Homeowners across Camden are using online property sites to rent their homes for up to 12 times the usual rates during the Olympic Games.

Hundreds of properties across Camden are listed for several times the usual rent on property website Wimdu.com.

One two-bedroom flat in Kentish Town Road and another three-bedroom flat in St Pancras Way, are both advertised for rent at �1,750 a night during the two weeks of the Olympics - 12 times the normal rent of �145 a night.

Another three-bedroom flat in Camden Lock is advertised for �2,000 a night, almost 10 times its normal rent of �213, while a one-bedroom flat in Royal College Street also has a ten-fold premium at �1,171 a night.

But Michael Riegel, managing director of Wimdu UK, said owners should realistically rent their homes at three times the normal price, mirroring the market elsewhere in London.

He said: “The funny thing is that it doesn’t really matter where in London the properties get booked. Camden and Hampstead show the same pattern as all over London.”

One family who will be staying in a seven-bedroom house near Highgate High Street during the Games are the parents, siblings and friends of hockey player Manuel Terraza, who is the youngest member of the Spanish Olympic hockey team.

Manuel, 21, will compete in the field hockey events at the Riverbank Arena in the Olympic Park. His mother Emilia Farre Torras, 49, who is a purchasing director for a perfume company, said: “We are very proud of him and very excited about the whole event.

“The house costs a lot of money, but it’s a once in a lifetime event. We enjoyed the Olympics very much when they took place in Barcelona in 1992, where we live, and we have great expectations for these two weeks.”

Website Londonrentmyhouse.com, which arranged the rental, gives the house’s price outside the Olympic peak as �2,500 a week.

Estate agents in Hampstead and Highgate say they have been inundated with homeowners looking to rent over the Olympics.

Dinesh Kumar, a negotiator at Benham and Reeves Residential Lettings in Heath Street, Hampstead, said: “There is a lot of interest in Hampstead and Camden Town and people want to make some money. This is a golden era for the UK.

“People are expecting at least a 40 to 50 per cent increase on top of the normal short-let prices, but to be honest it is going to be a lot more than that.”

James Wilkinson, at Winkworth estate agents in Highgate High Street added: “We did a course recently on this and were told that people could get up to five or six times the normal rate. But this is a once in a lifetime experience and we don’t have a precedent on it, so we’ll wait to see what people pay.”