That's why you give shite a wipe before you move in lol
I can. Toilets and bathooms.
Ever been to a hotel? Have a fridge at work? It's not unusual.
Yeah, this classist nonsense should not be upvoted so much.
Probably don't eat at restaurants then
>I can't think of anything more disgusting than using a fridge that has been used by who knows how many other people. Then you're an absolute moron. Why does this subreddit upvote this classist bigotry? Your post is basically 'eww! those dirty poor people who can't even afford their own fridge!'
People usually own furniture and whitegoods in Aus, either passed down from parents or from previous residence. Its better to use youre own stuff rather than a landlords which can potentially be old, bad energy usages, etc and also probably incorporated into the rent. Our rent is high enough already. ts also less hassles for the landlord, which is beneficial to the renter as their not at the whim of the quality and reliability of the landlord as often.
Because the tenant has to pay the electricity bill. I want my own modern, efficient, correct size for me fridge and not some ugly, noisy inefficient one. If my food goes off because my fridge dies that's on me, if my food goes off because the property manager takes a week to get a new fridge then that's just more bullshit to fight over.
My taps leak, my doors squeak, my hot water is plumbed into the house with a hose. I don't want to imagine how broken my fridge would be if I had to rely on my landlord to provide it. Even if there was an option for a semi-furnished property with washer/dryer/fridge included I'd steer away from it and want to live somewhere I could use my own to ensure they actually work.
Landlords in this country have to have legislation to provide tenants with a place to dry their cloths... If it isn't legally required, they aren't doing it. Investment properties would be built without windows to save money if it wasn't legally required for a bedroom to have a window.
Not many people would want to use a fridge of unknown origin and history.
I personally wouldn’t want to use a second/3rd/4th etc hand fridge. It’s just not very nice, especially if your previous user kept funny smelly things in it. No amount of deep cleaning will fix it
Oh yeah what a great idea That way the landlord can own my fridge So when I move into a rental they’ll give me a fridge that’s been there since 1991, that’s been leaking since 2002 and I’ll have to accept it as part of the exorbitant rent I’m already paying. Then every time there’s an inspection, I can report the fridge as being old and shit and the landlord will never do a thing about it Then when I move out they’ll say I “broke” the fridge and then claim my entire $2400 bond with it so they can replace it Then the cycle continues Fuck your idea.
So Australian rental laws require any fixtures or appliances provided by the landlord to be maintained by the landlord. Last time I had a fridge in one of my rentals the tenant left the door open and held the toggle in to keep the engine running to intentionally burn it out, because they wanted me to supply a bigger fridge with a ice dispenser (this was a fill sized french door fridge with pull out freezer). I know they did it intentionally because they sent me a video with them talking explaining that since I turned down their request they would do this to any fridge I put in that doesn't meet their requirements. I replaced it with an identical sized hisense and issued them with a bill. They did not pay it, burnt out a second fridge and sent me a text telling me the new fridge is burnt out. So I didn't not replace the damaged fridge, they took me to QCAT, I gave the video as proof of what they did (twice) I was ordered to replace their fridge and compensate them 5% of their rent per day they did not have a fridge. Which cost me $600 + $1,050 in rent. Unsurprisingly they destroyed the third fridge, were behind on their rent, so they pulled off all the skirting boards, cracked tiles and pulled down light fitting before moving out without telling me. Moraie is, 99% of the time tenants do the right thing, the 1% is why you can bring your own damn fridge.
I’ve had rentals that provided fridges, usually because they’re plumbed in. It was great not to have to organise a fridge when arriving and leaving. No idea why people are against it
Looking at the shit that landlords pull on renters, I reckon most of us prefer to have our own fridge, because they'd probably just give us a wet sack and say it's the same thing. Example: I once moved into a place with a broken oven, on agreement it would be replaced. It was... with one from the tip. Technically still worked. The tradesman who fitted it was laughing so hard he actually cried when we told him this was the "new" oven our landlord got for us. He pointed out that the costs for him to truck it over and fit it were only about $50 less than buying a brand new oven of the same kind. That's how cheap these bastards are.
