The hype surrounding short-term Olympic property lettings appears to have been groundless, with not one of more than 2,000 people who registered with one London estate agency expressing any interest in short term lets over the period of the games.
Mariella Petralia, Divisional Lettings Director for Felicity J Lord, said: “There was so much hype in the run up to the Olympics about short-term lets and how much money prospective landlords could make. In the end it just didn’t happen. Visitors were simply not prepared to pay five or even ten times the normal rate for the duration of the Games when they could quite easily book into a high-quality hotel in London for less than £100 per night.”
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor for PropertyGuru, witnessed some of the ‘Olympic-effect’ sales pitches for himself. He said: “I was quite astonished how the Olympics were being used as a significant marketing tool. I attended several property exhibitions where buyers were being lured with the promise of significant returns of the back of the games. It would be interesting to know how many Southeast Asians bought property solely because of the Olympics.”
Petralia added: “This [lack of interest] has left some landlords with the prospect of potentially expensive void periods as they look for tenants and, in all likelihood, a fall in average rental rates due to a surplus of properties coming onto the market now that the Olympics are over.”
"Our advice to landlords is always to look beyond the short-term and think medium to long-term every time if you want to maximise the return on your investment,” she concluded.
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