Let's Explore: Which short-term rental platform is right for you?

With the festive season fast approaching, short lets appear to have taken a renewed lease of life, showing clear signs of ending 2023 with a bang!

All of us within the property industry maintain a very watchful eye over what is coming or changing in the continuously evolving market. And fluctuations in mortgage and interest rates over the past few months, have led to vendors and landlords alike looking for new ways to capitalise on the rental market. It feels safe to say we’re seeing the short-term rental market to be a well incubated set-up to take us in to 2024.

There are more businesses than ever offering a similar service to the likes of Airbnb, particularly in London, which brings up the debate of “what makes short lets different?”

Over the last decade or more, the short let market has changed constantly, but with new money from all parts of the globe consistently coming back to the UK, we are confident in our ability to be agile and adapt to the ever-changing desires of clients – both current and potential.

From November through to February our Short Let department works particularly closely with our sales teams – as buyers are often looking to test out an area before they make a purchase. There are many reasons for this, from insurance claims, to being in between sales, or wanting to be in a catchment area for schools. It provides a home-from-home scenario while you take time to weigh up important decisions.

Our short-term offering has exploded in the rental sector – last year our Short Lets Department received an enquiry every 32 minutes*, and more of our clients, whether they are typically longer term landlords or even vendors, asked us for more recommendations and options than ever before. Our Corporate Services team also receive a property search enquiry every 10 minutes* which also showcases the sheer demand to accommodate the prime lettings market.

Whilst we may be seen as a relatively ‘new player’ in this market, it’s important to highlight that there are important differences between our offering as a estate agent, in comparison to other businesses such as Airbnb. Short-term rentals managed by a prime estate agent such as us at John D Wood & Co. offer several advantages often making us a preferred option over peer-to-peer platforms.

Here are some reasons why our offering to secure a short let property might be the better choice:

John D Wood & Co. Short Let offering	Airbnb offering
Cover all aspects of the market from core to Super Prime	Core market
Ability to offer a discreet marketing campaign if needed	Focus for properties to be seen on market, with reliance on exposure
Contacts in corporate (i.e. partnerships with embassies searching for their attachés / diplomats) and overseas markets	Relying on their name and previous successes
Contacts with film industry providers looking for homes for filming/ad campaigns or VIPs accommodation	Not applicable
A home away from home service, including a welcome pack for the property and assistance to the owner making sure all required items are available and the house prepared for the tenant
Bio of the potential tenant is provided and they are pre-vetted for suitability	Booking added / number of people
Minimum stay of 31 days to avoid numerous people coming in at one set time, whilst having ability to be flexible and adapt to all stays	Daily rate bookings mostly popular for short stay holidays
We have an in-house property management team and they will meet you at the property	Airbnb host information given / limited at times
Assistance with safety and compliance	Points are added to the Airbnb host page and they are advised to include but unable to see if its monitored
Collaboration capabilities with furniture providers to stage your home for short terms rentals. Option to rent furniture so the property is turn-key ready	Take as seen – by Airbnb host description
Housekeeping services are available before/during/after for your return or for another applicant	Same but under the Airbnb host discretion
Recommendations by our relocation agents and buying agents – for temporary ‘short let’ accommodation while they search on behalf of their clients looking to buy or rent long-term	Relying on their name and previous successes.
Agreement to keep properties on the market and allowing viewings for both sales and lettings whilst rented	Not allowed

*Source: John D Wood & Co. internal data 2023.

Author:

Sinéad Conlon MARLA
Head of Client Services, Corporate Services & Short Term rentals

Let's Explore: Which short-term rental platform is right for you?

With the festive season fast approaching, short lets appear to have taken a renewed lease of life, showing clear signs of ending 2023 with a bang!

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