Because it's how it has always been. Renters provide their own furniture. If you can pick up a rental and shake it - what falls out is NOT included in the rent. Thus, provide your own washing machine, fridge and other furniture. Because white goods ARE furniture in Australia.
I always thought this was one of those things where appliances that were hard-wired or plumbed in, like dishwashers and shower heads, come with the rental while things that plug in to a wall socket are not. In some parts of the world, fridges are hard-wired (and even plumbed, if it's a gas fridge). But in Australia almost all fridges plug into a standard wall socket no issue.
My girlfriend owns a house which she rents. She had provided a fridge, freezer, washing machine and the real estate explicitly told her to remove them, because she would be liable for them.
Its the Australian way to own your own fridge
Prefer to move a fridge every couple years then have to deal with the landlord special
It is kinda weird that dishwashers stay, but washing machines don’t.
Chicken and egg problem, renters always bring their own fridge because they're expected to. If you supplied a fridge, they would ask you to remove it so they can put their own fridge in.
Considering the quality of appliances the landlords provided during my time as a renter, I'm glad I can bring my own fridge. If I never see another Omega/Kogan appliance as long as I live, it'll be too soon.
or a chef stovetop/oven combo
Haha my most recent place was exactly this. Had to hold a match to the stove to light it
Chef stovetop/oven combo are a bloody good product. Sure they might not look that great or have all the bullshit bells and whistles but you can bet your arse they'll turn on when you need them to and heat up 10-20°C colder than you want them too.
my kogan washing machine goes hard, sure, the door fell off at the hinges but the locking mechanism holds it solid.
That's is wild you guys don't own your own fridge. What about washing machines? ?
Idk it's soooo hard to move them
It's just not done here. It's not a thing.
Most people have their own fridges. I have rented one property where the fridge was supplied. The cavity was reasonably small and would have had to take a fridge up multiple flights of stairs. The owner owned all 36 apartments in the block, so he would have gotten a good deal on the fridges. Otherwise, landlords would avoid them as they are something that can break and something that needs to be kept clean by tenants.
Definitely true I can’t even fit our fridge into our kitchen won’t go through the door not a huge fridge, house built in 1920 not modern standard door size
In QLD, many many years ago, it was quite common to have a fridge as part of a rental. That was over 25 years ago though.
Fuck that a million times. Fuck that. I don't want some shitty old fridge that a thousand people have used and broken before me, which chews more electricity than the rest of the appliances combined.
Yeah, I'd rather my food go into something I know the history and reliability of
Guess it's just a cultural thing here.
I'm sorry, I actually think the opposite is crazy. As either a renter or a buyer, why on earth would I want to have to deal with some random piece of whitegood that someone else I've never met has chosen to buy - quite likely at the lowest price possible, and just as likely have not given as much of a shit to keep clean and in good working order compared to something they've bought themselves? This is something I've seen people pick apart a house over in those "we show you 4 properties and you pick the one you like the most" TV shows. "Oh the appliances are white, I don't like that." - what the actual? You've decided to strike a $400/500/600k house off the list because of a $400 fridge you could just as easily replace yourself in one afternoon? Get out of town.
>why on earth would I want to have to deal with some random piece of whitegood that someone else I've never met has chosen to buy Multiple reasons, for example, it's built in to the house, or they want to remain "mobile" without getting bogged down by too many large appliances
Its weird, because when I rented out my place for a while the property manager wanted me to move my fridge and washing machine out despite me being happy to leave them there to save tenant the issue of getting there own, plus washing machines are fucking heavy and I just couldn't be arsed moving it. I agree with fridges really should be staying with the house, once you find a fridge that fits just keep it there. If you're renting there is no second guessing what fits
It's not really saving the tenant from getting their own though. They probably already have a fridge and washing machine. It just means they now have nowhere to put them.
And what happens if the fridge or washing machine break? Are you going to replace them? That's why the PM asked you to move them out.
If you think *that's* bad, wait until you find out what renting in Germany is like!
