Latest news with #holidaylets
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
8 UK holiday homes that make great investments
Hikes in stamp duty and council tax combined with the recent abolition of the furnished holiday lettings tax scheme have pushed up the cost of owning a second home. Despite these changes, Sykes Holiday Cottages reports that the average UK holiday let owner generated £24,700 in gross revenue in 2024, slightly more than the previous year. "Staycation bookings are strong – particularly regions like the Lake District and the Cotswolds that are appealing for short breaks all year round, which translates into higher earnings," says managing director James Shaw. "Location is obviously incredibly important in the earning potential of holiday lets, but other small investments and decisions can drive additional income too, including accepting short mid-week stays, adding a hot tub and allowing pets." All these properties are established holiday lets or offer guaranteed yields or managed rentals for peace of mind. 1. Green Hill Farm, Landford, Wiltshire, £327,000 A brand new, top-end lakeside lodge in a holiday village in the heart of the New Forest. The two bedrooms sleep four people, and it's fully furnished and comes with its own garden, a private deck and hot tub. The site is open throughout the year and if required, a fully managed rental service can take care of bookings throughout July, August and September, when demand and returns are at their peak. Find out more from Lovat Parks. 2. Dylan Coastal Resort, Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, from £345,000 The latest addition to this family-run brand's portfolio is a collection of two- and three-bedroom furnished luxury lodges perched above the Taf Estuary in south-west Wales. Amenities include a restaurant, bar and a spa with an infinity pool, sauna, steam and treatment rooms and the resort is dog-friendly. Unlike when buying a traditional home, there's no stamp duty or council tax to pay and owners can expect an average annual yield of up to 10%, with guaranteed rental income for the first two years. An in-house team manages every aspect of holiday lets, from marketing and bookings to cleaning, laundry and guest support. By Luxury Lodges. Read more: 9 delightful duplexes to check out now 3. Titchwell, Norfolk, £395,000 This charming brick and flint cottage, called The Nest, is located in a charming coastal hamlet and looks out over Titchwell Nature Reserve. Inside it's contemporary and bright, comprising a cosy sitting room, extended kitchen, sitting and dining room that leads out to a south-facing garden, a double bedroom and a first floor shower room, and there's off-street parking for two cars. Last year it generated a very respectable gross income of nearly £30,500. Through Sowerbys. 4. Hume, Kelso, Scottish Borders, offers over £525,000 Hume Orchard Steading, a semi-detached former farm steading, has five double bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen/dining room and separate living room, plus two and a half acres of grounds. Currently a rural holiday let, it earns £1,800 per week in high season and has won a customer's choice award for five consecutive years. Another building — once a dairy — previously had planning permission to be converted into another dwelling so could eventually provide a further source of income. Contact Galbraith. 5. Broad Haven, Pembrokeshire, £600,000 Spread over three floors, One Sand Banks is a contemporary four-bedroom house with an open plan living area and fabulous views across Broad Haven's sandy beach and out to sea. Swimming, surfing, cafes, shops and pubs are all on the doorstep and Pembrokeshire Coastal Path is nearby. And it's a nice little earner, grossing £55,000 per annum. Get in touch with Country Living Group. Read more: 9 scenic homes set in national parks 6. Millbrook, Cornwall, £695,000 Accessed via a clifftop bath, Amity Lodge sits above unspoilt Whitsand Bay and enjoys panoramic views. It's been fully renovated by the current owners and has a vaulted kitchen and living space, a double bedroom, spa bathroom and shower room. A sun deck with a hot tub wraps around it, and steps lead down to a paved terrace enclosed by fully glazed balustrades. The annual income has been over £100,000 for the last three years and, based on bookings, is set to be matched in 2025. Via Rohrs & Rowe. 7. Painswick, Gloucestershire, £895,000 Grade II listed Lovedays Cottage operates as a holiday let, achieving an average nightly rate of £362. Dating from the 16th century the quintessential Cotswold cottage features three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a drawing room, kitchen/dining room, a first floor sitting room, a low maintenance Mediterranean-style gravel garden, exposed beams and mullion windows. Through Butler Sherborn. Read more: 11 homes with spectacular swimming pools 8. Embleton, Alnwick, Northumberland, £950,000 With generously-sized rooms, sea views and an idyllic position a short walk from Embleton's golden sandy beach, it's no wonder that four-bedroom Bay House is a very successful holiday let. The well-presented accommodation stretches to over 2,000 square feet and also incorporates three bathrooms, a kitchen/breakfast room, a living room and dining room plus a sheltered patio garden. Available from Knight Frank. Read more: How school fees can affect your mortgage borrowing The pros and cons of getting a mortgage into your 70s How to choose where to live as you get olderSign in to access your portfolio
BBC News
5 days ago
- BBC News
Arrests after string of burglaries in Kingsbridge
A man and a woman have been arrested following a series of burglaries in south Devon, police have said.A number of properties have been targeted, often holiday lets or homes of vulnerable victims and various items including bank cards stolen in the Kingsbridge area, said Devon and Cornwall pages advertising cleaning services for holiday lets are believed to have been set up to gain access to lock box codes and spare keys ahead of future burglaries, police two suspects, who are both from Kingsbridge, have been released on bail, the force added. Detectives investigating the offences advised residents to be aware of instances of thieves "pretending to be legitimate cleaning businesses operating in the Kingsbridge and wider South Devon area, targeting holiday homes and vulnerable residents".
