Posted on 01 October 2013
The growing popularity of year-round short breaks in the French Alps has prompted the region’s biggest developer to introduce greater flexibility in the way its leaseback apartments are let, in order to maximise rental income.
Traditionally MGM has offered holiday home buyers, who also seek a guaranteed long-term investment, a variety of leaseback options. They include a guaranteed rental income linked to weekly lettings in the ski season in high altitude resorts and throughout the year in locations popular during the summer months.
“This arrangement has worked well for many years,” says Richard Deans in MGM’s London office, “but we recognise that, with today’s easy accessibility of resorts like Samoëns, Les Carroz d’Araches, Châtel and others within the Grand Massif area which are only four hours door-to-door from London – thanks to the ready availability of budget airline flights to Geneva – there is growing demand for short-break accommodation in our résidences de tourisme. This is often during off-peak periods when apartments might otherwise be empty.”
Therefore the MGM Group’s specialist in-house management and lettings company, CGH (La Compagnie de Gestion Hoteliere) has announced a new flexible lettings policy, which helps leaseback owners maximise their returns. Typically, owners of leaseback apartments have private use of their property for two, three, four or six weeks each year, depending on the terms agreed at the time of their purchase, however the new scheme means there is now greater flexibility with this.
In the popular Portes du Soleil resort of Chatel, one new ski in, ski out development with excellent facilities is offering leaseback apartments from €171,000, with annual rental returns of around 4.38 per cent. Mortgages with 70 per cent LTV are also available.