A micro-flat in central London has let in what agent E J Harris claims to be a record for the private rental market - just 40 minutes.
Just slightly larger than a bathroom or walk-in cupboard, the 301 square foot one bedroom flat on Pollen Street in London's Mayfair was placed on the market first thing in the morning and snapped up by the tenant - who appears happy to be paying £1,560 per month.
The tenant, who needed a home close to work, paid over £10,000 up front to secure the property, covering the deposit, a six month tenure and lettings fees. She moved in that same afternoon.
Within 15 minutes of the property's details being emailed to clients, the firm had over 200 email and telephone enquiries, and within 30 minutes five serious offers.
The speed of this deal and the battle to secure the tenancy is the clearest indicator yet to me how buoyant and hot London's letting market is at present. The tenant has a highly successful career working in the hospitality industry in the West End and needed a home nearby says Elizabeth Harris, the agency's managing director.
E J Harris says instructions have already risen this year compared to recent ones.
In a typical non-election year the company has 75 live instructions on the books at any one time; currently this has risen to 100 and the firm believes it is because of uncertainty in the sales market caused by speculation over mansion tax and other measures against owners of high value properties.
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Comments
As mentioned in the previous comments, there are so many obvious porkies in this story you have to wonder if indeed any of it is true. This reflects very badly on both the 'journalist' and the agent. As a landlord I would avoid an agent who thinks they can throughly market a property and vet a tenant in such a short space of time and is so easily swayed by anyone throwing down large sums (or not so large in this case) of money.
I agree with all posts here. I would NEVER let someone move in on the same day. Even if the tenant presented written references - how could they be verified in writing in that small time frame
I don't care how much money people wave at me to get a quick let - I want concrete references AMD I want to visit where they live now to judge how they live therefore how they are likely to look after my Landlord's property.
This is just the kind of activity that makes us agents look like back-street sharks of the industry.
Why does such bilge get so much coverage Surely the press don't take everything they are told about at face value and report without checking the facts You would hope a respectable agent would know the difference between Pollen Street being in Soho rather than Mayfair for one and I thought the days of the Croydon wideboy agent were over but it seems it is acceptable to pluck a exaggerated figure out of the air and declare '200 email and telephone enquiries in 15 minutes' to get global coverage - please note this is impossible for a large corporate agent let alone an independent estate agent with a smaller database to do this. You do the maths...... 13.3 enquires a minute with three members of staff.... enough said!! (lets hope they followed the compliance checks they should have made when being approached by a hotel worker presenting them with 10k to move in on the same day!!!) Their previous article about having 100 lettings properties on the book at any one time also is pie in the sky - checking their website today shows 41 properties and most of these are multi-listed with other agents. PRESS: please check your facts before giving pointless airtime to rubbish like this
I agree with Rob. Whilst they could have done a credit check in that short time, I doubt they could have obtained written references from employer and landlord in that time.
Also very fortunate that the inventory (they did do one of course) was already typed up, photographs taken etc.
I hope that we do not hear of this rental going wrong in the mnths tom come.
I always find it surprising that an agent can take up FULL references and background checks on a tenant in less than a day. My company doesn't work like that as we actually try and vet tenants before they move-in. 10K down doesn't buy the right to move-in in to any property.