Times
12-07-2025
- Business
- Times
Will new tax rules mean holiday lets aren't worth the hassle?
We own three buy-to-let properties already, and instead of adding a fourth standard rental, my wife and I are tempted by the idea of buying somewhere we could enjoy ourselves. We visit the Lake District regularly and it would be nice to have our own place there. The plan would be to use it for family holidays but rent it out as a holiday let for most of the year to cover the mortgage and running costs. But I keep reading about tax changes affecting holiday lets and new rules about planning permission and licensing. Are we being naive in thinking this could work both financially and practically? I don't want to end up with an expensive second home that's more hassle than it's Guildford The timing isn't great for getting into holiday lets. The tax advantages that once made them attractive compared to standard buy-to-lets have disappeared: in April 2025, the Furnished Holiday Lets regime was scrapped. Previously you could deduct mortgage interest in full, claim capital allowances on furniture and pay only 10 per cent capital gains tax when you sold. Now such properties are taxed as if they were standard buy-to-lets, which means owners are facing significantly higher bills for the same level of profit. • Read more expert advice on property, interiors and home improvement You'll also need to balance your personal use with letting carefully to hit the thresholds that allow you to qualify for business rates rather than council tax. In England (with variations elsewhere), your property needs to be available for letting at least 140 nights a year and actually let for 70 nights. Miss those targets and you'll have to pay council tax — potentially with a 100 per cent second-home premium on top, which is being enforced by many councils in holiday hotspots. The regulatory side is becoming more complex too. In England a national registration scheme for short-term lets is still in the pipeline, as are new planning restrictions. While existing holiday lets will receive permission automatically, local authorities will be able to use Article 4 directions to stop you converting a family home or a buy-to-let into a holiday let. Putting tax and regulation aside, your biggest challenge is balancing personal use with earning potential. For example, if you want to stay there during the school holidays, you're giving up the property's best earning weeks. So you need to decide whether you're treating this primarily as an investment or lifestyle purchase. If it's purely about the numbers, run them using conservative occupancy rates and realistic costs — including your own time dealing with bookings and guests. If it's more about having somewhere nice for the family, that's fine — but work out what that will actually cost you compared to putting the same money into another buy-to-let and paying for your holidays out of pocket. Our view is that holiday lets are going through the same transition the wider buy-to-let sector has experienced over the past decade: it's still possible to do well if you take it seriously as a business, but it's becoming much less attractive for casual operators and many of the less committed players will be shaken out. You can probably make it work if you're determined, but having the best of both worlds — great family holidays and strong investment returns — probably isn't realistic any more. Submit your questions for the Two Robs at Rob Dix and Rob Bence present The Property Podcast and are co-founders of the property education platform Property Hub. Buy Rob Dix's book, Seven Myths about Money (Cornerstone £18.99) from or call 020 3176 2935. Discount for Times+ members
Telegraph
06-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Why your Spanish holiday is about to cost much more
