Buying appliances for a property you live in and buying for one you rent out are two different jobs, and most buying advice only covers the first.
A landlord is not optimising for the perfect kitchen. They are optimising for something that works reliably for years, survives tenants who did not choose it and will not baby it, can be swapped out in an afternoon when it finally dies, and does not generate phone calls. Features matter far less than replaceability.
This guide covers what to fit, what to avoid, and the specific traps that catch landlords out.
The One Decision That Matters Most: Freestanding, Not Integrated
If you take one thing from this guide, take this.
Integrated appliances are the wrong choice for a rental, however good the kitchen looks with them. Here is why:
- Replacement is a fitting job, not a delivery. When a freestanding washing machine dies you unplug it, wheel it out, and wheel the new one in. When an integrated one dies you need the door panel transferred, the brackets aligned and the unit re-seated — and if the new model's fixing points differ from the old, the cabinetry needs modifying.
- You are tied to dimensions forever. Integrated appliances must fit an existing housing exactly. In five years, the model that fits may be discontinued, and you are choosing from whatever still matches rather than whatever is best value.
- They cost more for the same specification. You pay a premium for the appliance to be invisible — in a property where you are not the one looking at it.
The exception is a high-end let where the finish genuinely drives the rent. For everything else — standard lets, HMOs, student properties, holiday lets — freestanding is the right answer, and it will keep being the right answer every time you replace something.
What You Are Actually Responsible For
Worth being clear on this, because it is widely misunderstood.
The fixed electrical installation — the wiring, sockets, switches and consumer unit — must be inspected and tested at least every five years in England under the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020. That produces an EICR, and it is a firm legal requirement.
Appliances you supply are a separate matter. An EICR covers the installation, not the washing machine plugged into it. There is no blanket legal requirement for PAT testing in the private rented sector in England — but you do still have a duty to make sure the appliances you supply are safe. PAT testing is one way of evidencing that, not a legal obligation in itself.
Gas appliances must be checked annually by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and the record given to the tenant. If you fit a gas hob or a gas range cooker, that is a recurring annual cost and a recurring annual appointment, for the life of the tenancy.
That last point is worth pausing on. An electric hob removes an annual obligation. For a landlord, that is often worth more than any difference in cooking performance.
Rules differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and they change. Treat this as a starting point and confirm the current position for your property — we sell appliances, we are not offering legal advice.
The Trap That Catches Everyone: Garages and Outbuildings
Putting the fridge freezer or the tumble dryer in an unheated garage seems sensible. It is one of the most common and most expensive mistakes in rental fit-outs.
Fridges and freezers carry a climate class that states the ambient temperature range they are designed for. A great many domestic models are rated N or N/ST, which is roughly 16°C to 38°C. A British garage sits below 16°C for a large part of the year.
The failure mode is nastier than simply not working. On most fridge freezers the thermostat sits in the fridge compartment. When the surrounding air is cold enough, the fridge stays cool on its own, so the thermostat never calls for cooling — the compressor stops running, and the freezer quietly thaws. The tenant discovers it when the food has spoiled, and you get the call.
Tumble dryers have the same issue from the other direction. Many, heat pump models in particular, have a minimum operating temperature around 5–10°C. Below it they run long cycles and dry badly, which reads to a tenant as a broken machine.
Check the climate class before you site anything in a garage, outbuilding or unheated utility. If the space is unheated, keep refrigeration indoors.
What to Fit, and What It Costs
The whole kitchen in one order
For a standard let, the fastest route to a working kitchen is the three machines a tenant cannot manage without.
Our Montpellier Freestanding Essentials Bundle at £1,049 does exactly that — a 247-litre frost-free fridge freezer, an 8kg 1400rpm washing machine and a slimline dishwasher. All freestanding, all white, all easy to replace individually later. Bought separately it comes to £1,177.
Frost free matters here for a reason specific to rentals: nobody defrosts a freezer in a property they do not own. A frost-free model removes a maintenance task that would otherwise simply never get done.
Cooking
The Montpellier Starter Kitchen Bundle at £379 pairs a 70-litre built-in fan oven with a four-zone ceramic hob. It is the cheapest honest way to put a proper built-in oven and hob into a kitchen, and being electric it avoids the annual gas check entirely.
A practical note: that ceramic hob is hard wired on a 32A connection with no plug fitted, so budget for an electrician if the kitchen does not already have a cooker point at the worktop. Ceramic also takes any flat-bottomed pan, which matters more than you might think — induction requires ferrous pans, and tenants arrive with whatever pans they own.
Individual appliances
If you are replacing one item rather than fitting out from scratch:
- Washing machine, small property: Montpellier MDA61CWM 6kg, £279.
