White Goods Rental for Landlords – does it make sense?

I wouldn't rent white good purely because they are so much cheaper these days. You can get a half decent fridge/freezer for less than £300. Cookers and washing machines are not expensive either. If you replaced these appliances after 4 years and it cost less than £1000 to purchase them, I would like to know the cost comparisson between purchasing and renting.

Hi Glen, that's the way I've always looked at it. However, Wendy's question has made me think too. If that £1,000 became say £1,500 spread over 4 years it might be worthwhile. Reasons being tax relief on the rentals (remember capital allowances are changing in April), the convenience in terms of cashflow and the extra convenience of them being somebody else's responsibility to fix or replace when they go wrong. I'm investigating this myself and will report back when I have some proper prices to compare.

I have always rented washer-dryers or washing machines and separate dryers because they are the items that are most likely to suffer from tenant misuse. I rent from Box Clever and, because of the number of machines I rent, I pay less than £20 pcm. After the tax relief this is very little. They offer next day repairs and I can change/upgrade at little or no cost every 3 years or when the machine is beyond economic repair. Apart from the saving on opportunity costs I don't need to get involved when there is a breakdown because the tenants can call them for service and arrange a call to suit themselves. Even when I upgrade the tenants will accept delivery and save me spending my time. I never need to worry about disposing of old machines because they are not mine. Overall the saving in time and money makes hiring really worthwhile.
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That's fantastic feedback Mary, thank you. I will try to make contact with Box Cleverwith a view to discussing a Landlords buying Group, similar to what we have done for Landlords Insurance. I suspect this will become a very popular business model from April onwards. It's very interesting to hear that you've being using this business model for decades. Yet again Mary, you're miles ahead of the crowd 🙂

I think a landlords buying group is a great idea Mark and Box Clever will have suffered a loss of business because of extended warranties in recent years. Landlords are good business for them and they should welcome you with open arms. I will be interested to hear how you get on - especially if you get a better price than I do hahahahaha
Even my machine at home is hired from them
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It would be nice if I could actually get to speak to their Marketing Department. I've left messages today and yesterday and they've not returned my calls yet.

Hello mark,Mary's ideas are good.But that work if you have low overheads and expenses.I never believe in renting or hiring white goods.That's me. When I bought first house, I had mini market in 1980's .I learned from that No Hire purchase.I always have provided white goods for all my houses and one flat.They all free standing.Fridge freezer 50/50 good size.Washing machine.Gas Hob and oven with exacter fan.I always buy with four(5) year extended guarantee.I always buy medium range appliances.Example here Washing machine £300 F/F £300 Hob £150 Oven£250 Exacter.£100 + 5 yr guarantee£500 total £1600 or less for 5 year.work out average £320 year.and all 5 of them fully repaired if not replaced to value of purchase.That can't be bad.and that all Maintenance expenses you can claim.Some time we have to get appointment to repair and pass onto tenants,and haggle with company if need to replace.but many time tenants call them direct .as I always provide copy of policy .
Glen said too.

I've always purchased the White goods for my rental properties and put up with the breakdowns, repairs. If they were rented who would be responsible when the tenant did a runner and cleaned out the property with all the fixture, fitting and white goods. Could you claim on the insurance?

I'm sure you could claim on insurance if you insured the contents. You would obviously have to report the crime and get a crime number but other than that I can't see that renting would make any difference. What are the chances of that happening though with a fully referenced tenant and guarantor?

Looking into white goods rental followingon from the ‘should you install a tumble drier’ question the other day, (and Ifelt rental was a good idea at the time) I’ve just received quotes for the following ; domestic,free standing, Bosch white appliances, 36 months min rental VAT inclusive
including £2/month all risks insurance premium per item.
Washer dryer Bosch WVD24460 is £22.27
Dishwasher Bosch
SMS40C02 12 place is £13.54
Fridge Freezer Bosch KGN34VW20 frost free 185cm h is £19.87.

These are commercial rental rates – not domesticrental rates which are lower.
The quotes above includes rental company insurance cover @ £2.00/item/month, which not only covers normal risks, but also "misuse" such as bra wires or coins stuck in the drum and assumes that rental payments are via direct debit, monthly in advance. Alternatively knock off £2/month per item for the insurance but you then need to ensure that the premises are insured for contents for all risks at all times, including fire, theft and accidental damage.

I appreciate that this is a first quote, but with insurance you are looking at £62/month and a total outlay of £2200 over 3 years.
Any repairs required are same day;
In my last BTL I put in Bosch appliances (because
it was a corporate let-otherwise I have found Beko good enough) and the outlay was around £1150 with a two year breakdown warranty – about half price less the cost of money!

I like the idea of rental from a cash flow outlay perspective (an accountant once told to me ‘buy appreciating assets and rent depreciating ones’) but I don’t sense that this quote makes good sense
financially – if I were to put white goods purchase on a zero rate credit card my only disadvantage is I can’t offset any rentals against tax on profits. I am happy to be convinced otherwise though…