Any preparations for 2012 Olympics??

[harcourtv57]

Hi - I was just wondering, as its so topical at the moment, whether anyone has done anything/made any preparation for the 2012 Olympics? we are based in Portsmouth, only an hour and a half away from London and even nearer some of the other venues such as Weymouth. I know its a long way off, but has anyone given any thought to bookings such as when to price and possible rental rates etc?? There is also a strong rumour that some of the training venues may be in this area, so accommodation will be needed for participants as well as visitors.

[Martha]

We've been giving some thought to letting out our house for this, as we live quite close to the main site in Hackney. There's a lot of people loosely associated with the games (tv crews and reporters for instance) who will be looking for accomodation as well. I wonder if there are any official places to look...

[harcourtv57]

I've had a quick look at the site, but it only seems to give info on where the main events will be held - I'll look some more and see what I can find. . . .

[J&J]

We live only a few tube stops from Stratford. I have been looking into being a volunteer/guide for visiting nations during the Olympics, (I speak three languages), and some information on accommodation came to light.
1. Many of the contestants, officials, TV crews etc. will be transported into and out of the olympic sites as there wont be enough room to accommodate them close by. Therefore places at quite some distance will be sought for accommodation.
2. Rather than a rent house or flat, many foreigners are apparently expected to prefer rooms in an English family home so they can get a taste of the culture etc. while they are here. (Hopefully our son will have left home by then so we can let his room!)
The London News usually has useful reports on what's going on for 2012 so I am keeping my ears open.
Judith

[Nightowl]

We were talking about this the other day - our places in London are pretty convenient too - but I have no idea what to price at and haven't really thought any further on the subject. But yes, we all have to make hay while the sun shines.

[Partridge]

I've been thinking about this for ages, move in with Mum & Dad (5 minutes up the road) for a couple of weeks and play 'host' letting our place out, 5 bed 3 bath, hot tub in garden & I'd finally find out what it's like for all you 'on site' or 'near on site' owners

Judith, I think you live very near me but possibly are Woodford way so have the central line. We are stuck with overground Chingford to Liverpool Street & it seems we are sooo close to the main action but possibly not convenient for public transport unless of course they relent and re open the Stratford Hall Farm curve. I am really unsure how close people expect to be. I notice the canoeing is to be done at Broxbourne which is also very close by.

I checked the main site and they will have a section for lettings, copying the idea from Beiging (sp) I believe.

[J&J]

Yes, Parti, it's going to be difficult to get all those people transported into the venues, even from short distances and i can't see them closing a couple of lanes of traffic like they did in Bejing. London just doesn't have the space to give up and the city itself would grind to a halt.
We are on the central line, 3 minutes from the station (one of James' stipulations when choosing the house!), so pretty handy in that respect.
The other suggestion made is to rent one's drive out for parking, then people coming from outside the M25 could leave their vehicle at your house and jump on the train. Perhaps I could offer car wash while they are enjoying the games?!

Judith

[greenfrog]

Well, I'm thinking of a blitz of "escape the madness and come to Paris" advertising for Londoners during the Games!

Oh, and celebrating the fact that I will not now have the Olympic Village down the road from me! We got a lovely new park instead.

And because of the "certainty" that it would be Paris 2012 property prices in my area (my home, not my rental) rose sharply so it's win-win all round for me!

Hope it nets all you London and surrounds property owners some great business!

[greenfrog]

By the way, following on Martha's post, anyone with a view from a balcony or rooftop garden of any of the main stadia or sites should be contacting the big TV companies now and offering accommodation/standup points.

Don't do it if you don't like the idea of cables being run everywhere and your home turned into a TV studio but so long as you move the Wedgewood for the duration you can charge top rates for such a place.

[Hells Bells]

Well, I'm thinking of a blitz of "escape the madness and come to Paris" advertising for Londoners during the Games!

Oh, and celebrating the fact that I will not now have the Olympic Village down the road from me! We got a lovely new park instead.

And because of the "certainty" that it would be Paris 2012 property prices in my area (my home, not my rental) rose sharply so it's win-win all round for me!

Hope it nets all you London and surrounds property owners some great business!

I could turn it into 'escape the madness and come to the Alps' . My summre regulars come from East London, and like to escape the chaos in a normal year

[J&J]

Item on London News tonight about letting property for 2012 games. Seems £2000 a week is reasonable for 2 or 3 bed place.

[seancollins2103]

link of last nights BBC coverage as previously mentioned

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/p ... 958525.stm

[kendalcottages]

Not given it any thought as yet. We're not near London but I hope we'll be able to benefit from those who visit but want to extend their stay by exploring other parts of the country.

[Nightowl]

We are not far from Greenwich - you could walk to Greenwich park in about half an hour from our flats if the transport was too clogged to take a train or bus.

We are, of course, trying to work out what prices we would charge and I've had 4 or 5 enquiries specifically for 2012 so far but held off quoting because I just don't know what to charge. We can cater for 6 people max.

I guess there's a danger that if we leave it too long, everyone else who doesn't usually offer self catering rentals will jump on the bandwagon and bag all the bookings - or if we go too soon, there's the problem of someone finding somewhere cheaper later in the day and cancelling.

I guess we will have to ask for a fairly hefty non returnable deposit or at the very least, have a cut off date of maybe 6 months ahead for cancellation/return of deposit instead of the usual 8 weeks or so.

[seancollins2103]

Owners are typically asking for double their normal rental rates