Chelmsford, Essex -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/19/2012 -- With the London 2012 Olympics looming ever closer, hundreds of Essex homeowners are hoping to cash in on the influx of tourism, by renting their properties to Olympic tourists for up to £6000 a week. Holidaymakers will be heading to the new 500-acre Olympic Park outside Stratford station, or the Olympic mountain-biking event in Hadleigh. “It’s a good example of how most situations can be seen as a positive business opportunity, by those with an entrepreneurial mindset,” said a source at Absolute Client Services, a Chelmsford-based sales and marketing company.
Sharon Tremaine, a London cab driver, hopes to let two bedrooms in her South Woodham Ferrers home for £900 a week. “I got the idea from speaking to other cabbies and thought ‘well I’ve got a couple of spare rooms to let’,” said the married mum-of-two, “And if we can benefit a little bit from the Olympics being on our doorstep then why not?”
A four bedroom home in Chelmsford is hoping to fetch £5000 a week, while some of the larger properties are on offer at £6000 a week. Even Braintree District Councillor David Bebb, the former chairman of governors at Chelmsford County High School for girls, has put his four bedroom 15th- century cottage in Hatfield Peverel online for £2,950 a week.
“The influx of tourism is going to be huge during the Olympics,” said Mr. Peace from Absolute Client Services. “These people have rightly identified a gap in the market, and why not utilise that? It’s a great idea.”
Former advertising consultant Emma Wilson, who owns a two bedroom apartment in Marconi Road, already lets to foreign students and tourists on short tenancy agreements. Ms. Wilson, who lives in the apartment above said, “Lots of people are staying in hotels which is really expensive so I thought people staying for a couple of weeks would like to having a washing machine and be able to cook for themselves, rather than be stuck in one room.” She added, “I’ve already had inquiries from Germany and America and I’m hoping to charge between £600 and £650 a week.”
Absolute Client Services noted, “The Olympics are already going to bring millions to the local economy and this is just one more way in which the city will benefit from this iconic event.”
http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Home-rent-profit-real-Essex-Olympic-legacy/story-15198841-detail/story.html