Chelmsford has a number of large corporate businesses such as Britvic, IFDS, E2V, Royal Mail, First Group & Visteon and many of these will have requirements for providing short term accommodation for their staff. These might be new members of staff that have just relocated to the area or those that might simply be working in the area on a short term contract basis having come in from another part of the country or business.

Most of these larger businesses will have a budget for accommodation and the first thought is always to provide hotel accommodation or find a cheap B&B. In Chelmsford unless you find or agree a special rate you will typically be paying from £65 per room per night. The average is more like £80 per night. If you have a few members of staff that need this type of accommodation then the bill can soon add up to quite a large sum. 3 people in 3 rooms for a month at the £65 per night rate equals £5931.

The other alternative is for the company to rent a whole house or flat in Chelmsford and use that on a temporary basis to provide accommodation. This can and does work for many businesses although it actually provides more headaches. None of the businesses at the top of the post are property businesses. If there are problems with the property they need to spend time contacting the agent or landlord to get it sorted out. It is also likely that the property will not be fully utilised. The property may be empty for weeks or months when it is not needed and yet the company will still have to pay rent for the property.

The average rental costs for different types of properties in Chelmsford are as follows: (Sept 2010)

Studio flats = £465 per month

1 bed flat = £575 per month

2 bed flat = £730 per month

3 bed  flat = £910 per month

2 bed house = £797 per month

3 bed house = £905 per month

4 bed house = £1,267 per month

It is important to remember that there are then all the associated bills on top of those prices such as gas, electric, water, council tax, phone line, broadband, cleaner, gardener etc. The company will also have to put down at least one month’s deposit and sign up to a 12 month tenancy.

As you can see this is a much cheaper way of providing accommodation for staff as long as it will be used for the full 12 month period. If it is not then the cost and hassle of having a property that you are responsible for may not be worth taking on. You will also need to find a property that is fully furnished with everything you need or you will have to furnish it yourselves and then again be responsible for maintaining the fixtures and fittings that you provide.

Large or small businesses can consider house sharing to be the ideal solution to this problem of cost and management hassle. One major reason why businesses have probably not looked at this option is because there are not many landlords that have a large enough portfolio of rooms to be able to cater with a large requirement from a local business for accommodation.

House sharing with us in Chelmsford is the low cost but still high quality option with “all inclusive” rents averaging £100 per week (£433 per month). With over 75 rooms in Chelmsford we are large enough to be able to offer multiple rooms  and/or flexible arrangements for businesses that might want to consider this as an alternative and economical way of providing accommodation for their members of staff.

The rooms are fully furnished, the rents are inclusive of all bills (including wireless broadband, weekly cleaner and gardener). House sharing is a good way for people to meet and socialise after a hard days’ work and with communal kitchens and living areas this can be better than sitting in a hotel room on your own night after night.

Going back to the earlier example of 3 people staying in 3 rooms in a hotel at £65 per night the total bill came to £5931. 3 people renting a room in a house share in Chelmsford at the average price of £100 per week equals £1299. That is a massive saving of £4632 per month!!

Compared directly to the average price for a 3 bedroom house in Chelmsford this option of having 3 rooms look more expensive initially but you need to add on all the utility bills, possible furnishing costs, and general maintenance or management hassles also. This still makes the 3 individual rooms a cheaper and more convenient option for local businesses.

If you would like to find out more about our Chelmsford Rooms to Rent please contact:

Tony Pepper (Lettings Manager)

Email: ppl@platinumpropertypartners.co.uk

Mobile: 07791 866602

Office: 01245 356039

245A Broomfield Rd, Chelmsford, Essex. CM1 4DP