BARGAINS GALORE

The forthcoming Olympic Games offers an excellent opportunity for British estate agents to coin in the cash. This is especially true for the high end of the market as this item in the US press highlights. "The travel service Lloyd and Townsend Rose rents high-end homes and, well, castles throughout Britain at rates starting at roughly £25,000 (about $39,500) a week. ... For many visitors, the Olympic Games are the activity of interest this summer, and Lloyd and Townsend Rose has a portfolio of properties just for them. Its "London Olympics Accommodation" promises properties within an hour of where the Games take place, in Stratford, or in London. One, on Ladbroke Road, could be considered a bargain. This four-bedroom, four-bathroom home in Notting Hill includes a live-in maid and two parking spaces at a price of £20,000 a week. Don't expect to see anybody camping in this garden." (New York Times, 25 April) They well may consider it "a bargain", but at £20,000 a week it represents the annual income of many workers in Britain. RD