Consumer rights: 'Will it be worth the effort to let my home during the 2012 Olympics?'

[divingbrit]

A Londoner considers making some money from next summer's Games

Q. I am thinking about letting my home for the 2012 Olympics. I've never rented out property before and I don't really know where to start.

SC, London

A. There is definitely money to be made from the Olympics. You do need to think this through carefully, though. The money sounds great but there's a lot of effort involved. You have to be realistic about what you charge.

Anyone renting a house will expect value for money. You will have to move your clothes out of the bedrooms to leave wardrobe space. If you have valuables you might have to lock them away in one room which reduces the amount you can charge. You will need to have insurance cover in case something goes wrong. Your visitors will expect to find the place spotless. You may not have bothered with fire, smoke or carbon dioxide alarms for yourself but all these things should be in place.

Take photos of the house and any items in it. Write a complete inventory of everything the visitors will have access to. Ask for references and try to get to know them before their arrival.

Ideally you should have a contract drawn up spelling out your terms and conditions such as how much the rent is and how and when it should be paid, whether there's a deposit to be paid in advance, how any damage should be paid for or whether there's a sum to be paid as security in case of damage, arrival and leaving dates, and your cancellation policy. If you do want a contract drawn up you'll have to pay a solicitor or letting agent.

If you have a mortgage you might have to ask the lender's permission to let out the house. And your insurance company. The money you earn from this will count as income for tax purposes so take that into consideration when you're working out how profitable this is likely to be.

If I haven't put you off the idea, type "letting homes for the Olympics" into a search engine and you'll find LondonGamesRentals.com, LondonRentMyHouse.com, rentduringthegames. com and many more.

You'll be charged a fee to list your property and you decide whom to rent to. Have a good look at several sites before deciding which to use. You might decide to try more than one. If you are somewhere convenient to the Olympics site your local rental agencies may well be offering a service too.

By Liz Barclay
The Independent