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Furniture rental: a solution for the expat?

- Published on 9 Sep 2022 by G.Houeix

When employees leave for an assignment, they will often seek to find a reassuring and familiar environment to help them settle and feel at home. Moving is a source of stress. In most Western cultures, moving is considered the third most stressful experience after the death of a loved one or a divorce. It’s important to take steps to reduce the discomfort related to uprooting … and that goes for material things, too.

Having your own furniture in your new home is a way to feel relaxed and comfortable, easing the time to adapt to the new environment.

But recent global challenges have made international transport of possessions unpredictable. With this in mind, the chances of seeing your sofa or bed arrive at the time you’d like them to have been considerably reduced. That’s why furniture rental appears to be an interesting solution. It allows the employee to have a furnished apartment, decorated to their taste… While only a temporary solution, having the choice of their own décor can help expats feel more at home than if they were staying in an apartment with hotel-style furnishings.

Furniture rental can’t only counter the delays in the delivery of goods faced by expats but offers the dual benefit of potentially being a more cost-effective option.

International mobility: the current crises are changing the landscape

It’s no secret: the Covid-19 crisis, teamed with current global conflict and political challenges, have made global transportation much more complex than it was before.

Global transportation severely disrupted

Blockages at ports have become commonplace. Queues of cargoes are having to wait to unload their shipments.

In addition, the shortage of containers is driving up costs and making the transit of expatriate employees’ furniture more uncertain. Shipping companies are leaving less and less room for manoeuvre which is then having an impact on mobility professionals… And given the current war in Ukraine, oil prices are literally soaring.

Difficult to predict when expatriates’ furniture will arrive at their destination

These crises have direct consequences on companies and their expatriate employees who experience increased delays in the delivery of their personal goods.

“We find that it currently takes 3 to 4 weeks from the date of packing to the date we get a container” – MRS International Moving Coordinator

These long delays generate frustration for employees who are already under a lot of pressure. Mobility managers must then reassure their assignees and find solutions, sometimes in a hurry, to accommodate them comfortably, especially when families are moving abroad.

Temporary housing for assignees: the solution?

Due lack of time and the need to react quickly, many companies turn to temporary housing solutions. These are classic solutions for finding housing that mobility department managers are familiar with.

While short-term housing has largely proved its worth, it is not necessarily the best solution when faced with delays in transporting goods to the given destination country. This solution puts the mobility manager and the employee in an uncomfortable situation as the lease often requires extension without any real visibility on its term.

While an employee might be prepared to accept living in smaller temporary accommodation for a defined period, it’s not ideal to do so on a long-term basis.

The cost of temporary housing

Temporary housing is often much more expensive than a traditional rental: costing more than 30% more, on average. This additional cost, which can become exponential, is often difficult to explain internally for HR because it’s outside of the organisation’s control. Unfortunately, the costs incurred depend largely on the shipping companies governing global transport who are impacted by the circumstances outlines above.

This highlights the benefit of working with a relocation company to determine a budget which is realistic for the duration of the relocating family’s support.

Another important element to consider is that employees’ circumstances will differ:

Short-term housing is mainly adapted to the needs of assignees without families.

However, there are other solutions, such as furniture rental.

Temporary furniture rental: a more efficient alternative?

When coupled with a empty long-term home, temporary furniture rental can prove to be an agile and potentially less costly transitional solution for expats on assignment. It offers assignees an opportunity to settle into their new home with their family in comfortable surroundings.

Furniture rental is a temporary solution that benefits everyone, from the assignee to their family and the organisation. It can also prove to be a more environmentally friendly solution than shipping furniture from origin to destination.

Assignees can choose the type of furniture and appliances  they would like in their new accommodation thanks to the advent of mobile relocation apps: designed to aid the settling-in process, like Quick Move.

Renting furniture allows assignees to free up their time and devote it to their assignment, without having to worry about finding temporary accommodation and potentially the need to move twice.

Is it better to rent furniture or temporary housing for your assignees?

Whether you rent furniture or use temporary housing for your assignees will depend on your mobility strategy and what you define in your mobility policy.

Under the current circumstances, it may be wise to allow your employees to rent furniture for the duration of their assignment, if it is 12 months for example and in a specific location. It may also be worthwhile to provide a temporary housing extension. Your employees will have more time to find a fully furnished apartment that will suit them for the long-term and you will avoid the costs associated with shipping their belongings.

There is not one solution that suits all circumstances. MRS offers innovative solutions on a case-by-case basis.

We can offer price comparisons and in-depth studies into your mobility strategy to ensure it is robust, flexible and fit for purpose.

To learn more about our consulting offer, click here

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