Renting Guide

Furnished or unfurnished: deciding what a Luxembourg rental is worth furnishing yourself

Unfurnished here is frequently genuinely empty, and the gap between the two options is larger than the rent difference suggests. Four numbers settle it.

What unfurnished means in Luxembourg

Frequently nothing at all. No wardrobes, no light fittings beyond bare ceiling fixtures, and in many cases no kitchen appliances.

Confirm item by item and in writing before signing: oven, hob, extractor, fridge, dishwasher, washing machine and its connection, wardrobes, light fittings, curtain poles. Each is several hundred euros and a delivery slot, and a list agreed verbally at a viewing is not a list you can rely on in October.

Built-in cupboards are the exception rather than the rule, which is why the wall run in each bedroom matters more here than the floor area.

Number one: how long you expect to stay

This is the field that decides most of it. On an open-ended lease a tenant may terminate at any time with three months' notice, and most tenants here move more than once.

Under about eighteen months, furnishing rarely pays back: the outlay is not amortised and the moving cost arrives twice. Over three years it almost always does, and the furniture moves with you.

Be honest rather than optimistic. A stay described as "probably a couple of years" is frequently one year in practice.

Number two: what the apartment will actually take

Measure before pricing anything. The longest uninterrupted wall in each room, then every other segment between doors, windows and radiators. A standard wardrobe needs about two metres; a room with a door, a window and a radiator may have no such wall.

Then measure the route in: the lift car's internal width, depth and height, the diagonal of its door, and the narrowest point of the stairwell including any turn.

In the converted townhouses of Limpertsberg, Belair and the Gare district a fourth floor without a lift is common, and a narrow winding staircase will not take a wardrobe or a large mattress. Where a hoist is needed and the facade faces a narrow street, a permit from the commune may be required, which is not a same-day arrangement.

Number three: the real cost of furnishing

Price it in three tiers rather than as one figure, because they behave differently.

Essential and portable: bed, seating, table, chairs, storage, and two or three lamps with dimmable warm bulbs. These move with you and hold value.

Appliances, where not included. These also move, though washing machines and dishwashers are awkward and frequently not worth transporting twice.

Fitted or cut to fit: anything made for a specific alcove. In a rental this is money left in someone else's property and should generally be avoided entirely.

Add delivery and, for a fourth-floor walk-up, a removal firm rather than a van.

Number four: the rent difference over the stay

Multiply the monthly difference by the number of months you realistically expect to stay, and compare it against the first two tiers above.

Furnished rents in Luxembourg carry a premium that is frequently larger than the amortised cost of furnishing, particularly over longer stays. Over a short one it is the other way round, which is the whole point of the calculation.

Note that the rent cap rules apply to the sum of all rents from a dwelling, and that the guarantee is capped at two months' rent excluding charges on any lease signed since 1 August 2024, regardless of which option you take.

What furnished is genuinely better at

Arriving on a start date. For someone relocating with a job beginning in three weeks, a furnished apartment removes an entire workstream at the moment there is least capacity for it.

It also removes the exit problem: selling or shipping furniture at the end of a stay is a real cost in time, and in a market with a high turnover of international residents the second-hand market is competitive.

The hybrid that usually wins

Take the apartment unfurnished and buy only what is portable and holds its value: the bed, one substantial seating piece, a dining table, closed storage against the longest wall, and the lighting.

Lighting is the item people skip and it is the one that most changes how an apartment feels, particularly from October to April when the sun sets before half past four and a large share of days are overcast. Three or four sources at different heights cost less than a chair and move to the next apartment.

Buy second-hand where you can. Outgoing tenants leaving Luxembourg frequently sell rather than ship, and the agent can sometimes make the introduction.

Three questions we are asked

Does furnished affect the deposit? The cap is the same: two months' rent excluding charges on any lease signed since 1 August 2024. What changes is the entry inventory, which with furniture should list every item and its condition.

Can I ask for a partly furnished arrangement? It is a reasonable negotiation, particularly on a property that has been listed for several weeks. Get whatever is agreed written into the lease or an annexe.

What should I never buy for a rental? Anything cut to fit, and anything that only works in one room orientation. Both fail on the next move.

The calculation, on one line

Take the monthly difference between the furnished and unfurnished option and multiply it by the number of months you realistically expect to stay. Compare that against the cost of the portable tier only: bed, seating, table, chairs, closed storage and lighting.

Exclude anything fitted from both sides, because it should not be bought for a rental at all. Exclude appliances if they are included in the unfurnished option, and add them if they are not.

If the rent difference exceeds the portable tier, furnish. If it does not, take the furnished option and keep the time. The number of months is the variable people get wrong, and being honest about it is the whole exercise.

Three questions we are asked

Does furnished cost more in charges? Not as a rule. What changes is the entry inventory, which with furniture should list every item and its condition, since it is the comparator against which a guarantee capped at two months' rent is judged.

Can I furnish gradually? Yes, and in the right order: lighting first, then the bed and seating, then closed storage, then everything else. A flat with three lamps and no sideboard is considerably more liveable than the reverse.

Where the second-hand market sits

Luxembourg has an unusually active one, because a large share of residents are international and leave on a timetable. Outgoing tenants frequently sell rather than ship, and the quality is often better than the price suggests.

Two practical points. Ask your agent, since they know who is leaving and when, and the introduction costs nothing. And check the route in before buying anything large: the lift car's internal width, depth and height, the diagonal of its door, and the narrowest point of the stairwell including any turn.