Homes in the east London boroughs where many events are to be held are fetching between five and 15 times their typical rates as properties are rebranded as short-term “Olympic lets.” Some landlords are also enforcing expensive “penalty” clauses for tenants who want to remain during the gathering of the world’s top athletes.

The accommodation crunch is expected to be so severe that some residents are planning to rent out their backyards to campers during the Games – which begin July 27.
“We’re [seeing] landlords beginning to evict their tenants,” Antonia Bance, head of campaigns for housing charity Shelter, told msnbc.com. “Lots of letting agents are writing clauses into contracts being signed saying you can live here with the exception of this period [during the Olympics].”

helter’s Bance described the case of a couple in the Newham area who will be renting out the three-bedroom house they own in a former public housing project for 15,000 pounds ($23,600) for three weeks. The average rental price of a three-bedroom property in the borough is 1,189 pounds ($1,870) per month.
In the Dalston neighborhood, one-bedroom apartments that normally fetch around 300 pounds ($475) per week are now being advertised at 1,625 pounds ($2,575) per week.
And in Kentish Town, which is a 25-minute train journey from the new Olympic Stadium, a five-bedroom home is being advertised at 10,000 pounds ($15,845) per week during the Games.
It is difficult to know how many Londoners will be priced out of the city as landlords woo Olympic visitors, but interviews with property experts, real estate agents, tenants, prospective landlords and tourism-industry specialists suggest it will not be an isolated problem.

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New figures show that nearly £1m of the £20m set aside for discretionary housing payments in 2010-11 by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was left untouched by councils.

Six authorities spent less than half the money they were allocated (see table below). They include Wirral council, which spent just £114,380 (47%) of the £245,200 that the DWP was willing to give the borough.

In total, £990,272 remained unclaimed by councils in England, Scotland and Wales. At the same time, other councils topped up the money they received from the DWP, taking the total awarded to £21.4m.

Discretionary housing payments (DHPs) are available to people facing financial hardship who are entitled to housing benefit or council tax benefit, but need further help paying rent or other housing costs. Most DHP claims are made by private renters who receive housing benefit in the form of local housing allowance (LHA), although the payments can also be awarded to council and housing association tenants.

For more info visit: www.guardian.co.uk

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More than half (56%) of the landlords who took part in the lender’s latest quarterly survey said that they expect tenant demand to either grow or boom, compared with 45% who were asked the same question at the end of 2010.

Only 6% of those questioned thought that tenant demand would decline this year.

When asked whether they thought rental income would increase during the next 12 months, 45% of landlords surveyed said it will increase, whereas 53% said that it would remain stable – and only 2% said that it would decrease.

Two-thirds of landlords believe arrears levels will stay stable and 20% expect arrears to rise moderately.

Nigel Terrington, chief executive of Paragon Group, said: “It is no surprise that landlords are expecting a healthy level of tenant demand.

“With the success of 2011 to build on, I believe the private rented sector will continue to perform and provide a valuable tenure choice for even more people in 2012.

“This year will bring its own challenges, especially with the uncertainty in Europe and the wider financial markets affecting overall confidence levels. But I believe that the foundations that we laid as a sector in 2011 will allow lenders and landlords to continue to do business.”

Migrants add 8% to the demand for housing, leading to an increase in housing costs, especially in London, the South and certain parts of Scotland, a report by the Migration Advisory Committee says.

The report says that more than 70% of households headed by skilled migrant workers initially rent, with only 20% owning and living in their own home.