Bid to free up properties for flood victims

Sheffield North letting agents Martin & Co are offering a free service to landlords in a bid to free up rented property for victims of the recent floods. The company has been inundated with enquiries from people looking for accommodation after their homes were made uninhabitable.

But Martin & Co franchisee, Tony Deveney, 29, said the supply was running short. “We have been able to match up quite a few flood victims with rented properties but we could do a lot more,” he said.

“There seem to be a lot of empty properties in the area that could be used to ease the problems, particularly with so many householders staying in hotels while the assessments on their own homes are carried out.

“It just seems a sensible idea to me to put the properties together with those who are urgent need of them. It’s a really easy process and to try to smooth the way we will not make any charge to the landlord.”

He said short term lets of six or three months duration could be arranged, depending upon the needs of the tenant, whose rent would be paid by their insurer.

Today (July 10) the huge cost of claims following the recent floods will be the subject of a meeting between government officials and the insurance industry. Ministers say they are determined to “drive the claims process forward”, but an industry spokesman warned flood damage often took insurers a long time to deal with.

Martin & Co’s franchisees Tony Deveney and Carl Doogan, whose own company car was washed away by the floodwaters, were former senior executives with the Carphone Warehouse. The Sheffield North office opened in May earlier this year and is located in the Hillsborough area of the city.