Lets Talk

ASK anyone in housing, and they'll tell you - business is quiet just now, in the letting sector at least. Ask Stephen O'Neill, and he'll modify that to: ''Quiet - verging on dead.''

And what is the reason for such a contentious-sounding claim, in any case? Even more important, what is the necessary response? Taking things in proper order, O'Neill says: ''Rents have escalated in the UK, and that includes places like Glasgow. It has happened to such an extent that people are being put off renting. The market is simply reflecting the facts.

''It has, of course, been going from strength to strength. There are more houses available, there are more landlords dedicated to letting as opposed to just renting out their place while they are off somewhere else. There are more people choosing to invest in the business, and there has been quite a growth in the number of agents.''

The record rental levels of 1997 are facing the normal reaction of increased choice. There is a slight regression, or levelling off. Rents are keener.

''What to do?'' asks O'Neill. ''We've decided it's time to have a sale. If you were selling any other commodity, in this kind of situation, you would have a sale - so why not in house rents?''

It is probably a first in Scotland, he reckons, and it has taken just a bit of persuasion - coercion is the word he has been known to admit to - in order to get landlords to go along with the idea. But the fact is he can now show a dozen homes, with rental reduction of between five to 10%.

''Actually, you won't see them all, because one or two have been snapped up, after the ''sale'' effect caught on,'' he says. ''And it's the rental cost we're dropping for the time being, not our standards of service or of tenant.''

It can't, of course, simply be that renting levels move about from time to time. There has to be the competitive cost of actually buying a property: so how has that factor been affecting things? The current emphasis, he says, is on sales although in his view an area like Edinburgh - with its attraction in Parliament terms - is just a bit over-cooked.

''Prices in the capital can be maybe 30 to 40% over the asking price, and I would say that suggests this is quite the wrong time to be going into the market to buy. Go for rental: it makes much more sense. You get better value for your money. And if you make a point of providing good service, then you will find you retain customer loyalty. ''Shifting stock is what it is about. That is why we have gone in for this unusual idea of having a ''sale'' of some flats.

''In any case, it is only for a relatively short time that we will be offering this inducement. For the medium to longer-term, prospects are very good.

''Come back in August. you will find the whole business gong mental trying to keep up. So if your house prices are at unbelievable levels, why not go for a sensible price in the rental market?''

In real terms it means customers get an offer of, say a luxury flat in Bearsden with patio doors to the balcony and handy for the rail station. Where it was going for #750 a month, unfurnished, the figure is now #695.

A more traditional type of property, a flat in Hyndland, furnished, which could be expected to go for #650 furnished is lowered to #580 a month. And a South-side semi that would otherwise have been set at #425 unfurnished, now comes in at #395.