If you are lucky enough to own your own holiday let, there have been some important updates by HMRC on the furnished holiday lettings tax rules that you should be aware of. The purpose of this page is to provide a useful resource of all the latest news and rules relating to holiday let taxation. Furnished holiday lettings tax resources … Continue reading
No doubt you have received an enquiry for your holiday cottage which also requested the exact address of the rental property. Should you give it out? Is it a potential burglar who has seen photos of your holiday property contents and your availability calendar – so they know exactly when your holiday property is empty. What if you don’t disclose … Continue reading
The January peak holiday rental and cottage holiday booking season is under way and many owners are seeing an increase in ‘what is your very best price for’, ‘would you take £X amount for’ and ‘we only have a budget of £x’ enquiries – sound familiar? I’m sure many owners have their own ideas on how they would like to … Continue reading
Apart from the fire risks – which could mean making a claim on your holiday property insurance policy - allowing smoking in your holiday home could lose you repeat business. After all, who wants to stay in a property that smells like an old ashtray – especially when it’s advertised as non-smoking? You may find, however, that despite putting up … Continue reading
There is no doubt about it…damage is one of the most feared aspects that owners face when letting a holiday home. After all, you are letting a ‘virtual stranger’ stay in what is likely to be one of your most valuable (financially and emotional) assets. As one renter recently discovered when their home was trashed by a ‘guest’ there is … Continue reading
If you let your holiday home and take care of the marketing yourself, then no doubt you have capitalised on the demand from holidaymakers who book their holidays direct with owners via holiday rental websites. The listing fee business model The process is simple, as a property owner you pay a annual listing fee and deal with booking enquiries direct. … Continue reading
Providing ‘extras’ at your self catering holiday home for guests to use can seem an innovative way of standing out from your competition. However, before you provide ‘extras’ you should compare the perceived benefits to the actual risk. Although these items can be useful and fun whilst used under your supervision, letting guests use them at your holiday rental could … Continue reading
With the associated costs of holiday home ownership rising, there is an increasing number of holiday home owners turning to holiday lettings as a means to generate income. Whilst the majority of property owners will market their rentals professionally, there are some ‘accidental holiday rental landlords’ who will steal your photos or website copy and pass them off as their … Continue reading
Getting booked up is the ultimate goal for holiday rental and cottage owners. Encouraging guests to return is one such way to achieve this goal efficiently. Studies also show that it’s less expensive to attract repeat customers than new ones – this makes sense considering the expense of marketing (and time) to attract new customers. The good news is that … Continue reading
Do you stay in holiday rentals other than your own holiday home? – you should. Experiencing renting from a holidaymakers perspective allows you to re-assess how you run your holiday let and how you could improve it. Following a recent stay in a holiday rental, here are my thoughts on what made a difference and what could have been improved. … Continue reading
Have you noticed the recent change in Google local search results? Google recently launch ‘Place Search’ which shows local businesses more predominantly if Google predicts you’re looking for local information. For example, searching for ‘cottage in ambleside’ will show holiday letting agencies and holiday cottages located in Ambleside that have registered with Google Places. There is a good overview here. … Continue reading
When renting your holiday home, using a mixture of paid holiday rental portals such as holidayrentals, ownersdirect and holidaylettings can help you get bookings and exposure. However, as sites become saturated as more holiday home owners take advantage of the self catering holiday trend, to earn rental income – your advert could become lost in the crowd. Having your own … Continue reading
The peak summer holiday rental season is nearly over and no doubt your holiday home has seen an influx of guests – some properties see as many as 30-40 different families throughout the year. I often come across rental owners ‘ranting’ about guests who have stained towels, bedding or sun lounger cushions, left a mug ring on a coffee table … Continue reading
Whether you are a holiday letting expert or a new to the market, the recession and a weak pound have resulted in a recent decline in family holidays abroad. Combined with increasing competition from owners renting in order to offset mortgage and maintenance costs – getting those bookings has never been so important. However, it’s not easy to fill availability … Continue reading
The Government has just published a consultation paper on proposals to change the tax rules for furnished holiday lets so they meet EU legal requirements in a fiscally responsible way. The proposed changes to the special tax rules for furnished holiday lettings include; increasing the number of days for which a property must be available to let from 140 to … Continue reading
