As a landlord & developer ourselves, we know only too well the “fun” of residential property ownership. The hassle, grief and aggro that being a Landlord entails, as well as the increasingly hostile regulatory environment (Renters’ Rights Bill anyone?), tax regime and everything else! (See the relevant section, where we explain some of the Renters’ Rights Bill proposed changes and other salient facts impacting on landlords. Please read it here, it affects you.)

We can solve this & other problems in various ways.

Our professional residential flexi-let business provides fully furnished home from homes for the corporate sector / business traveller and relocation sector.

Our flexi-let business provides agents, landlords, owners, developers and other stakeholders solutions to problems they have.

These solutions have the ability to:

• Provide a flexible term solution to empty properties, generating revenue where none may exist. This could include properties which are for sale or which are simply vacant.
• Provide a no cost alternative to the live in guardian security solution.
• Generate higher than net AST income for landlords.
• Mitigate the effects of the Renters’ Rights Bill. See more detail here.

We can do this via either via our Owner Flexible Short Let Solution, Guaranteed Rent offer or our Serviced Accommodation Management offer.

Before we get in to any details, we want to point out that:

We don’t accept online bookings, as our business clients don’t expect that and we want to control and vet who stays in our properties.

We also don’t accept very short stays. 

We target corporates, business travellers, etc. and do so via specialist corporate travel management companies, specialist short let agencies, relocation agents and other channels. 

More details are as follows:

Owner Flexible Short Let Solution

We offer those in need, including estate agents, a fully managed flexible short let service, which solves a number of problems without generating any downsides. Benefits include:

• Generate income where none may currently exist.
• Most insurers require to be notified if properties are left vacant for more than 30 consecutive days and usually require frequent inspections. Flexible letting will avoid this issue.
• Reduced risk of squatting, vandalism, bust pipes, etc. due to properties being occupied.
• Security & certainty of getting vacant possession on agreed date (no nervousness that comes with AST rentals).
• We furnish & dress the properties, thus making them look much more attractive to potential buyers, which should increase speed of sale and price achieved.
• We will inspect & clean properties weekly to ensure they are maintained in good condition.
• All properties benefit from being lived in and kept warm.
• Possible option of “try before you buy” for potential buyers of properties, whereby they can “live” in the property they are interested in buying.
• We can provide flexibility of when buildings can be provided vacant, i.e., we don’t need 6-month certain term ASTs, with the concern of not knowing whether the tenant will move out on the agreed date. This should allow maximisation of short-term income whilst in no way impacting on potential completion dates.
• All of the above can be done whilst still allowing access for viewings if properties are being sold.

Because of our ability to turn properties around quickly, efficiently and effectively, we also offer a low cost solution to the problem of securing properties as an alternative to live guardians.
By us arranging for properties to become occupied by fee paying guests, not only is income generated, but the risk of squatting, vandalism, bust pipes, etc. is reduced or mitigated.

We understand that you may have questions around how this may work in practice, and we’re happy to answer those, either via email, over the telephone or in person.

However, as a starter, amongst the list of things we do do, are:

• Inspect the property and make suggestions as to any changes or improvements that could be made to improve revenue.
• Prepare the property.  We will, if required, arrange for additional furnishings, etc. to be supplied, at no mark up.
• Dress the property.
• Arrange for professional photography and videography.
• Advertise it (more on that in a later in this email).
• Find the guests.
• Vet the guests. (We ask our potential guests questions to understand who they are and whether they are right for us and the properties we look after.  Because we don’t accept weekend bookings and one can’t book our apartments online, we don’t get enquiries from the potentially less attractive weekend bookings and single sex groups.)
• Deal with guest liaison.
• Check in the guests.
• Deal with guest liaison.
• Housekeeping, usually weekly.
• Check out the guests.
• Deal with guest liaison.  (There can be a lot of guest liaison…..).

We may have forgotten to list something, but we don’t forget to do it!

By the end of the month following, we then make payment for the revenue generated less our commission and a detailed statement of income and expenses.

We can also provide personalised logins to our management system so one can see what bookings have been secured, etc.

Please note we are not offering a property management service; we are offering a serviced accommodation management service.  The two are very different.

Guaranteed Rent

Experience a hassle-free process with fixed, guaranteed rental income, irrespective of property occupancy. Eliminate rental market uncertainties and enjoy consistent returns on your investment.

As landlords ourselves, we know that whilst on the surface, renting out property may seem like a nice idea, the reality & practicalities of it are anything but!

Aside from the thanklessness of it, not mention the time, headaches, etc. there is the undeniable truth that for landlords the gross rent received is not equal to the net rent in one’s pocket, or that of the owning company.

Costs, voids, unpaid rents, redecoration expenses every time a tenant moves out, inventory costs, empty rates, empty utilities, VAT on all the costs, etc.

All these eat away at the revenue leaving what is probably a net which is circa 70% – 80% of the gross. We just conveniently forget about all the costs involved in ownership & renting.

