Property investors expecting to make golden profits during the 2012 London Olympics are stumbling at the final hurdle due to greed according to several letting agencies in the capital.
When the announcement came that London was to be the venue for the 2012 Olympics, private landlords anticipated making a small fortune over the summer months, but it seems that many have set their aims too high and are pricing themselves out of the market. With only a few months to go now before the Olympic flame is lit in the capital many investors are seeing their hopes go out like a damp squib.
Landlords in the area have found themselves in competition with local homeowners who have seen the chance to make money by renting their own homes out just for the duration of the games, and between them they have swamped the market. With many pricing their homes at over ten times the going rate for a month’s rent in the capital prospective visitors are ignoring the opportunities.
Gary Clark, Director of London 2012, said “First of all private home owners should remember they will need specialised landlord insurance if they rent their homes out. The guide is that you can expect to get around three, four times normal rental rates. People are trying for seven, eight times that amount. If you are going to ask £3,000 for a small two-bed which is not great in terms of décor, you’re a bit out of your depth. I keep saying: Look, there’s money to be made here, but you’re not going to retire on a week’s rental.” Some landlords in Stratford have been offering properties at 20 times their normal rental value, the Estates Gazette reported last week.
A search on Gumtree will find many homes in the Stratford area advertised for £4,000 a week during the Olympic period but there are not many people around who can say they have already rented their homes for anything like such amounts, and unless there is a last minute rush many prospective landlords will have missed out by being too greedy.