You may not be stepping up to the podium at this summer’s Olympics, but if you own a property near one of the Games’ venues, you could still end up a winner. The going rate for a rental property near the Olympic stadium is £2,000 per week for a two-bedroom flat and £3,500 for a six-bedroom house. There have even been reports of one homeowner asking £10,000 a week for his detached house near the Greenwich equestrian centre.
And once the athletes have gone home, the demand for accommodation will remain. With young buyers struggling to reach the first rung of the housing ladder, it’s clear that more and more people will have to rent. The going rate for a rental property near the Olympic stadium is £2,000 per week for a two-bedroom flat and £3,500 for a six-bedroom house. There have even been reports of one homeowner asking £10,000 a week for his detached house near the Greenwich equestrian centre. Internet searches reveal a host of specialist websites to rent Olympic property at a much lower and more competitive price. The luxury rental market looks set to make owners a fortune but demand for the more ordinary home is not as buoyant as expected. Experts believes the problem is that compared to previous Olympics, many more people live close to London’s site and a lot of people are jumping on the bandwagon making supply exceed demand.
As with any money making event, dubious looking websites appear that will be a fly-by-night operation. Just typing ‘Olympic accommodation’ into Google lists a plethora of websites that have been set up to allow home-owners to list their properties, it’s very difficult to work out which you can trust. These websites may be fine to use, but you should always be careful of websites that suddenly pop up with search engine friendly names and are unlikely to be around once these Games are finished. What security do they offer if things did go wrong? Established site like 2012-accommodation have a reputation to protect and will want to ensure things run smoothly and all problems are properly dealt with.
Here are some top tips when renting out accommodation for Olympics. Make sure that you have good photographs that show your property in its best light. If you are renting out an entire property, make sure it is clean before visitors arrive and clear it out of any clutter. Leave clear instructions to visitors on how to use some of the appliances around the house such as the oven and washing machine, to ensure that you will need to be contacted infrequently while the property is being let. Look at other properties that are being listed and price your property accordingly. Take into account the distance to Olympic events and the local area attractions. You don’t want to price yourself too low, or scare people off with sky-high prices. Make it clear in your home description exactly where it is located, how far it is to the nearest transport link and an estimate of how long it will take to get to the stadium and other venues. While the Olympics are at the forefront of many visitors minds, it is important to mention what is in the local area to where your property is – after all, many will want to go sightseeing and soak in the London culture. It is worth asking for a deposit if someone else is going to be renting your property entirely. You should arrange this with the perspective tenant beforehand and should give you some more piece of mind, as tenants will be more likely to treat your property with the utmost care.
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