Designed to help London visitors find suitable home accommodation
London Where
Property in London
London home accommodation
typical London home accommodation
Finding somewhere to stay in London can prove difficult and expensive.
Sourcing a decent hotel to fit a budget can mean visiting many websites and it's even harder if you're looking for a more informal billet in the capital.
Start-up businessman Riaan Daly-Evans, however, is giving hotels, home and property owners the chance to advertise their spare space on a new website designed to help London visitors find suitable home accommodation. It also aims to drum up capital for hard-pressed hotel businesses and property owners who may be struggling to rent out their houses, London rooms and apartments or pay their own mortgages in the current economic climate.
Start-up businessman
Daly-Evans, 30, launched his home accommodation website www.where2stayinlondon.co.uk in March this year 2009 by pounding the streets with friends and family delivering leaflets to homes and businesses. The site now features a selection of privately owned rooms and properties, and plans to list a range of hotels from the very basic to the luxurious.
Residential homeowners pay an annual admin fee of £30 and have to sacrifice ten per cent of each booking but they can book customers into houses and apartments or even a room in their own home to suit themselves. Businesses pay a higher annual fee of £75.
Around seven million visitors come to London on business each year.
'Customers are given the opportunity to contact the company or homeowner directly once they have chosen the accommodation they want,' says the former finance worker. 'The booking fee is given to the room owner if the customer doesn't turn up.
'I want people to be able to find a really wide range of accommodation from five-star hotels to a simple room in a London house as it can't be easy for many tourists to find affordable accommodation.
'While some people love hotels, there are many others who are looking for a home from home and I got my inspiration from my parents, who used to take in foreign-exchange students.
'There are so many investors now who are finding it more difficult to sell their houses and apartments, and competition is tough in the rentals market, so they are faced with an empty property, very probably a mortgage to pay on it and no money coming in.
'There are people who would just like to supplement their household income, and there are tax breaks available for people who rent out spare rooms in their own home.' Jayne Atherton: Your home help. Metro, 2009-09-11.
A large refurbished two-bedroom apartment is eight minutes' walk from Woodford Green Tube station and a 25 minute ride from central London. Its owner is renting out both double rooms with bathrooms together or separately at £30 per night or £180 per week for each room. Find your home accommodation, room or cheap hotel in London with. Friday, September 11, 2009.
