The best cheap sofa under £700 to brighten up your living space for less

In our humble opinion, your sofa is a key piece of furniture for your living room but with everything else you have to buy to create the perfect living space, you might not want to spend a fortune on one. Finding a stylish, comfortable and high quality place to plop yourself down at the end of the day without breaking the bank doesn’t have to feel like searching for a unicorn though. There are some amazing cheap sofas out there – you just have to know where to look. Luckily for you, we do.

Whether you crave a two-seater snug chair for movie nights or a sleek loveseat for getting comfy with a cuppa, we’ve got you covered. Our picks of the best sofas under £700 feature a variety of materials, from the timeless elegance of a fabric sofa to the easy-clean convenience of faux leather, and you’ll find several styles too, from corner sofas and three-seater sofas, to smaller two-seater sofa options.

Whether a chesterfield sofa is your vibe, you’re looking for a sofa bed for guests, we’ve pulled together our favourite cheap sofas to suit a variety of interior design styles. Aesthetics, good quality and affordability can co-exist beautifully. These are the best cheap sofas under £700 we could find from our favourite retailers, from John Lewis to Habitat. If you’re looking for something a little more expensive – perhaps a velvet sofa or chenille number, you can read our main best sofa guide.

Skip to: Which are the best cheap sofas under £700? | How we test the best cheap sofas under £700? GQ’s review process | Are there any hidden costs when buying a cheap sofa? | What are the best materials for a sofa? | Shop GQ's edit of the best cheap sofa under £700…

We've dived into plenty of detail about our top picks for the best cheap sofas under £700 a little further down, but if you’re in a hurry and you’re looking for a quick round up, you can scan our best cheap sofas under £700 at a glance below. You’ll find options that are great for lounging, some with high back cushions, and others that are perfect for small spaces.

The John Lewis Archie II Small 2 Seater Sofa is perfect for compact spaces with its contemporary design, fabric finish, and curved wooden legs. With 52 fabric choices at £479, it's a stylish and affordable option for living rooms, guest rooms, or studies.

The Habitat Julien offers modern city style with a boxy shape, sleek lines, and a plush finish. It’s a  spacious three-seater sofa with comfy foam cushions, arriving in six colours, including grey, dark green, and bold yellow.

The Anyday Sweep sofa seats two people and will fit snugly into any small-ish space for a super-reasonable price; it’s quite literally a small wonder.

• Best cheap sofa under £700 overall: John Lewis Archie II Small 2 Seater Sofa, from £479 at johnlewis.com
• Best 3-seater cheap sofa under £700: Habitat Julien Velvet 3 Seater Sofa, from £695 at habitat.co.uk
• Best small cheap sofa under £700: John Lewis Anyday Sweep Two-Seater Sofa, £369 at johnlewis.com
• Best velvet cheap sofa under £700: Dunelm Matilda Velvet 2 Seater Sofa, from £269 at dunelm.com
• Best versatile cheap sofa under £700: Wayfair Ferrer 2-Piece Upholstered Corner Sofa, £490 at wayfair.co.uk

At GQ, we try to review all the products we recommend within our GQ Recommends lists, making sure our picks are comfortable, durable and offered in a range of materials or options to suit a any sized living area. If we haven’t been able to test the sofa out in person, we have picked from our most trusted retailers, checked our picks offer decent warranty periods and we’ve tried to select a range of configurations, from space-saving options to larger 4 seater choices for bigger rooms. All of our interiors guides are edited by Daphne Bugler, Senior Commerce Writer at GQ, who has been writing about interiors for over four years and has sat on her fair share of sofas to make sure we're picking the right ones.

Delivery fees are the most common hidden cost when buying a sofa and that applies regardless of price. Check to see if the cost includes delivery to your home and up any stairs, if necessary. Assembly fees might also apply, so factor that into your budget if you don't fancy performing an Ikea flat-pack build on your new sofa purchase. The other place you may see increased expense is if you change fabric from the basic options. Pricier fabrics are typically made to order too, which sometimes means you can’t return them.

This very much depends on your preference as all materials have their advantages and disadvantages. Fabric offers a variety of textures and styles, with everything from boucle to velvet on offer at some places, and they are usually cosy too. Fabric can be trickier to clean than leather however so if you have kids or pets, then we recommend choosing a stain-resistant upholstery. A leather sofa meanwhile, is easier to clean than fabric as you can wipe it down, but it can feel hot in the summer months and they aren’t usually as comfy, even if they often make great recliner sofas.