game set & Rent!
If your home is near a big sporting venue, you’re on to a winner, says Graham Norwood
the start of Wimbl edon will mark the opening volley in the great British summer of sport next week.
But for some, it’s also the beginning of a lucrative period of letting out their homes to the players, officials and VIPs attending our iconic annual events.
Organising the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, The Open at Royal Birkdale or the Burghley horse Trials in Lincolnshire, involves thousands of people working behind the scenes for months in the run-up.
Then there are the presenters and sports stars who want to avoid the fans and the media at nearby hotels, and instead use specialist letting agencies to find private houses to stay throughout the event.
So what will light the fire for the likes of Andy Murray or Lewis hamilton? ‘Space is one of the most important factors for established players looking to accommodate family members, coaches, nutritionists and members of their team,’ explains Adrienne Wandsworth, Foxtons’ Wimbledon lettings manager.
huge events such as Wimbledon have spawned specialist agencies such as Tennis London, which, for almost 25 years, has been advising home owners on how best to market their properties to let ( tennis london.co.uk).
‘ Your home must be within a 20-minute walk of the All england Club,’ explains Joanna Doniger, Tennis London’s chief.
how much you receive varies from property to property: a five-bedroom house with a garden, within a lob of the Wimbledon courts, can fetch £9,000 a week. A small flat further away could get £2,000 a week. Foxtons calculates the average is £4,000.
Ant Sanders is a buying agent in the east Midlands who works with racing teams attending the British Grand Prix each July.
Silverstone is tricky, he says. ‘It’s situated in the Northamptonshire countryside and traffic jams mean top drivers, team chiefs and major sponsors rent bases where helicopters can land close by — perhaps a house that’s a short walk from a farm or a field.’
There are specialist agencies for this sport, too, such as Trackrooms. This operates a website for homeowners advertising their properties, spare rooms or bed and breakfasts close to Silverstone and also Goodwood, where this weekend’s Festival of Speed is expected to attract 100,000 attendees for each of its three days (trackrooms.co.uk).
So if you happen to live near a major sporting venue and have a quality home that could earn its keep, what should you do?
First, assess the market. For example, Liverpool has many hotels, so private homes near the Aintree Grand National course are rarely used by riders or sponsors. Big golf events, however, typically involve substantial renting.
Second, be aware that many local authorities have tightened up the rules regarding ‘short lets’.
‘There may be restrictions in different places as to the minimum length of a tenancy, so it is always worth checking with the council,’ says Catherine Cockcroft, head of lettings at the Aylesford International agency. nexT, avoid the temptation to do it yourself — there are 400 pieces of legislation governing letting, even for just a few weeks.
Owners pay an agency fee of 15 to 20 per cent of the rent, but it is tax deductible. Check with hM Revenue & Customs’ rules ( gov. uk/renting-out-a-property) — you should let your mortgage lender and insurer know your plans, too.
Finally, don’t hang around. Sporting calendars for 2018 are being organised now. So if, say, you have a home in Wimbledon, it’s not too early to get it listed for next year — and if you get an early booking, it’s game, set and match to you.