How to Holiday Let Your Home

With a variety of different homes that are close to some of the most beautiful destinations in the UK, it’s no surprise that more people are choosing to let their property as a holiday destination.

But before you dive into using the first agency on the market, it is important to understand what a holiday management company will do for you.

If you’re new to holiday home letting or just want to dip your toes in the water, take a look through our step-by-step process on how to turn your home into a holiday destination.

Step 1. Understand your Mortgage

Before you start running your holiday let, you need to understand the terms and conditions of your mortgage. Many financial lenders in the UK will not allow you to rent out your home in a short-term holiday style format.

If you need to remortgage your home, in order to let your home out, you should look into the best mortgage advisers for holiday home letting. These companies will provide you with the best offers and advice when turning your home into a holiday home.

Step 2. Tax on your Property

Did you know that there are a few tax rules that you may need to abide by when letting out your home?

It is not uncommon for certain regions to impose different taxes when letting out a property in their region. Consider these costs when deciding whether letting your home is right for you.

But it's not all doom and gloom! In the UK, there is a unique tax rule that allows you to claim back tax on your property if the property is fully furnished and let out for a minimum of 105 days of the year.

Step 3. Meeting Legal Standards

Taking your first steps into opening up your home as a holiday venture is amazing. However, even though you may be raring to go, you may find that some laws may stop your holiday letting dreams from becoming reality. Be sure to read carefully through the various holiday let rules and regulations to prepare in the right way.

• You will need to ensure that your property is available to let for at least 210 days a year. That means that you can use your property for yourself for up to 22 weeks

• You cannot let your property for a period longer than 31 consecutive days. This can affect the terms of your mortgage and your tax status

• If you choose to provide a TV for your customers, you will need to acquire a specific license for Hotel and Mobile Televisions

• On top of your own national rules on letting out a property, you will also need to check in with your regional council. Depending on where your home is located, you may need to obtain a specific license to let your property in that region

  

Step 4. Acquire Good Insurance

Accidents happen. And when letting out your property, it is possible that you could face a costly accident or two. With good holiday let insurance, you can alleviate the financial burden by having the costs covered.

If you choose to let your property through an agency, some will provide you with an option of 3rd party insurance. For example, Sykes Holiday Cottages can recommend two companies:

Click here for Holiday Let Insurance from Pikl.*

Utilising an insurance company is not a legal requirement, however as with most insurance policies, it is better to be safe than sorry! When calculating the costs of running your holiday let, be sure to consider the costs that insurance will bring.

Step 5. Prepare your Home

When you feel as though it is time to put your property on the market to let out to customers, take a step back and ask yourself whether your property is ready for guests. Would you stay in your property?

As the owner of the property, you are expected to provide essentials and necessities such as toilet roll, towels and bed linen. Something that a lot of property owners forget is cooking equipment. Very few holiday seekers will even consider bringing their own cooking equipment from home.

A crucial area to remember when letting out your holiday home is upholding a good level of health and safety. This includes gas safety, electrical safety, fire safety, carbon monoxide detectors and general safety to minimise risks and hazards across your property.

Step 6. Working Out the Costs

The costs of running a holiday let can put a lot of landlords off from letting their property. Make sure you know the costs before letting out your property.

Resources

As we have already established, you will need to ensure that you provide essentials for your customers before they arrive. But these costs are something that you can include in your total costs for your customer to let.

Non-essential add-ons

Want to maximise your bookings? You’re going to need to make your property stand out from the rest! To do that, you need to add unique selling points such as WiFi, a Smart TV, hot tub or pizza oven to really entice your guests.

Listings

When your home is ready to receive bookings, one of the best ways to start attracting customers is through a listing site such as Sykes. Every holiday home listing site will require some form of payment, which tends to come in the form of commission once a customer has booked your home.

Step 7. Calculate your Earnings

How much will you really make from letting your home? It’s a very broad question which can summon a number of ambiguous answers.

The true answer is “It depends!”.

As the holiday market and demand to let a holiday property fluctuates, it is almost impossible to pinpoint exactly how much letting your property will make you in capital.

As the COVID-19 pandemic comes to an end, we will see the travel industry excel like never before as the yearn for a picturesque getaway will be on everybody's priority list.

Our Holiday Let Income Calculator uses real-life data to estimate how much you could make from your property.

*Sykes Cottages Ltd is an Introducer Appointed Representative of Pikl Insurance Service Limited Registered Number 10449346 who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority firm number 773457. Registered Office: Suite B, 2nd Floor, The Atrium, St Georges Street, Norwich, England, NR3 1AB.