I'm not an expert but i've made a few cakes and i'd say it depends what kind of cake you wana make. Victoria sponge is very simple. That needs two basic 'sandwich' tins, i got mine for sainsburys for about £1. If it's a particular shape you want, you can hire tins from cake craft shops and maybe hobby craft. Some supermarkets and i've seen in poundland they sell different shaped tins too.
As for icing, you can make butter icing easy with butter mixed with icing sugar. There's also water based icing, icing sugar and water that sets hard. or can get fondant icing that rolled out and put over cake from supermarkets/hobby crafts/cake shops. Personally i'm awful at rolling and placing it so i tend to stick with butter icing and it's easiest to make/apply.
Good luck x