Ascot: An opportunity for profit?
Lauren Carter considers renting out her student dive in Tang Hall Lane
The prospect of earning something for nothing is an attractive one for most students. Loans never stretch quite far enough to avoid hitting your overdraft limit and, unless you fancy posing as a make-shift guinea pig for Psychology Department experiments, making money doesn’t come easily.
The possibility of exploiting the nouveaux riche population of Britain as they embark on the horseracing event of the year is therefore a temptation to say the least. As the crowds roll in to York’s racecourse this summer, the temporary venue for Ascot 2005, plenty of students will be trying their luck at renting out their houses to the hat-clad visitors in the hope of making a small fortune.
When I first discovered that students were renting their accommodation during Ascot week for anything up to £20,000, my immediate reaction was to jump on the bandwagon. I scoured my housing contract for any clauses on sub-letting in the small print and, on discovering my landlord’s fatal error, decided to raise the possibility with my fellow housemates.
I did, however, wonder what exactly we could say to advertise our humble abode to potential guests. The fine selection of rusty nails sticking arbitrarily out of the walls could, of course, double up as hat pegs and our bike shed, admittedly on the pokey side, would be the perfect spot for Red Rum.
After a much needed dose of reality I realised how difficult it would prove to find someone desperate enough to rent our house. Not only is it located in the darkest depths of Tang Hall, the nine-year old gangster’s paradise, it is also practically a museum of the student stereotype. From the
Carlsberg can pyramid on the windowsill to the blow-up palm tree behind the TV, our house is rapidly becoming a slob’s work-in-progress.
My fellow housemates are also well known for their thieving tendencies. A picnic table has now become the central feature of our lounge – a washing line and table tennis court all-in-one – and our bathroom is helpfully labelled with a public toilet sign (presumably stolen from Alcuin East Wing).
Needless to say, our house probably wouldn’t make a great deal if we were to rent it out. Besides, as one of my housemates pointed out, the ongoing bin crisis of week 3 (when someone foolishly forgot to put the bin out for the dustmen) would clearly be hazardous to any visitors.
As amusing as it would be to see some poor soul dancing around the exploding bin bags obstacle course in our kitchen (and now our hallway), a potential lawsuit would clearly defeat the entire purpose of renting out our house in the first place.
