Owning a holiday let if you don’t live near it?

[Meretricious]

Anyone done this. We live abroad and want to buy something in U.K. so we have somewhere to retire to. We are thinking of cottage in lakes and renting it out as a holiday let.

How does it work if you aren’t there to look after it?

Why a holiday let rather than long term tenants?

The number of holiday lets in these places is causing real problems because locals can't afford to buy there any more.

From a practical point of view you're going to have more problems more often with a holiday let and you won't be there to keep an eye on it.

You could have it managed by a holiday company, but they’d take a fair bit of commission. Prices through those companies are often higher however, so the difference between letting it yourself and letting it through them might not be that high.

From a practical point of view you're going to have more problems more often with a holiday let and you won't be there to keep an eye on it.

Really? I would've assumed it was the other way round. What problems would there be worth a holiday let? I'm just asking point of interest though - I can't afford to buy a property.

More careless damage in a holiday let than long term tennanta who treat it as their home, I would have thought.

Your "tenants" in a holiday let change every week so greater potential for breakages and people fiddling with stuff and not knowing how things work and asking a gazillion questions.

Also I think expectations for holiday lets are different - people expect it to be sparkly and nice at the start of each week / fortnight, whereas there's only that expectation at the start of a long let.

You also get into faff of bedding, online reviews and carelessness. As a long term tenant I often make minor repairs myself (eg a bit of skirting board fell off recently and I stuck it back on with some No More Nails) but there's no chance I'd be doing that in a holiday let.

I live 200 miles from my holiday let. I have a housekeeper who is worth her weight in gold.

In the last seven days we have had a guest being sick in the kitchen bin, didn’t mention it and the bag then split when the cleaners emptied it; people smoking in the bathroom so extra airing required and having to pop back later and close the windows; a badly scalded baby who then couldn’t travel home so exit clean had to be delayed and arranging to let the carpet cleaners in to deal with the coffee from the scalding incident.

I couldn’t do it without her and I always need a plan B and lots of reliable tradesmen. I go three times a year to do lots of little jobs each time.

Like you, the plan is to retire there, and it pays its way, but it takes a lot of coordination.

I had one in the us and one in France at the same time while living in uk
Both worked out fine and we visited both twice a year for each of them.
The secret is to do your own bookings and build up a rapport with guests.
Have a good cleaner who is on the ball andwill report to you with damage when they go into clean.
You can earn more with holiday lets and actually it works out better.
The longer they stay they more time they have to embed and I believe the more wear and tear you get but you have less cashto put it right.
The lakes is pretty much an all year destination so you can get on average £500 a week
I’d aim for 40 weeks. . That’s £20k
By the time you’ve paid off all essential bills, it leaves a fair bit to put back into the house.
I’ve given a very simplistic view
I know that...but the key to success is getting a trusted person to look after your house and not a big impersonal company

Aren’t there local occupancy restrictions within the Lake District?

why not get a long term tenant? There are loads of families that can’t afford mortgages, especially in tourist hotspots. Spending a bit of time getting a decent tenant who might stay for a couple of years, charging them a fair rent, will make your life a lot easier, and will be much better for the community you hope to retire into.

Think about what your goal is - a nice retirement home, not a holiday let business.

Definitely have a great cleaner / housekeeper and pay them well.
Currently in an air b&b. It’s a good place but several niggles that are cleaner failings IMHO -
We arrived late Monday - Monday was bin day according to council site even though BH. So week of bins totally full - last lot clearly had a boozy week !

• a broken curtain rail. Reported Monday. No action taken. We’ve pegged the curtains up.

There is a drawer full of last lots dirty washing 😱 And the crockery and cutlery had bit of dried food on 🤢

So last residents were a bit careless and the cleaner hasn’t sorted it.

