The short-term rental market is hopping as we near the millennium. One agent reports getting hundreds of phone calls for people wanting to ring in the new century in Dublin. And they are prepared to pay between £600 to £1,000 for a one-bedroom apartment for a week this New Year.

Eithne Butler, of Dial-a-Short-Let says the interest is coming mostly from the United States. "The budget starts at £600 for a week and rises to £1,000 for the one-bedroom apartment. It's higher for a bigger place, but mostly, the interest is from couples wanting a base in Dublin; maybe they have family here and want to see them and go to dinner parties." But there is a shortage of places to rent and clearly there is money to be made. "It's hard to gauge what will turn up, but we are going through lists of people with properties occupied by college students who might be willing to rent them out when the students aren't there," she says.

However, the millennium market has inherent problems. Denis Matthews, of the Matthews letting agency, has also been getting enquiries about spending the millennium in Dublin but he is wary of the wild party syndrome. "We have to be very careful about whom we would let to over that period. We would have to be very sure of the tenants and be sure we know where they are coming from and exactly what they might have in mind for a property."

Short-term rentals aren't just a millennium phenomenon, of course. In general, letting a property for the short-term can be an attractive option for the investor, who can maintain flexibility and retain the rental property for personal use between lettings. You can generally charge more per week, but are more likely to need the services of a letting agency familiar with the short-term client market. There are several advantages in renting short-term: if you have a bad tenant, they are quickly gone, of course. And in terms of wear and tear, the short-term tenant doesn't tend to use appliances all that frequently; if they are partly commuting, say from London, they are out working all day - and gone at weekends. The disadvantages are constant cleaning of the property in between lets, and a fast turnaround of tenants. This can involve legal costs and time spent checking out the inventory. And standards have to be particularly high in properties let on a short-term basis, with all sorts of extras expected such as top quality televisions and videos as well as bed linen and towels.

And although the short-term market is busy at present, there is also a risk that you might have periods with no tenants at all. Generally, the most popular area for short-term letting is Dublin 4, followed by Dublin 2 and 6. Temple Bar appeals mostly to the younger twenty-something client but the average corporate client wants a good night's sleep. Most short-term lets are taken up by executives and people coming in on training courses or on short-term contracts. "Our clients are nearly 90 per cent corporate," says Eithne Butler. "They mostly come from international companies and work in the financial services or the computer industry."

It is a market which very clearly reflects a booming economy. Dial-a-Short-Let have properties renting from around £1,100 per month upwards. Most of the demand is for apartments. Some clients will look for stylish units with entertaining in mind. Others for a penthouse. And it's busy just now. "We were asked to find five two-bed apartments recently," says Eithne Butler. "There is no difficulty renting out now. Some of the clients are coming from abroad to live and want to get the feel of a place before buying a home or renting long-term."

Denis Matthews also confirms the interest of the corporate client. About 70 per cent of his clients are in the computer industry with the rest spread over education and theatre. This latter business is generated by theatres with long-running musicals, for instance, and he also says that the film-making business "has its moments."

The easiest property to let to short-term tenants is the one and two bedroom apartment within walking distance of the business area. "This means Dublin 2 and 4," he says. "The short-term corporate client likes to be able to get to work easily. We have not found it as easy to rent out the properties further out." Temple Bar is often considered too noisy. "Some of the newer apartment blocks on the West Bank will be better insulated, however. There were more problems with noise in the refurbished blocks," he says.

THE tenants tend to rent for from six weeks to three/four months. "There is a tendency of tenancy agreements to roll over," he says. The main advantage for investors lies in the amount of money that can be charged. He says one-bedroom apartments in the Herbert Park Lane complex in Ballsbridge rent on average £300/£400 a week, while a two-bedroom unit would cost about £400/£500 a week. "A lot depends on the availability of properties at a given time," she says. "A lot of investors are chasing the corporate money so that rents will tend to be kept down," he says. "There is a limit to the number of clients coming in."

There isn't a huge demand for houses from the short-term client. "Families don't often come in for a short term," he says. "The wear and tear is very slight with many of the tenants in the city for about three days a week and abroad the rest of the time."

And housekeeping services are also required, according to Rosemary Nevin, of Beaufort Properties. Her company has short-term properties renting on a nightly basis from about £45 to £58 in the Dublin 4 area. "We concentrate on the executive market with stays generally from three to four weeks to three to four months. It's mostly people on contract work and people want a service similar to that in a hotel with housekeeping services provided as well as all linen and towels. The properties vary from a studio apartment to a penthouse. Most of the properties are quite heavily booked just now."

Some apartments come on stream when vacated by students in the summer and then revert back to the owners in the autumn. "A lot of owners living out of Dublin like the flexibility of the short-term market," Eithne Butler says, and she also reports having apartments rented out for months and then discovering the cooker had hardly been used.