Buying For A New Rented Flat

An internet correspondent tells me that moving into his new place he has to rush out and buy bacics because he forgets that rented flats don't have plates and cutlery and sheets like a hotel.

You get the extras in a 'full service flat'. Or you tell your agent that you want a flat with everything in it. The flat owners might have all the stuff cluttering up their home, having removed it because a previous tenant insisted on having the space for the tenant's goods.
The most successful system I ever experienced was when we went to the USA and stayed in a company (employers') three or four storey 'town' house. At first it seemed bizarre to be sharing with strangers and a security risk. However, it had many advantages. The employees could share a car or travel by train or bus showing the route to the newcomers.

Kettles and light bulbs and duvet covers were either bought on expenses or bought by people who'd lived there before and left them behind. You bought basic stuff cheap, as everything is on sale in a cheap store somewhere, not worrying about quality or colour because you were sharing.

When you moved on you left half of it behind because you'd discovered the easy way that you liked knives with serrated edges or saucepans with two handles rather than one or vice versa. Or you took the small items with you when you moved into your new flat. Then when you bought your own stuff and needed space you took the the goods back to the shared home or gave it to somebody at work who asked, 'have you got a spare toaster?' Everybody gained and you made friendships.
Angela the expat