Recommended London property management company plus 90 day rule

Hi,

I own the above two-bed property in Vauxhall, but currently live abroad. It’s being rented out and the tenants are leaving in few weeks. I’m toying with the idea of airbnb but concerned about how it would be managed. It needs quite a bit of TLC, as it’s an old Victorian terrace, for example, the pipes, electricity, there’s always some little issue going off. Also, I’d be concerned about any large group and partying as I have really annoying, complain immediately, neighbours.

Any property management recommendations - and also how do people circumnavigate London’s 90 day rule, or is it impossible? If it is impossible, isn’t it a struggle to rent through airbnb throughout the year.

Any help would be appreciated

Do not attempt to BREAK London’s 90 day rule. You will end up in deep do do. Get a new tenant on a 6 month lease. Consider an insurance policy with landlord home emergency cover e.g. if a pipe leaks they will come and fix it 364 days a year.

You can’t ‘circumvent’ the 90 day legislation through Airbnb. You can try and use a mix of other platforms who don’t enforce the legislation, but if caught you risk a fine of up to £20,000.

You can apply for planning permission from your local council to let for more than 90 days but I think most aren’t inclined to grant this.

Lots of properties in London are older buildings so a management company or co-host should be used to dealing with maintenance issues. I would suggest you have an electrician and plumber do a maintenance check before you start listing.

There are home insurance policies covering STRs so make sure you have one in place before you start listing.

Do install CCTV at the entrance to your place so you can see who is coming and going and have strict house rules regarding late night noise and no guests on the premises who haven’t booked or paid.

I would also talk to your neighbours to let them know what you are doing rather than start hosting and the let them find out as this is likely to annoy them more :slight_smile:

Lots of London hosts let during peak periods ie the summer and then do a student let or similar for the rest of the year.

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Management company sounds like an easy fix, but hands off hosting will cost you 20% plus maintenance expenses. They also don’t have a good way of dealing with the 90 day rule. Despite their claims to the contrary, claiming that they will get you mid term leases to fill in the gaps, using other platforms etc, they seem to be happy to make as much money out of your property as possible (even if you’re left with big gaps) and absolve themselves of blame.

Knowing what I now know of hosting in London, I’d go for a long let UNLESS you travel back quite frequently and want to stay in your own place when you return. Otherwise, it’s just not worth it (in my opinion).