- Washing machine, best capacity per pound: SIA SWM121400W 12kg, £299.99. A 12kg drum with an inverter motor at that price is unusual, and a bigger drum means fewer cycles and less wear.
- Washing machine, family let: Montpellier MDAWM814W 8kg 1400rpm, £369.
- Fridge freezer: Indesit IB55732WUK 287 litre 50/50, £350. A 50/50 split suits shared houses, where freezer space runs out faster than fridge space.
- Dishwasher, tight kitchen: White Knight AT45FSDW 45cm slimline, £238.99.
- Dishwasher, full size: Indesit DFE1B19XUK 13 place, £335.
- Tumble dryer: Indesit CYDC82WWGLUK 8kg condenser, £269. Condenser rather than vented — no hole in an external wall, and it can go wherever there is a socket.
- Extraction: CDA 60cm standard chimney hood at £79, or the CDA canopy extractor at £99 if there is a cabinet above the hob.
Six Things That Cost Landlords Money
- Buying the cheapest of everything. There is a floor below which machines fail early, and replacing a washing machine twice in five years costs more than buying a decent one once — plus two lots of delivery, two lots of disruption and two unhappy tenants.
- Buying at the top end instead. A tenant will not pay more rent because the dishwasher has wi-fi, and the smart features will be the first thing to stop working. Spend on build quality and drum size, not on connectivity.
- Mixing brands across a portfolio. If you own several properties, standardising on a small number of models means one set of spares, one manufacturer's helpline, and a tenant's fault description you actually recognise.
- Forgetting the delivery route. American fridge freezers and 90cm range cookers do not go round tight staircases. In a flat above a shop or a terraced conversion, measure the narrowest point of the route before ordering, not the kitchen door.
- Fitting gas when electric would do. Every gas appliance you install commits you to an annual Gas Safe check for as long as it is there.
- Leaving no instructions. A surprising share of "broken appliance" callouts are a full water tank in a condenser dryer, a blocked filter, or a dishwasher salt light. A laminated sheet in the kitchen drawer pays for itself the first time it stops a callout.
Before the Tenancy Starts
- Keep the manuals, or save the PDFs somewhere you can forward them.
- Photograph each appliance and its model plate for the inventory — it settles arguments about condition at check-out.
- Note the purchase date and warranty end for each machine. Manufacturer warranties on appliances typically run two to five years, and landlords routinely pay for repairs that were still covered.
- Run every machine once before handover. A dishwasher that was never plumbed in properly is better found by you than by a tenant on day one.
- Leave the lint filter and water tank instructions where the dryer is, not in a drawer upstairs.
Where to Start
For a full property, the Bundles & Complete Sets collection is the quickest route — matched machines, one delivery, one warranty conversation. For individual replacements, browse Washing Machines, Fridges & Freezers, Dishwashers and Tumble Dryers.
If you are weighing up bundles specifically, our guide to whether appliance bundles actually save money gives the honest numbers. And before you order anything, our measuring guide covers the checks that prevent a wasted delivery.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do landlords have to provide white goods?
Not as a legal requirement in an unfurnished let. But a property with no washing machine or fridge freezer narrows your tenant pool considerably and usually lets more slowly. Whatever you do supply, you are responsible for keeping safe and in working order.
Is PAT testing a legal requirement for landlords?
Not in England, where there is no blanket statutory requirement for it in the private rented sector. What is required is the five-yearly EICR on the fixed electrical installation. You still have a duty to ensure any appliances you supply are safe — PAT testing is simply one way of demonstrating that. Check the current position for your nation, as rules differ and change.
Should I buy integrated or freestanding for a rental?
Freestanding, in nearly every case. Replacement is a delivery rather than a fitting job, you are not locked to one set of dimensions for the life of the kitchen, and you pay less for the same specification.
Can I put a fridge freezer in the garage of a rental property?
Usually not safely. Most domestic models are rated for around 16°C to 38°C ambient. Below that the thermostat in the fridge compartment stops calling for cooling and the freezer thaws — without any obvious sign until the food has spoiled. Check the climate class before siting one anywhere unheated.
What is the cheapest way to fit out a rental kitchen?
Bundles, because you avoid both the individual prices and multiple deliveries. The Montpellier Starter Kitchen Bundle covers oven and hob at £379, and the Freestanding Essentials Bundle covers fridge freezer, washing machine and dishwasher at £1,049 — under £1,450 for a complete working kitchen.
How long should appliances last in a rental?
Expect less than in an owner-occupied home. Machines get used harder, faults get reported later, and routine maintenance like filter cleaning rarely happens. Budget on a shorter replacement cycle and choose models that are cheap and quick to swap rather than ones you will want to nurse along.
Prices correct at September 2026. Fitting out more than one property? Message us on WhatsApp with what you need — we deal with landlords regularly and can help you standardise across a portfolio.