Holidaymakers will face a steep rise in Airbnb costs this summer as a result of an EU crackdown on holiday lets, experts have warned. Spain is the first country to begin enforcing EU regulations requiring holiday let owners to obtain a licence if they want to operate legally. Some 200,000 applications have been made to the Spanish housing ministry, of which 17,500 have been rejected, while a further 92,000 are still under review. Local industry sources predict the crackdown will choke the supply of holiday rentals across the country and lead to higher prices for tourists. Graham Hunt, of local agency Valencia Property, said the Spanish government was responding to growing anti-tourist sentiment among Spaniards, who 'blame the lack of supply of rentals on holiday lets and non-resident foreigners'. He added: 'There will inevitably be fewer properties available, and you will see prices go up. 'The Spanish government doesn't want a third-floor apartment in Valencia to be available on Airbnb. Those types of homes won't get a licence.' Introducing restrictions for holiday lets has been known to drive up prices. In Edinburgh, booked rates have risen by 15-30pc each year since 2023, when the local authority began forcing holiday let owners to apply for planning permission, according to data firm PriceLabs. Alexander Lyakhotskiy, of short-term rental franchise company Pass the Keys, said: 'As we saw in Edinburgh, the limiting of supply can push prices up. 'In Spain, a similar effect may occur in areas with stricter regulations, such as licence caps, planning restrictions and prohibitions from communities of property owners.' The regulation, which took effect on July 1, requires landlords to obtain a licence for any short-term let advertised on platforms such as Airbnb and where payment is taken on the website itself. However, landlords can still advertise short-term rentals without a licence on sites like Idealista, which does not take payments, and continue to let properties to loyal customers. Mr Hunt said: 'The wording of the law is quite bad – you can drive a coach and horses through it.' Airbnb said its hosts are responsible for setting prices, and the company is in the middle of a months-long campaign to educate its hosts about the new laws. Jaime Rodriguez de Santiago, of Airbnb, said: 'Our goal is for hosts to be able to share their accommodations responsibly, complying with local regulations and adapting to the regulatory framework established by the European Union.' However, there are fears that the added red tape will force an exodus of landlords who already abide by stringent regulations. Estefania Pino, of the Barcelona Tourist Apartments Association (Apartur), said the EU rules introduce 'another complex bureaucratic procedure' for holiday let owners who must already register properties with the Tourism Registry of Catalonia. Many regions in Spain already have complex regulations governing holiday lets. Jaume Collboni, Barcelona's mayor, has already announced a blanket ban on Airbnbs from 2029 in a desperate bid to stop rents spiralling. Mark Stücklin, of data company Spanish Property Insight, said: 'This is just another measure with which the authorities are trying to discourage holiday lets or wrap up in red tape with bureaucratic obstacles. A lot of people will simply not bother. 'If you start tightening the noose on holiday lets, and if a whole bunch of people decide to drop out of the market, the Spanish government will consider that a win.' However, Chris Henly, of short-term rental management platform Hostaway, said: 'The government is positioning this as a solution to the housing crisis, but that narrative overlooks a long-standing lack of new housing development. 'Since the 2008 financial crisis, new construction permits have remained well below pre-crisis levels. In 2008, there were over 600,000 permits issued, but since 2012, that number has stayed under 150,000 per year.' In Britain, holiday let landlords have been battered by successive governments' attempts to discourage short-term lets. Jeremy Hunt, the former Tory chancellor, abolished the furnished holiday lettings tax regime, while Ed Miliband, Labour's Energy Secretary, wants to extend strict energy efficiency targets to holiday lets as well as long-term rentals. Mr Stücklin said: 'With the Labour government, anything is on the table. The UK can outdo Spain these days with even more invasive bureaucratic hoops to jump through. They will be up for anything that involves higher costs and more red tape.'
