SHORT LET: THE FUTURE OF RENTAL HOUSING

For some years now, short let apartments have gained wider popularity and have been dubbed ‘the real home away from home’ owing to the demand for more space and personalised services. Nigeria is not left behind in the short let frenzy as many upscale, fully furnished, and well-maintained properties are put up for short let. For the high-income potential short let has, real estate professionals are beginning to tap into the market.

We had a chat with Adeyinka Ajibola, CEO of Perfect Havens Luxury Services, about short letting as a business and how she has been able to navigate through associated challenges.

About Adeyinka Ajibola

Adeyinka was born in the mid-sixties in Lagos, Nigeria, as the eldest of three other siblings in central Lagos Island. She had an amazing childhood attending St. Mary’s Private School, Our Lady of Apostles as post-primary and Methodist Girls’ High School for her higher school studies. Thereafter, she attended the University of Lagos, Akoka, where she studied Microbiology. She enjoys reading, music, movies, and entertainment.

Why I Chose Short Let

Having worked in airlines and hotels where it was all heavy traffic of people going in and out, I went into an industry with less crowd and targeted service delivery. A short let apartment is exactly what it implies; letting a fully furnished and serviced apartment with all basic amenities such as electricity, kitchen equipment like cookstove (mostly electric), extractors, fridges, pool and gym, cable network, and security for a short term basis and they are self-catering. Short lets are a great option to hotels or guest houses as they give you privacy, room to work, relax, and entertain in the same space.

PERFECT HAVENS are top providers of luxury serviced apartments in the leisure and business mix, and they deliver most professional services to huge organisations, groups on projects, families, and solo travellers generally. Our edge over most providers is our attention to details of every part of the buying process from reservations, bookings, and check-in procedures due to our global experience in those fields, which enhance guests’ experiences.

What Benefit do you Think Short Let has Over Hotels?

Privacy.
Space to relax, work, and entertain.
Value for money and huge savings in the long run as you get to self-cater whenever you want.
Personalised service per housekeeping and facility management provided by the hosts.
Better output and productivity with less distractions and ultimately more revenue.

The Constraints of Running Short Let Business

Challenges faced are mostly center around integrity and transparency, either on the part of members of staff or even some prospects who sometimes do not divulge particular reasons for stay. As brokers and top agents, we must ensure we have the right profile of people in apartments who have legitimate intentions of stay as stipulated in rules of engagement in signed agreements.

Do you Think the Short Let Market will Strive in Nigeria?

The market is absolutely necessary in Nigeria like in every other country that does business globally and locally. This is also coming at a very crucial time of working from home, which is a culture a lot of solo travellers and professionals adopted from way back is the new norm to keep safe, avoid time wasting in traffic and still have room to roam, space to relax, entertain and enjoy your family.

The need for short leases that sometimes go into long leases can’t be overemphasized as the new norm because we have had so many top executives of businesses live in serviced homes for years. Families are not left out, and my family and I have lived in furnished serviced homes for the last five years.

Effect of the Pandemic on my Business

We had a big hit as we had lined up international groups of major conglomerates we are vendors to for the year and there were a lot of cancellations. However, we had to assist a major company to take care of staff who had to keep working and were literally stuck and required meals. Although, different but still very fulfilling.

My Advice for Anyone Thinking of Going into the Short Let Business

Do your homework on WHY, WHEN, and HOW? Watch your overhead, do not take loans you don’t need, keep diversifying, keep your passion, have integrity, and keep ahead of the pack per service.