SCOTS are preparing to cash in on the influx of athletes and sports fans heading for the Commonwealth Games in 2014 by moving out of their homes to rent them to visitors.
Amid indications of a surge in the cost of hotel rooms during the 11-day event next summer, homeowners are hoping to benefit from the mass of spending power that will be temporarily imported to the city and beyond.
A number of letting agents are now focusing their activity on attracting property owners looking to rent out their properties during the short window.
However, concerns have been raised that long-term tenants may be ejected by landlords trying to capitalise on the event.
Louise Strathie, from Falkirk, has advertised her three-bedroom villa for £200 a night and hopes visitors will be attracted to the town thanks to its good transport links to Glasgow.
The council administrator, said she would most likely move in with her mother should her home be rented out. Her sons would stay with their father.
She said: "I got the idea after speaking to friends about rentals over the Edinburgh Festival. It's not something I would do lightly, uproot my family like this, but it is such a one-off thing for Scotland and a great thing for Glasgow.
"I am quite precious about my house and might like to check up on what is going on. I would like to think the people coming over for the Commonwealth Games would be nice and decent though."
Catriona Flanagan, of Forth Residential, is now expanding her business to specialise in rentals over the period of the Commonwealth Games and other major sporting events.
Ms Flanagan, who is based in Bridge of Allan, near Stirling, said it could prove lucrative for those living in the right property that was close to the action.
She said luxury properties in Gleneagles and Auchterarder were being rented out for £30,000 a week during the Ryder Cup golf tournament next September.
Ms Flanagan said: "We have had a number of inquiries from people hoping to rent out over the Commonwealth Games so there is a demand. If you are very close to where everything is happening, you can charge a good rate."
Stuart George, 25, who lives in Glasgow city centre, said he hoped to rent out his three-bedroom flat during the Games. He said he may move in with his girlfriends' parents if he secures tenants.
The chartered accountant said: "I know from holidaying and travelling that I much prefer an apartment to a hotel room."
A number of Glasgow's major hotels have already sold out over the duration of the games, which runs from July 23 to the closing ceremony on August 3, including Crowne Plaza, Blythswood Square and Jury's Inn.
Prices of remaining rooms during the games have significantly risen, with a single room at the Grasshopper Hotel in the city centre now £2408 for the first seven nights of the event.
A two-bedroom residence in the Bow Serviced Apartments is currently being sold at £4900.
Tourism chiefs have called on hoteliers to adopt a "common-sense approach" towards room pricing during the event.
However, David Mackie, Scotland spokesman for the Association of Residential Letting Agents, raised concerns that some landlords may eject long-term tenants from properties to make way for high-spending visitors.
He said: "There are going to be landlords who want to capitalise on events such as the Games but I hope it is not to the detriment of those people already living in the properties."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article