Surprised no reply though from manager

I Airbnb my house - sometimes I'm in the UK, but I'm usually away all winter, like this year and in the summer I am usually travelling.
I have a good host/housekeeper who oversees the cleaners, gets the windows cleaned, lawns mown & organises linen/towels/welcome pack and is a local point of contact for guests.
I've never had damage or theft from my Airbnb guests and I've been with Airbnb 3 years, whereas I did have regular damage when I summer let through an agency.
A friend used to rent a h/l through a small agency in Norfolk while he live abroad and his was fine & never had a bad review.
I think it's about doing your homework thoroughly in the first place and getting a good team in place.

Most of the holiday lets we've stayed in don't have the owner living nearby.

We deal with the owner by email/phone for making bookings and paying deposits. The owner usually employs a cleaner, or property management firm locally. The owner will usually email details of how to get the keys, usually in a lock box with a code number. Most also have an emergency number to call if something goes wrong - we've only ever used this once when a macerator toilet regurgitated all of its contents over the floor. Nice.

If you're thinking of buying in a popular visitor area then there will be companies around providing just these sorts of property management and changeover services.

I've done both with the same properties. If you are serious about holiday let's go to the forum laymyhat.com. Its brilliant. Holidays let are hard work.

I now live 2 hours from my last remaining let. Reliable cleaner with brilliant contacts and retired husband who can sort things.

Furnishing right is expensive. Linens x 3 for each bed. Laundry costs are high. Linens need replacing every 5 years of so. For us that's 42 sets as we have zip king beds in 4 of the bedrooms.

Last year we had some awful people in. DH had to take a day off work to sort there endless complaints. Some of which were valid. Some of which were outrageous.

You need to fix every complaint in 24 hours. And you need a good contract stating you have 24 hours. A bad review can result in cancellations. I had one just once and it was totally nuts. She published every where, including US newspapers. I had to prove that it was nuts to stop publishing. And reply in length to online ones.

Personally I'd not buy another. But when the mortgage is paid of in 2026 it'll bring in the equivalent of a salary.

We've bought 2 x 2 bed apartments in local student city. Vetting the tenants to the same level as the insurance company is long winded. But non paying tenants are a nightmare to get rid of. Been there before too.

We had the plumber and electrician in before renting to make sure no issues. Now we just collect rent. But we work in this town and are straight on top of issues.

The lakes is pretty much an all year destination so you can get on average £500 a week. I’d aim for 40 weeks. That’s £20k. By the time you’ve paid off all essential bills, it leaves a fair bit to put back into the house. I’ve given a very simplistic view

£20k less income tax of course and capital gains tax when you come to sell.

We have tenanted properties and a holiday let in the UK and currently live in Asia. Reason we let one as a holiday let is that we use it ourselves in the summer and Christmas.

We use Holiday Lettings for advertising and payment and my SIL manages it (we pay her)

Holiday lets gross a lot more per week but in the off season they can be empty a lot depending on where it is- where we are doesn't have much demand in winter for our type of property. They are also a lot more hassle (weekly turnovers, guests who want everything to be perfect (fair enough), guests who accidentally break things, minor thefts (coat hangers!!) guest who ignore or forget bin day so you need to go to the tip, guests who piss off the neighbours etc.) You also need to vet quite carefully to find out exactly who they are- we don't accept big groups but where we live is quite attractive to big groups.

All in all, the costs are much higher. The long term let is more profitable although admittedly we don't really maximize the holiday let as it is our home and the wear and tear isn't worth it (don't discount, don't do short stays).

If we didn't use it, I'd get a long term tenant.

£20k less income tax of course and capital gains tax when you come to sell.
Yes, I’d included taxes that as essential Bills

Also op had no plans to sell, Its to be her retirement home

I found th opposite with coat hangers...always had loads after people had been to premium outlets etc

I lose coat hangers and Tupperware and gain bags for life and dishwasher tablets

That's helpful thank you. I'm not averse to doing it as a long let either. I rent out another house so I know the responsibilities and requirements.

I've googled a bit but only come up with 'big' holiday companies. I don't know anyone in the Lakes so I imagine I'd have to use a company at first. I'll look at laymyhat ....

Yes- I would use an agent. If you get a reliable individual, great, but what do you do if they suddenly just disappear or quit and you have guests booked?