Rent your spare room for the Olympics and cash in

Approximately 7 million visitors are expected to converge on the UK next year as the Olympic Games come to London. The majority of these millions are expected to stay in London but, as recent figures show, there simply isn't enough room! But iStopOver, widely regarded as event specialists, is showing how we cash-strapped Brits can make money by renting our spare rooms to visitors during the games. Potentially making Londoners £millions and solving the Olympic accommodation problem.

For homeowners, iStopOver is a proven way to generate supplementary income by offering travellers home-away-from-home accommodation. Listing flats or rooms for rent during the London Olympics is a proven method of earning extra money.

iStopOver estimates that there are 2 million empty spare rooms in London alone with many more in the UK as a whole. With Brits struggling to handle the rising cost of living, it makes sense for homeowners to make extra money by providing much needed beds for the Games. iStopOver gives homeowners an easy way to market, book and profit from their empty bedrooms or properties.

Anthony Lipschitz, CEO of iStopOver explains: "As we've seen at previous events like the Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the World Cup in South Africa, fans travelling to see the games are aware that local hotels and traditional B&B's hike up their prices, which makes the trip unaffordable for most people. Renting from a Host can provide you with a unique stay, whether or not the Host is rooming with you. This has proven to be a good way for visitors to get well-priced* accommodation - which will be almost impossible to find - but, more importantly, a brilliant way for those with room to make some much needed extra cash."

"It also solves the pretty pressing problem of how to accommodate the amount of visitors to the UK's capital. This is a serious issue which, if not addressed, could cause chaos. There is space for everyone; we just need to unlock it, which is why we encourage locals to list their properties with us - and it's free to do so."

*iStopOver stops individuals from profiteering by encouraging them to list for a reasonable price.

iStopOver Hosts have had tremendous success with global sporting events, including the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Deon Botha, from Johannesburg, had never thought to list his property for rent, "Because we had many rooms that weren't being used - my wife and I thought that we should rent them out. We found iStopOver on Facebook and decided to list our space. It was the first and only listing I did."

Shortly after listing with iStopOver, Deon made over 20 bookings during the month long tournament, "It went so well that we had to make more rooms to accommodate more bookings!" he explained.

Deon was able to generate enough money from the World Cup booking to pay for an extension on his house, "We used the extra income to pay the builders on our house! It's unbelievable - we're continuing to build on our success from iStopOver."

iStopOver has seen interest in London accommodation triple in the last month alone. "The demand for London accommodation is already overwhelming," says Lipschitz. "iStopOver has dedicated an entire team of customer representatives to help those who wish to list their UK properties - should they need help in the process."

For more information, visit istopover.com.

Terms of Participation
Listing a flat on the site is free of charge - once a booking is made, there is a 3% fee to the Hosts to help with administrative costs and marketing. Homeowners stand to make well over a few months' rent during the Olympic Games. Hosts have access to the site's social media tools to help promote their listings via the Facebook site (facebook.com/iStopOver) or tweeting about their location.