Here are the top tips
Whatever your circumstances for needing short term lets in Horsham or Crawley, in a hurry, does not mean that you should compromise on quality. Just take a few minutes, assess your circumstances, your needs, as well as your finances. There is some short or long stay furnished apartment around. You wont be spoiled for choice specially in the summer months, but you should find suitable ones if you look carefully.
You will fall into one of these six categories whereby you are:
- Between properties
- Waiting for your new house to be built.
- Builders at Home
- Working in the area beyond commuting distance
- Relocating to the areas
- Emergency at home: flood, fire – waiting for insurance to settle the claim.
Between properties:
I find that my clients who fall in this category are those who have secured a buyer for their property and in turn, they have not got anywhere to go as they are still in search of their new home. If this is you, your next move will depend if you are in the driving seat or not. If you feel your buyer will wait for you what may, (especially if they are a first time buyer), then you are in a win win situation. But if this is not the case, and you decide a bird in the hand… then you need let the sale go through and move out. With cash in the bank, that makes you a first time buyer in an enviable position.
Waiting for your new house to be built:
If you are in rented accommodation on a 6 or 12 months contract don’t be afraid to negotiate with your landlord shorter or longer term to suite. Demands for lettings are quite low right now albeit there is a notable decrease in the buy-to-let investment market and landlords are liquidating their assets to move on to other investments. If you have a property to sell, you can always ask the developer to purchase your house and arrange the completion to be on the date you move in your new house. He will invariably buy yours a rock bottom prices.
Builders at Home:
There are currently over 1 million homeowners who are renovating, refurbishing and enlarging their existing property instead of moving. If this is you, for the period that the house is unliveable, do consider a caravan in the garden, staying with relations or move into a short let accommodation where they offer a home from home accommodations. If you have pets, check that they will allow you to bring them along as kennels will not only separate you from your babies but will add to the cost.
Working in the area beyond commuting distance:
High employment areas like Horsham, Crawley and Gatwick will attract people from afar who are prepared to move to a second home in the locality especially if their expertise is worth more money down here rather that at home. Your rent and expenses are tax deductable if you are self-employed. Whichever way, accommodation is a big expense – you should contact an accountant even if you don’t think that you can get tax relief. He may be able to negotiate a better tax code for you. What he saves you should, of course, cover his cost. However, it is nice to have a professional on your side. You probably only need a studio. Hotel rooms are costly, not ideal, and there are no self catering facilities. You could find a guest house or B & B who will have microwaves.
Relocating to the area:
if you are relocating, you may need short term accommodation in the area while choosing your next home. This will depend on how many of you there are in your family. Again hotel accommodation wont do if there are more than 2 of you. However, there are plenty of self catering accommodation around.
Emergency at home:
Should you be unfortunate enough to be in need of immediate accommodation following flood or fire at home and you need to move out, the first thing to do is to contact your insurance 24 hour helpline. Find out what allowance will they agree for your instant let accommodation. If you are likely going to need accommodation for weeks or months, a hotel, guest house or B & B is not an option. Not only there are no self-catering facilities; they tend to have bookings for their rooms and will need to move you from one room to another or from one place to another depending on their availability. There are plenty of short let accommodation how will offer you a home from home place to stay.
Finally please feel free to contact me for more advice at apartments@fastlet.com
Good luck – Michael