July and August are always peak periods for holiday bookings as thousands book last minute summer getaways. Get Safe Online, a government-backed campaign developed in collaboration with ABTA and The Travel Association are warning holidaymakers about following some simple online fraud prevention measures as they search for holiday bargains. According to their research, one in three internet users fail to … Continue reading
Many of the most desirable country houses have appealing features – views, privacy, architecture and the setting. Some also have the facility to house guests somewhere outside of the main house in a self contained annexe or granny flat. Converting a coach house or outbuilding into a self contained annexe can also be a wise investment, adding an estimated 10% … Continue reading
It appears that flights will continue to be disrupted throughout the summer due to the ash cloud – with flight delays and cancellations inevitable. This means that holiday let owners will need to keep track of guests flights in order to re-schedule dates, key collection details or further assist departing guests. Having recently assisted a family member who was stranded … Continue reading
There were lots of holiday let owners who feared the worst last week when there was a very real possibility that holiday rental guests would cancel their holidays for the unseeable future, due to the volcano in Iceland. If one thing can be learnt from the travel chaos, it’s that holiday rental owners need to protect their rental income from … Continue reading
Due to the continued travel chaos following the volcano and all flights being cancelled at UK airports, thousands of holiday let owners are in a dilemma with regards to guests who can’t travel to the accommodation. Should guests get a refund for the holiday home they booked, but can’t get to? As with all cancellations, it’s a difficult situation for … Continue reading
There is always lots of publicity about holiday rental scams and problems from a holidaymaker’s point of view. But what about the property owner? One thing is for sure – holiday home owners take a huge risk every time they let their homes to a ‘stranger’. With a constant turnover of holidaymakers staying at holiday homes, owners have a continuous … Continue reading
Following on from HomeAways “Hotel Hell Vacation” ad during the Super Bowl, which featured the Griswolds from the “National Lampoon’s Vacation” movies, and HomeAway’s plans to use them in their campaign – “rent a house for half the cost of a hotel” Would you rent your holiday home to the clumsy and accident prone Grizwolds – Clark, Ellen, Audrey, Rusty … Continue reading
Whether you already own holiday let or are thinking of investing a holiday home, most people have ongoing concerns about how to run a holiday let or what is the best way to get more bookings. Thankfully, there are some excellent resources available that give advice on marketing, renting and maintaining a holiday let. From downloadable rental agreements to inventory … Continue reading
Recent reports speculate that Google will soon be rolling out its property search engine/portal in the UK, which could pose a serious threat to existing websites that advertise UK and overseas property. But will they add holiday homes to Google Maps? How does Google property search work? It is expected to be similar to the real estate service Google launched … Continue reading
Holiday letting can be a great way to earn an income to support the expenses of owning a holiday home. However, there are several risks that holiday home owners take every time they let a ‘stranger’ stay in their homes. Thankfully, a comprehensive holiday let insurance policy should cover these risks so owners don’t have to lose out financially. But … Continue reading
Each time a holiday cottage owner lets their home to guests, no doubt a sigh of relief is expressed when holidaymakers depart, the holiday home in inspected and there is no sign of damage. However, the risks that property owners take when they holiday let to ‘strangers’, recently came to light when a holidaymaker emptied a holiday cottage. The holidaymaker … Continue reading
I’m not sure how long this has been happening or if it’s new, but when I did a search on yahoo.co.uk for villa in spain there was the option to just show results from selected holiday rental websites. If you look at the screen shot below you can see at the left, options to: show all – which is show … Continue reading
Breaching occupancy limits is a situation that many holiday cottage owners will be familiar with. But it’s a difficult scenario to deal with, especially when children are involved. Should you terminate the booking or turn a blind eye? As reported by the times, a family booked a holiday cottage through an agency, and on the first night they had a … Continue reading
It’s every holiday let owner’s worst nightmare. You get the dreaded phone call that there has been a break at your holiday rental and some of the guest’s valuables have been stolen. (Note: if the guests have travel insurance, this should cover any personal items stolen: passports, money, credit cards, jewellery etc.) After you help the guests report the theft … Continue reading
Do you provide a standalone holiday let public liability insurance policy to protect us if a guest has an accident in our holiday home? This is a question we are often asked and the answer is no, we do not provide a standalone public liability insurance policy. However, public liability insurance is included in our policy, as standard, when you … Continue reading
