London Connection is closing business.

[Debra]

I've stayed in a wonderful apartment in a great location with London Connection in the past and I just started to dream about doing so again, when and if travel to Europe again resumes. I was sad to see the business has come to an end. The only other apartment rental I've used is London Perfect, and while their apartments are gorgeous, they are generally out of my price range. Another fatality due to the virus.

 

[joe]

I was sad to see the business has come to an end. ... Another fatality due to the virus.

Did they go bankrupt because of the worldwide slump in travel?

I'm asking because one of the complaints against the companies that do short-term rentals in cities (like AirBnB, etc.) is that they remove apts. from the market that could benefit long-term renting by locals, and thus cause a shortage and drive prices up. But if this is true, then companies like London Connection could just offer their same apts. for long-term rent, and wouldn't have to go bankrupt. Certainly in a metropolis like London there is no lack of demand for well-situated apts. for rent.

It will be interesting to see how this issue plays out over the next year : will locals be satisfied that their neighborhoods have been "returned" to them, or will they complain about the lack of income because of the decrease in travel?

BTW, AirBnB has just put out a request for its hosts to follow a new cleaning protocol, you can read about this here. The matter of how clean accommodations are, whether they are hotels or apts., has taken on a whole new dimension because of the virus. This will certainly impact prices as well.