Thornsett Group

An Olympic goldmine awaits

There will be plenty of opportunities to win gold at the 2012 Olympics, off the track anyway. Nearly a million extra visitors, 320,000 from abroad, are expected to descend on London for the Games. It’s a potential gold mine for owners of properties near the main venues and in outlying areas as word spreads that the capital has a serious shortage of hotel rooms.
With professional landlords often unable or unwilling to enter into short-term lettings, private owners are looking forward to earning thousands of pounds a week for homes near key Olympic venues. Knight Frank has said it is receiving five to 10 enquiries each week from people looking to rent out their properties.
Accommodation For The Games (www. accommodationforthegames. com), a website set up specially for the event, features houses and flats near Olympic venues and provides a useful online guide to renting out your property. Anyone can advertise for a small fee, adding details and photos of their house. The asking price for some properties in the immediate vicinity of the Olympics are simply incredible.
Houses in Greenwich are particularly highly priced; with the owner of one seven-bedroom semi-detached house in the town quoting a whopping weekly rental of £9,230. Rex Batey, managing director of Accommodation For The Games, said: “ with an additional 908,000 visitors predicted to visit London for the 2012 Olympics, accommodating all these national and international visitors presents a real challenge but also a great opportunity for homeowners and landlords.”
Visit Britain estimate that there will be strong competition for the 120,000 hotel rooms available in the capital next summer as the London organising committee of the Olympic Games has first call on 50,000 rooms for officials and the world media.
According to the industry research agency Rubicon, hotel prices across London could more than double during the 2012 Olympics. It also expects towns within an easy commute to central London to be the “unwitting winners” as tourists head further afield to find reasonably priced hotel rooms.
Mr Batey said the 2012 Olympics “ represents a once in a lifetime opportunity for normal people to rent out their property, stay with friends or escape to a dream holiday, while their home becomes an excellent source of income.” His site also gives homeowners the chance to “warm up” for the Olympics with the Royal Wedding weekend. Again it is reported that that top hotels are bumping up the room rates. At the Ritz, rooms which normally cost £300 per night, are likely to soar to double that price. House owners with extra rooms are also looking to earn some cash hosting visitors. There’s been a surge in the number of enquiries for cheap deals over the weekend of the royal nuptials, according to www. crashpadder. com.  This could be a nice little earner for cash-strapped householders.
Providing B&B for paying guests can pay upwards of £45 a night and often more. This is also a tax- free benefit under the government’s Rent-a-Room scheme which allows homestay hosts to earn up to £4,250 each year tax-free. However, anyone considering a short-term rental should beware of the dangers, believes Nigel Bosworth of Dwell Residential. Mr Bosworth said: “ Unwitting homeowners who have never rented a property may find themselves out of pocket. Letting a property out without a valid gas safety record is a criminal offence and there are fire and furnishing regulations too.”