Furnished properties produce 35% more rent

Agents and landlords secure higher returns by focusing on towns and cities with a younger population willing to pay for furniture to be provided, rather than rural areas and smaller towns where renters are typically families with their own furniture.

Research by Countrywide shows that these areas have the highest concentrations of rental properties offered furnished:

- Newham (92%)

- North Tyneside (91%)

- Birmingham (89%)

- Westminster (87%)

- Gateshead (84%)

- Leeds (83%)

- Cardiff (83%)

- Newcastle (82%)

- Manchester (81%)

- Hackney (80%)

The research shows that there is an 8.1 per cent premium for a furnished flat, typically equating to £52.40 extra in rent each month, and a 2.8 per cent premium for furnished houses, equating to £14.90 extra in rent each month, when compared to an unfurnished property.

In some more affluent urban locations a landlord can expect to expect to achieve a third more in rent for offering a property furnished. This is driven by demand and a tenants' willingness to pay a significant premium for high quality furnished accommodation.

Here are the 10 authorities where the premium for a furnished flat is highest:

- Leeds (£525 average unfurnished against £715 furnished, equal to a 36% premium)

- Salford (£417 v £550 32%)

- Brentwood (£819 v £1,036 27%)

- Canterbury (£618 v £782 27%)

- Liverpool (£519 v £651 25%)

- Nottingham £500 v £625 25%)

- Birmingham (£605 v £756 25%)

- Lambeth (£1,185 v £1,477 24%)

- Preston (£494 v £614 24%)

- Bradford (£411 v £510 24%)

There are some city centre locations where furnished properties make a big difference to the premium a landlord can achieve. The relocation of the BBC to Salford in Manchester, for example, had an impact on the city's rental market, with an influx of BBC employees willing to pay a high premium for furnished flats close to the corporation's offices.

Also in seaside locations, such as Eastbourne, there are typically a higher percentage of elderly people willing to pay a premium for furnished properties in move-in condition.

However, there are exceptions, particularly in less affluent areas such as Barnsley and Luton, where falling levels of homeownership amongst the young mean extended periods of time spent in the private rented sector.

In general, the locations where furnished property attracts a smaller premium tend to be areas outside regional city centres. These are typically expensive areas of central London, where the cost of furniture comprises only a small percentage of the rent and in more rural areas where there is a larger population of older families with children who are more likely to have their own furniture.