So as you may well already know, there has been a big drop in the room rental market since the dreaded COVID-19 hit us. This has happened especially in the HMO sector and has also unfortunately been the case for landlords renting rooms in their own home, too.
Lodgers are understandably looking for more self-contained accommodation, or rooms that have an en-suite or own separate bathroom. This is something that will hopefully change as we step into 2021 with the vaccine on it's way 🎉 ...but in the meantime we can adapt!
The main bulk of my lodgers originally came from McLaren in Woking, in fact probably 60% of the lodgers I found accommodation for were from McLaren. However at the start of lockdown in March all the Monday to Friday renters returned to work from home and have not yet started to come back into their offices. It probably won't be for some time still!
On a positive note I have recently been placing a lot more professionals from the film industry 🎥... this is because they are testing all staff for COVID-19 at least twice a week, which should give you some peace of mind knowing you will be minimising exposure.
For now as landlords we just need to be more flexible to the term, price, and type of lodger we want. We may have previously had wanted just someone staying Monday to Friday but for the time being this might not be possible, but even full time lodgers for now will not be permanent.
It is hard to know what will happen in the next few weeks and months – the shifting sands of differing coronavirus restrictions across the United Kingdom make it difficult to forecast future trends. Here is hoping for a better 2021!🤞
I am pleased to say I am now offering a tenant find service for landlords that are renting studios and apartments that want to self-manage, but just need a little help finding tenants. This is a one off fee and will be a lot cheaper than the High Street Letting Agents.
For more information on this please do get in touch.
Take care & stay safe,
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