Property journalism ~ Blue chip properties fill the voids

The Times, March 2006

Many property investors who have had little to cheer about under the weight of flagging returns are being consoled by signs of a corporate comeback. Welcome to blue-chip buy-to-lets - a growing network of new and second-hand houses and flats that are let to company executives and employees, freelance operators, contractors and business people.

This urban revival came as the City got over its mournful phase, the US recovered its nerve post-September 11, and dot-coms rose again from their shattered shells. A lettings agent in Docklands, East London, recalls looking out of his office window and seeing blocks of empty flats. Six months later he peered out to find that they had all been filled by corporate tenants.

Venture into one of these apartments and you will find wooden floors, en suite bathrooms, power-showers and broadband connections. "If you are a corporate landlord, you need to spend more money refurbishing and fitting out your house or apartment before you let than you would with a private one," says Stuart Atkinson, of VH48, a web-based company lettings agency.

The extra outlay pays dividends: corporate landlords make higher returns than residential ones.

Lucy Morton, of W. A. Ellis lettings agents, says investors can expect an annual return of 6 to 7 per cent against 3.5 to 4 per cent for other types of investment property. "It may be a fussier market than the domestic one, but by injecting more capital and taking that extra amount of care you will let your house or apartment far more quickly than you would with a private let."

Renewed City confidence means that there has been a 12 per cent rise in corporate business in the past year, says Morton. "Although most of our clients are home-based, our US ones have made a comeback since 9/11 and we have had an influx of Italians, French and Australians.

"While employees of the banks and multinationals prefer to rent one or two-bedroom flats for two or three years, executives who are relocating with their families go for houses in Central London or the Home Counties with good transport links, schools and facilities."

Until recently company and business tenants often lived in hotels and holiday lets while on secondment. "Then they realised private accommodation was less expensive, more convenient and more homely," says Morton.

Atkinson says he started his agency when he failed to find a suitable hotel while working as an IT contractor in Reading, Berkshire. "I decided to buy an apartment, which gave me far more flexibility than a hotel, then I left my job and started a corporate lettings agency," he says.

To reflect their business-like image, blue-chip buy-to-lets have recently gone high-tech. Employees of the aptly named Nest agency use the latest mobile phones to keep in touch with tenants. Sehaam Caselberg, Nest's founder, says: "Providing a 24-hour communications service really comes into its own with overseas clients who could be thousands of miles from home and experiencing problems reading English handbooks, instructions and maps."

Owning a company let is very similar to having a domestic one. The property attracts the same sort of letting fees: 10 per cent for tenant-sourcing and rent collection, and 15 to 16 per cent for maintenance and management. Some agents charge a one-off management fee and give a discount for handling more than one property.

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