Landlords would buy the cheapest shittiest fridge possible. Then when it inevitably breaks down you'll have to fight tooth and nail to get it repaired like we do everything else in our rentals. I'd rather lug my fridge around than use some shitty landlords fridge.
It's like the dryer that came with my current place. They used it in their marketing material but it's a piece of shit and doesn't dry anything. it's wall mounted so now it's just in the way for me to supply my own.
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OP should go to Germany where most rentals don’t even have a kitchen installed
The problem is more systemic and demand related. Because renters are used to supplying all their own furnishings, fridge/freezers included, when landlords consider adding these items to a rental contract, it generally has no impact to the rental income, and can reduce the applicant pool (as most have their own). Landlords are then liable for maintenance of any included items in a tenancy agreement. Why take the extra accountability for nothing?
Hahaha I know. I was like wtf when I moved here.
Just the way it is in Australia. Thats it. You can rent fridges, but they are cheap enough to buy. Even a bar fridge is a good start.. Whats that $50 - $100 for a good 2nd handy.? It'll do the job fine & get you going.
All renters would starve waiting for a repair.
We own all our whitegoods. Fridge, dishwasher, washer, dryer, it's all mine. The only thing landlords provide is an oven/stove. I like it that way tbh. I can have the size I want/need, not what the landlord is willing to spend.
I don't know if it's still the case, but I remember it being common to see fully furnished places in Brisbane (especially apartments in the city). But I haven't seen that as an option here in Melbourne.
oh god thats a funny one. we own fucking everything, its a pain in the ass if you like to move about and minimalise. I remember living in the UK the rentals would almost always have fridge, washers, couches, tables, chairs, the whole shebang.
but it's ok for dishwasher machines? What's the difference then?
I agree it’s bloody annoying, but the way rentals are setup at the moment I wouldn’t want to rely on my landlord to supply a fridge promptly if something went wrong with the old one
Why should you be provided with a fridge. ? If you want one you can rent a furnished house.
Because most rentals are just the house, nothing else (except oven/stove)
In Germany you’d need to provide your own kitchen.
The fridge warranty probably cant be transferred to a buyer of the house. LG specifically excludes it .. so Also an investment property is bought from a PPOR owner,and so investment property owners don't have the fridge... It would be better if the consumer guarantee law transferred the warranty of the appliances ... And better for LG too as moving the fridge can damage it... Wouldn't it be better if it stayed with the house ??
I find it odd that the landlord (and indeed the seller) has to leave the dishwasher but doesn't need to leave a washing machine or fridge. Anyone know why this is?
Personally, I prefer my own fridge.
Fridges and washing machines. But for whatever reason, dishwashers are part of the property. And ovens and stoves. I rented in France once. There, *nothing* is included - you have to buy a stove and everything.
Asked a real estate agent once whether we should leave the fridge and washing machine. I was helping a friend let their place. They said "No. You will have to fix or replace them if they break"
I don't want to live in a pre-furnished rental. I want to bring my own furniture and appliances with me. It's annoying enough that apartments are required to provide a clothes dryer, because I already have my own clothes dryer and now need to find somewhere to store it temporarily because there's not enough room to have both. Some rentals (like sharehouses) come pre-furnished. This might be desirable for young students without their own furnishings and appliances, but when you're an older person with an established home it's generally expected that you would want to keep your own stuff. Especially when the appliances provided by a landlord are going to be the cheapest, shittiest quality they can find.
You know in Germany people usually have to install the entire kitchen? As in, its just a blank room with water pipes. I find that crazy. (but then again, renting for 6 months, like in Australia, is unhead of)
Can't get some landlords to put proper heating or cooling in, why would they extend themselves to a fridge.
