Cluttons, the real estate specialist which has enjoyed a dedicated Middle Eastern presence since 1976, has announced the expansion of its Bahrain residential lettings team.

The new team includes Bayan Osborne, who specialises in the Amwaj/Muharraq area; and Cathleen Collins, Francine Williamson, Sarah Ashbery, and Jennifer Perry who specialise in Saar, Jasra and Riffa Views.

The team members bring with them a wealth of experience working in the Bahrain residential market, said a statement from Cluttons.

The Bahrain office felt a need to expand its residential team to complement the existing management instructions and take advantage of the upturn in the number of new expats coming to Bahrain, specifically in the oil and gas industry, and the many medium to long-term Bahrain-based expats who are looking to take advantage of lower rents and upgrade from their existing accommodation, it added.

Catesby Langer-Paget, head of agency in Bahrain said, “We chose to expand as we had been getting a lot of enquiries for residential leasing, but we were unable to service them. In March the opportunity arose to expand the team quickly when a well-regarded agency in Bahrain made the decision to close down and we were able to inherit a ready-made team with a combined 15 years’ experience in Bahrain real estate and an excellent track record.”

Despite demand not being as strong as it was pre-2011, rents are remaining flat due to the lack of new properties coming to the market, with many of the larger projects being delayed or put on hold, said Catesby.

This has led many long term expats, who have been in their properties for years, to start renegotiating their existing rent downwards or move property completely in order to secure a better deal.

Currently, the popular areas continue to be Amwaj, Jasra, Hamala, Saar and Janabiya; these areas have seen rents remain level. Average enquires for villas is around BD800 to BD1,200, the expert stated.

Harry Goodson- Wickes, head of Cluttons in Bahrain said, “I’m very pleased to welcome our new team members on board.  Overall the business is in a good place with the management team due to expand later in the year to service a new high profile instruction, and the valuation team has just recruited another chartered surveyor.”

“Newcomers to the island are often daunted by the amount of housing choice available in the market, especially if they are new to the Middle East, so I hope our professional team will be able to help guide them through the idiosyncrasies of the market and find them the perfect home, quickly, so they can focus on the challenges of their new jobs,' he observed.

“There is a general feeling that companies want to get on and start planning for the future again. With the new team we are able to meet this demand and offer the full leasing service to both landlords and tenants,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service