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Stop the AirBNB 'tax dodgers': Battle against wealthy second homeowners 'taking the p***' in holiday hotspots as MP tables law to ease housing crisis
'Cowboy' second homeowners in holiday hotspots are 'taking the p***' by registering their properties as holiday lets just to lower their tax bill, an MP warned today. Ben Maguire hit out at well-off owners of holiday homes in areas like his North Cornwall constituency as he tries to get his ' AirBNB Bill' through the Commons. The law would force second homeowners with properties in the countryside or coastal beauty spots to obtain seek planning permission before registering them as rentals. Mr Maguire said many were signing up to AirBNB and other websites to legally avoid Cornwall's Second Home Premium and exacerbating the area's already stark housing crisis. Since April councils have been able to levy the 100 per cent council tax surcharge, with Cornwall one of more than 150 authorities using it to try to keep homes available for local people. But by registering the properties as businesses instead owners pay rates that are lower than the premium and in some cases are available for rate relief - money back from the taxpayer. Ahead of the second reading of the Short-Term Lets (Planning permission) Bill on Friday Mr Maguire told MailOnline: 'We want to try to go after the people that do just take the p*** and it is probably just a second home and they are just getting around paying any tax by calling it a holiday let. 'At the same time the council is not getting any revenue and local people are not getting places to live either.' A Freedom of Information request to Cornwall Council by Mr Maguire, shared with MailOnline, revealed the area currently has 19,711 homes registered on AirBNB and other rental sites, but just 11,515 properties that are liable to pay the Second Home Premium. Under the council's current rules, to be liable for business rates a home has to be available for rent for 140 nights a year. But they only have to be successfully let for 70 nights - less than 20 per cent of of a 12-month period. Although perceived as an affluent holiday destination, Cornwall is one of the most impoverished parts of the UK. Low wages and sky-high house prices, especially in tourist areas, mean many of the locals are priced out of a home. The average Cornish house price in 2022 was £302,121, 10 times the average annual salary, and above the England-wide average of £297,524. At the same time around 29,000 homes were not being lived in year-round, according to the Cornwall Community Foundation. 'You go around places like Bude, which is a coastal town and you'll go down a residential street of very nice family homes, three or four bedrooms, not particularly with a sea view or anything like that ... you go around especially in the evening and all the lights will be off, you might have one house in that street that is occupied by a family,' Mr Maguire added. 'Meanwhile we have got 20,000 families across Cornwall on the housing waiting list, so housing stock is obviously being severely reduced by all of these holiday lets, which in my view and the view of many of my constituents, has had a detrimental impact on housing stock.' His private member's bill faces an uphill struggle to become law in a vote tomorrow. But it is the latest example of locals trying to fight back against an influx of homeowners in popular tourist areas. This week another Cornish MP, Andrew George, told the Commons that around £500million of taxpayers' money had been given out to Cornish firms in the form of small business rate relief in the past decade, saying: 'It would be far better to invest that money in desperately needed first homes for local families in desperate housing need, rather than give it to second home owners.' AirBNB has criticised the proposed change in the law, arguing that similar changes elsewhere, like Barcelona, have led to increased hotel prices by stifling competition. A spokeswoman told MailOnline: 'Calls to impose restrictions, red tape, and fees on hosts only protect hotel chains' profits at the expense of local families. 'The vast majority of hosts on Airbnb are everyday people renting their place casually to make a little extra money. 'A typical host in Cornwall shares just one home for fewer than three nights a month, while travel on Airbnb brings £222 million to the Cornish economy and helps keep over 3,500 people in jobs in the area, bringing the benefits of tourism to all.' Estate agents have also questioned whether the efforts to reduce second homes would help people get on the housing ladder, because they are often in areas with few amenities needed for everyday living. But Mr Maguire argued that the law would not prevent people from renting out their main family homes to make extra money, just those who rent out their second homes. He insisted he just wanted to find a 'sweet spot' that protected the tourism industry that is vital to Cornwall while helping locals find homes. The council would be free to designate areas where planning permission for a holiday let would not be required or would likely succeed, he said, but in other 'oversaturated' places like Rock and Padstow they could be controlled. 'This bill is designed to stop this cowboy letting, it is definitely not to try and impact on the Cornish tourist industry,' he said. 'I have had a few people come to me a bit nervous saying ''it's really the lifeblood of our economy''. I completely get that and support that and would not do anything to harm that. 'But I think it is a gentle measure to just start to rebalance some of the urgent housing issues that we have got.' Last month, John Brown, the chief executive of the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, told the BBC the bill 'was not a silver bullet, but a start'. He said the county had a 'surplus'; of holiday lets, adding: 'It must sit alongside tougher regulation and a robust registration system for short-term lets. 'If it deters those looking to extract profit from Cornwall without putting anything back — good. 'If it helps restore housing stock for local people, even better. 'And if it ensures our hospitality and tourism sectors can find workers with secure housing, then it's a win for all of Cornwall.' Labour has said it plans to bring in a holiday let registration scheme, with minister Chris Bryant telling the Common in January that they planned to have it up and running this year. 'We are in discussions with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, because we want to make sure that the scheme works and delivers what people want, which is a really strong local visitor economy, but we do not want to undermine local housing strategies,' he said.
