Olympic property news roundup

The rental world is focusing heavily on Stratford and particularly properties close to the Olympic village. According to zoopla.co.uk, the area’s normal rental price is £1,700 on average, but there has been a huge number of properties going on the market at £10,000 a week, closer to Chelsea prices. The area offers just under 300 short let Olympic properties at the moment from £4,000 to £6,500 a week.

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Tricia Jones has found an ingenious way of making money from the space in her garden. For the duration of the games she has turned her shed (pictured above) into a mini-sporting stadium where guests can stay for £40 per night. Based in Leytonstone which borders the Olympic park, Tricia’s fully furnished shed features a bed, Olympic memorabilia, a heater and a mini fridge, and the garden is kitted out with sporting equipment.

There’s also a mini running track and replica Olympic torch as well as a life-size winners’ podium. Tricia said: “I have a long-term lodger in my house so I couldn’t get involved with renting out my spare room during the Olympics, but I thought the shed would be a fun way for tourists to really embrace the Games; after all, I don’t think there are many hotel rooms that come with winner’s podiums.” The property is on the market with Wimdu, a social accommodation community that brings together travellers and hosts from around the world to enable consumers worldwide to travel like a local.

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Relocation agents are experiencing a ‘no fly’ zone over London during the Olympic period, according to Cluttons, as the lack of short term rental properties, inflated airfares and reports of serious congestion expected in the city during the Games are deterring companies from relocating staff. The summer is normally the busiest time of year for relocation agents, as the City is busy hiring new graduates, people take advantage of summer holidays to relocate and families take up residence in advance of the start of the school term in September.

Lynn Hilton, Partner for Residential Lettings at Cluttons, said: “The appetite for relocating staff to London remains strong but companies have effectively imposed a summer freeze on relocation activity this year as the Olympics wipes out the availability of short term lets and hikes costs. This demand is not going away and come September we expect to see a surge in relocation activity in the central London lettings market as agents battle it out for the best properties. This will coincide with an increase in supply as inflated ‘Olympic let’ properties trickle back on to the market at regular prices.”

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Rightmove research shows that new sellers are currently outnumbering successful buyers by an average of nearly 2:1, a situation they suggest is exacerbated by Olympic distractions. Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said: “Those keen to sell this summer have the challenging confluence of miserable viewing weather, the continuing credit-crunch plus a sporting distraction of Olympic proportions. Those who have been on the market for many months might consider the prospects of achieving a sale to be somewhat of an Olympian challenge given that actual sales completions are just half what they were five years ago. The weather might not be hot but in most parts of the country the competition to sell is. Those fit to buy this summer will be looking for a property that is prepared for sale better than the rest in terms of value
and quality. There is evidence that quality remains in higher demand in spite of the downturn, and those keen to
sell need to be clear on what it will take to make their property a compelling buy.”.

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