Buying Guides · 1 min read
Rattan Garden Furniture: What £150, £500 and £1,000 Actually Buys You
What real UK rattan garden furniture prices — from £138.88 to £1,040.91 — actually get you, compared honestly by frame, seating and features.
Rattan garden furniture in the UK spans a huge price range, and it isn't simply "cheap and nasty" versus "expensive and good." On our own site right now, real rattan sets run from £138.88 for a compact 2-seat bistro set to £1,040.91 for a 6-seat dining set with a built-in fire pit — and what separates them is mostly seating capacity, frame material and added features, not the rattan weave itself. Here's what each price point actually gets you, using real, currently listed products rather than round marketing numbers.
Key takeaways
- Real UK prices for rattan sets on our site range from around £139 for a 2-seat bistro set to over £1,000 for a 6-seat fire pit dining set.
- The biggest differences between tiers are seating capacity, frame material and added functionality — not "better" or "worse" rattan.
- Almost all modern rattan garden furniture is PE (synthetic) rattan over a steel or aluminium frame, not natural cane. Which? rates PE rattan as more weatherproof than natural wicker.
- Galvanised steel frames, used on some higher-end sets, resist corrosion better than standard powder-coated steel — useful if furniture stays outdoors year-round.
- A cheaper bistro set isn't a compromise version of a dining set — it's built for a different job: two people and a small space, not six people and a garden party.
What "rattan garden furniture" actually means today
Almost none of the rattan garden furniture sold in the UK today is made from natural cane. It's PE (polyethylene) rattan: a synthetic weave wrapped around a metal frame, designed to look like traditional wicker without rotting, cracking or fading the way natural cane can outdoors. According to Which?'s garden furniture buying guide, PE rattan is "strong and durable" and more weatherproof than natural wicker year-round, though because it's lighter than natural cane it can be more prone to wind movement. In practice, this means the "rattan" part of a set's name tells you less about quality than the frame underneath it and how it's put together — which is where the real price differences show up.
Three real UK prices, compared honestly
These are live prices on our own site at the time of writing, not "from £X" figures — always check the product page for the current price, since these can change.
| Set | Seats | Frame | Extras | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-piece rattan bistro set | 2 | Steel tube, 160kg per chair | 5mm tempered glass table top, machine-washable cushion covers | £138.88 |
| 4-seater rattan dining set | 4 | Powder-coated steel, 120kg per chair | Tempered glass dining table, non-slip feet | £460.93 |
| 6-seater rattan set with fire pit table | 6 | Galvanised steel, 120kg per chair | Built-in 50,000 BTU gas fire pit with tempered glass windscreen | £1,040.91 |
In short: rattan garden furniture in the UK gets you a 2-seat bistro set for around £139, a proper 4-seat dining set for around £460, or a 6-seat dining set with a built-in fire pit for around £1,040. The jump in price tracks seating capacity and features far more closely than it tracks the quality of the rattan itself.
What the extra money actually buys
Laid out side by side, the pattern is fairly consistent across our own range: more seats, a more corrosion-resistant frame, and functional extras rather than a "premium" version of the same chair.
- Seating capacity. £139 buys two chairs and a coffee table. £461 buys a full four-seat dining table. £1,041 buys six armchairs around a dining table — the difference is largely how many people you're furnishing for, not per-seat luxury.
- Frame material. The bistro and 4-seater sets use steel and powder-coated steel frames. The fire pit set steps up to galvanised steel, a coating process that gives better long-term corrosion resistance for furniture left outside through UK winters.
- Added functionality. The biggest single jump in the range is the built-in fire pit table on the £1,040.91 set — a 50,000 BTU gas burner with a tempered glass windscreen, which is a genuinely different product, not just a bigger version of a dining set.
Is the £1,000+ set "better," or just different?
Neither the cheapest nor the most expensive set here is objectively the "right" choice — they're built for different gardens and different budgets. A couple with a small patio gains nothing from a 6-seat fire pit table; a family that regularly hosts outdoor dinners gains little from a 2-seat bistro set. If you only need seating for two, the bistro set's steel frame and 160kg-rated chairs aren't a lesser product — they're simply sized for a smaller job. The fire pit set's premium mostly reflects the extra materials (more rattan, more steel, a full gas burner assembly), not a different tier of rattan quality.
Looking after rattan garden furniture, whatever you spend
RHS advice on garden furniture maintenance recommends doing the bulk of upkeep "at the end of summer season in dry weather." For PE rattan and its steel frame, that generally means a wash with soap and water for the rattan, and an inspection of the frame for rust or coating damage — treating any spotted rust with a rust-preventing paint. This applies whether the set cost £139 or £1,040: none of these price tiers make furniture maintenance-free, so budgeting a little time each autumn matters more to how long a set lasts than the price tag alone.
Frequently asked questions
Is more expensive rattan garden furniture actually better quality?
Not necessarily "better" rattan — most modern sets use the same type of PE rattan regardless of price. The price difference mainly reflects seating capacity, frame material (such as galvanised versus standard steel) and added features like a built-in fire pit.
What's the difference between PE rattan and natural rattan?
PE (polyethylene) rattan is a synthetic weave designed to look like natural cane, but it's more weatherproof and doesn't rot or crack the way natural wicker can when left outdoors. The vast majority of rattan garden furniture sold in the UK today is PE rattan.
Is a cheap rattan bistro set worth buying?
Yes, for the right use case. A compact 2-seat bistro set with a steel frame and a tempered glass table, like our £138.88 example, is built for a small patio or balcony rather than as a scaled-down dining set — it isn't a lesser product, just a smaller one.
Why do some rattan sets have galvanised steel frames?
Galvanised steel has a coating that resists rust and corrosion better than standard powder-coated steel, which matters most for furniture that stays outdoors year-round rather than being stored away over winter.
Do I need to maintain expensive rattan furniture differently from cheap rattan furniture?
No — RHS guidance on maintaining garden furniture applies regardless of price: an annual soap-and-water clean for the rattan and a check of the metal frame for rust, ideally done at the end of summer in dry weather.
How much should I expect to pay for a 4-seat rattan dining set?
On our site, a real 4-seat rattan dining set with a glass table top currently costs £460.93 — a useful benchmark for what a proper family-sized set costs versus a compact 2-seat bistro set.
Finding the right size for your garden
Start with how many people you're actually furnishing for, then work out from there whether a frame upgrade or a feature like a fire pit table is worth the extra cost. You can browse the full range, including all three sets above, in our rattan garden furniture collection.
Written and checked by the Hackerprice® editorial team. Product details and prices are checked against our live catalogue at the time of publication and reviewed quarterly; material comparisons are drawn from Which?, and furniture care guidance from the RHS. Last updated: 15 September 2026.
Writes the buying guides at HACKERPRICE. No sponsored picks, no affiliate links.
