Furnished or unfurnished: which is actually cheaper?

Furnished places carry a premium, usually 30 to 60 per cent above the unfurnished rent for a comparable property. Whether that is worth it comes down to how long you are staying.

The arithmetic

Furnishing a modest self-contained — bed, mattress, a couple of chairs, a table, basic kitchen items — costs somewhere around 150,000 to 300,000 francs if you buy new, considerably less second-hand.

If furnished costs 15,000 more a month, you reach that outlay in roughly a year. Staying longer than a year, unfurnished is cheaper. Staying less, furnished wins.

The things the arithmetic misses

• Furnished means no moving costs when you leave, which is real money
• Unfurnished means the things are yours and hold value
• Furnished places sometimes come with an inventory you are liable for — read it
• Second-hand furniture in Bamenda is plentiful and changes the calculation substantially

If you take a furnished place

Photograph every item on day one and agree the inventory in writing. Disputes over furnishings at the end of a tenancy are common and entirely avoidable.