I live in a 1x1 unit, middle of town, $250pw. TV cabinet, coffee table, couch, dining tables + chairs, bed + frame, washing machine and fridge were included. It's in a complex of six units and they're all supplied the same things. Pretty good setup for one person. Median price of a 3x2 around here is around $550. Price pw hasn't increased at all since I moved in almost two years ago, never met the landlord but they mustn't be fiending for more cash like all the others are
Ummm, because we have our own taste in furniture. I would NEVER move into a furnished property, especially as the furnished ones I've seen have 30+ year old furniture and appliances. No thanks
Landlords would supply the cheapest fridge that chewed through electricity, then demand tenants pay for any replacement or repair of the fridge
After a relative died, I sold his perfectly good white goods to a guy whose job was literally to buy second-hand white goods and deliver them to furnished rental properties on behalf of the real estate agent. So there are landlords who provide fridges, freezers and washing machines. And they don't spend a lot on them either.
Have you ever looked at a fridge in a hotel or a rental that does supply one? I wouldn't want to store my food in something as dirty and full of mold as that lol. You could also just find a property that's listed as fully furnished and it will include everything for a slight increase in price.
Because if we own it we can replace it without needing to threaten a VCAT claim.
Yeah renting with white goods would be so useful! North America was like that!! Least we aren’t Germany and you don’t have to install your own kitchen and floors etc lol
I heard in Germany they take the whole kitchen when they move out.
I rent out a granny flat and provide a fridge and washing machine. I spent 10 years living in North America though where those things come with the rental so I guess I've just been conditioned to have it that way.
My fridge blew at the start of last year. I bought a new one and had it delivered the next day. Was able to buy what I wanted. Now if I had left it to the real estate it'd probably takes days just to get them to listen to the problem, more so for them to send some person out to 'look at it'. Would they repair the old piece of shit? A replacement would probably take even more time, the replacement would be the cheapest smallest thing they could afford. I'd much rather be in charge of where I keep my cold and frozen goods, wouldn't trust the real estate or home owner to provide something.
I’m about to blow your mind. We own our own washing machines too.
You can afford to rent???? A fridge is the least of your problems! 😂
lol fridges are very easy to move compared to other furniture.
It's one thing that I don't like about Australia. We leave ovens and dishwashers but have to take fridges and washing machines us. So bloody heavy and annoying In a lot of other countries places are furnished which is a lot more convenient. It's painful moving all your stuff every time you move
Tbh I don't want to use a fridge used by another, who knows how clean they kept it. I also know that I need a big freezer due to bulk cooking so I have a fridge appropriate for my needs. My inlaws only need a tiny fridge for what they buy so that have a small one, it's half the size of mine and I'd have to spend a lot more money on groceries if I had a tiny fridge
I would rather die than use someone else's fridge. I can't imagine how gross and dirty it would be, and what if it wasn't big enough, too big, inefficient wrt power usage etc. I feel like hurling when I think about using something that might have been full of rotting, hoarded food or some such. I'd rather just move my own fridge. It's no different to moving a sofa or a washing machine.
> I can't imagine how gross and dirty it would be .. what the fuck are you doing with your fridge? > I would rather die than use someone else's fridge. Hope you never eat takeaway or in a restaurant then. Your post is just pure classism and bigotry to be honest. Not everyone is able to afford their own fridge straight away. I'll take the downvotes
Considering everything else you're moving, which will likely include a table, a desk, a couch, a bed and a chest of drawers, a fridge and washing machine isn't that much more volume or weight compared to everything you're already moving.
Um, most fridges here have two wheels. They're apiece of cake to move. Also, you can buy a good secondhand fridge for, well, for free if you pick it up yourself. Pretty much everyone here knows somebody with a ute. You can borrow mine this weekend if you want, cost ya a six pack.
Wheels on fridges aren't unique to Australia, I've lived in a few countries and have never come across a fridge that doesn't have wheels. Let's be honest here fridges aren't heavy, it's just the physical dimensions that make them awkward.
There are two places for rent: furnished and unfinished. Choose what suit you.
With all the comments i guess the real question for OP is. Why do non australians renter NOT own their own fridge, as the one the land lord provides is going to be under sized, under cooled, energy inefficient and will be the bottom of the barrel and prob wont cool very well.
Landlords would take a month to get it fixed and you'd have no food and they wouldn't pay for your lost dollars. I'm confused as to why you wouldn't have your own fridge