Our Guaranteed Rent Scheme for residential property offers landlords, investors, developers and any other interested stakeholders’ peace of mind and many other benefits besides.

There are no fees for utilising our Guaranteed Rent scheme.

You’re also dealing with us – long standing, professional experienced property people, who are existing landlords with tenants, so we know what your side of the fence looks like.

We make the whole process quick, simple, easy & pain-free.

We will pay the rent, on time, every month, by DD.

We’ll take a non-Housing Act tenancy, i.e. not an AST, so you won’t fall foul of the various, landlords might say foul, changes coming in the Renters’ Rights Bill. A short synopsis of the Renters’ Rights Bill can be found here. It’s not just the abolition of Sec. 21 that will make a meaningful impact on landlords.

We will provide break clauses for landlords to terminate the agreements, and include Options to Purchase, for those thinking they might want to sell in the future.

The considerable benefits we offer to landlords, incl.:

• Because we take a management agreement or commercial lease, not an AST, there is more security & certainty of getting vacant possession on an agreed date for the LL and more that can be done more quickly if possession is req.  There is no presumed “security of tenure”.
• Commercial leases and management agreements, and commercially minded tenants such as ourselves, are frankly just easier and less hard work than ASTs, and their tenants.
• We will employ suitable tradesman to maintain and resolve minor issues, saving the LL time, money and hassle.
• No Renters’ Rights Bill implications.
• Substantially reduced management time, effort and expense.
• Rent paid on time, every month, by DD.
• We inspect our properties frequently, usually weekly.

Because we will take long leases, if available, there are benefits accrued from that also, which incl.:

• No rental voids for the period of the lease, thereby substantially reducing loss of income.
• No empty rates and utility bills for the period of the lease.
• No redecorating costs on the more frequent occasions every time a tenant moves out.
• The landlord has 1 tenant, potentially over a no. of units, which reduces time, expense, effort, hassle, etc.
• We cover all utility bills & Council tax.
• We are vested in looking after your asset, because it is also our asset. We can’t accept our guests if the property isn’t in tip top condition.

Serviced Accommodation Management

We offer a serviced accommodation management option, where we effectively do all the work entailed in operating a property as a serviced accommodation and then pass on the revenue generated, less our commission. Our commission is based on a percentage of revenue generated, so no revenue, no commission. We are therefore heavily incentivised to generate maximum revenue.

The service is similar to our Owner Flexible Short Let Solution but generally used for a more longer term solution.

In all of the above options, all our properties are inspected frequently, usually weekly, so we keep a close eye on how they are being looked after by our guests. This is more often than AST properties are inspected, and that includes us!

Our market is the longer stay business traveller and relocation requirements.
Our guests often stay months, not nights.

As there isn’t a typical business traveller or client, (some stay in penthouses, some in very ordinary, basic 1 bd apartments), we can consider a wide variety of opportunities, especially bearing in mind the different solutions we offer.

As such, it’s best to talk to us.

We will consider single units, or multi-unit opportunities.

We’re a professional operator, with considerable experience over many, many years.

Advertising / Finding the Right Guest

As explained, our market is the corporate and relocation sector, which make up the majority of the bookings in the serviced accommodation market.

Anyone can put a property on Airbnb, and we do too (as well as Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia, Trip and a bunch of others you probably haven’t heard of).

However, the real opportunities lie in the corporate and relocation sectors.

There is no Airbnb or universal platform for marketing serviced accommodation to these sectors. It’s down to legwork and relationships.

The corporates either book direct or use a travel management company who do the searching and booking on their behalf.

The relocation sector is similar. They either book direct or use specialist agencies to do the job.

Finally, both the corporate and relocation sectors may also use specialist agencies, similar to a cross between travel agents and estate agents, to find the right properties for their staff.

We know a large number of the players in all areas.

Finally, a few misconceptions:

• We aren’t granting a tenancy, sublease, etc. to our guests. It is more akin to an hotel booking when one goes on holiday. Our guests make a booking with us and we confirm said booking with a booking confirmation. There is no implicit or explicit tenancy granted and no rights to occupy.
• The serviced accommodation industry has existed for decades and is global. Companies have for been moving staff from one country to another and have used serviced apartments in this time. It is not new or been invented by Airbnb.
• Since we’ve mentioned Airbnb, they are good and bad. Everyone knows something of the serviced accommodation industry because of Airbnb. The problem is everyone thinks they know all about the industry because of Airbnb.
• It is estimated that circa 75% of all flexi-let stays are by business travellers and relocation requirements. In other words, the Airbnb, Booking.com, etc. leisure bookings are the small minority of the industry.
• A recent industry report found that in the professional corporate serviced accommodation sector, nearly 60% of guests were from overseas.
• This same report found that nearly 70% of guests stayed more than 30 nights.
• We carry specialist short let insurance, which in the unlikely & rare event of a mishap with one of our properties, means the property is insured.