Benefits of Holiday Letting your Second Home

Last Updated on April 24, 2015 by admin

If you’re thinking about buying a holiday home, or already own a second home, there are plenty of benefits to opening your doors to visiting tourists. We take a look at a few of the benefits of holiday letting your second home that await those taking the plunge…

Gain a return by holiday letting your second home

Gaining a return on your investment will ultimately be a decisive factor for you so we’ll start with some good news; the demand for self-catering accommodation is on the rise and it has been for several years!

Latest figures from Visit England indicate the average occupancy level for self-catering accommodation is around 31%, representing an increase of four percentage points over the last year.

Want the even better news? That figure increases to 42% during the peak summer period, when you’ll be able to charge a premium on your weekly rental (sometimes in excess of five times winter rental rates).

Enjoy potential tax benefits of holiday letting

A key benefit when it comes to holiday homes, as oppose to renting out other types of property, is that if you let out a furnished holiday home in the UK, your rental income can be treated more advantageously for tax purposes than from other rental income.

These benefits can include tax advantaged pension savings, 100% Capital Allowances on the first £250,000 of capital expenditure incurred, and Capital Gains Tax reliefs should you come to sell your holiday home in the future.

For a more in-depth take on the tax benefits of owning a holiday home please take a look at our Furnished Holiday Letting blog post here:

How to qualify under the Furnished Holiday Lettings Tax Rules

The married couples or civil partners team

Many holiday homes in the UK are purchased and owned jointly by married couples or civil partners. If you’re looking to buy with your spouse or civil partner then profits from furnished holiday lettings can be allocated in any proportion you wish, irrespective of your actual shares in the ownership of the property.

Help the local economy

Holiday homes play a vital role in supporting the local community through visitor expenditure and job creation (particularly during peak season).  When visitors stay in your property they’ll inevitably spend the majority of their money within a ten-mile radius, allowing for local shops, pubs, restaurants and service providers to thrive.

Remember you can have a holiday too!

If you’ve bought the perfect property one thing you’ll also want to do is enjoy it! Letting your property out as a furnished holiday let means that you’ll also be able to visit and stay in your own property from time to time, allowing you to have a break in your very own holiday home. Holiday letting your second home to guests will give you the added benefit of the property having a lived in feeling when you arrive for your own holidays by helping to avoid long periods when the property is unoccupied. Indeed it’s a good idea to experience holidays in your second home as your guests would, viewing it from their perspective will help you decide on improvements that’ll make your property even more desirable.

Won’t it be a lot of work?

Owning a holiday home needn’t be a stressful experience. There are a large number of holiday letting agents and property management companies who’ll be able to look after the entire needs of your property, from housekeeping and maintenance, taking payments and dealing with potential disputes, to marketing your holiday home and generating bookings.

Their ability to generate bookings for your property can be particularly vital if the property has not previously been let as a holiday home. You’ll be able to benefit from their database of customers and gain a quicker return on your investment. A quality holiday letting agent will also give you guidance on the legislation that you’ll need to abide by when holiday letting your second home. For more information on how a holiday letting agent can help you please have a read of our blog post here:

Ten benefits of using a Holiday Home Letting Agent

What about home insurance for holiday letting?

Owning a holiday home comes with its own unique set of insurance requirements, which will be different to your own home.  At Boshers we specialise in offering insurance to holiday homeowners and have been doing so for 25 years.

We speak to holiday homeowners every day; we get the industry and we know how best to support them. How do we do that? By identifying the things that you may not have thought of and understanding the insurance you need.

If you have any questions about insuring your property please speak to a member of our team – they each have an average of more than 20 years experience in dealing with holiday homes!

As holiday home insurance specialists we understand the needs of holiday letting owners and our policy includes valuable property owners liability cover for letting your second home to paying guests. For more information on how a specialist insurer can help and support your holiday home business, please give us a call on 01237 429444.