How much have UK holiday home rentals gone up?

[adeirf]

So for the last 10 years we have been renting a holiday home off a friend of a friend. Suits us just fine and has become a family tradition of sorts.

I can’t remember what we used to pay, as my husband sorts it. We always do cash in hand rather than through the agency that they use for other weeks of the year.

Two years ago we paid £1600 for the week. My husband has told me that we now pay £2000 for the week. Is this a normal increase? We pay about the same amount as people who book through the agent, so no discounts for paying cash.

It's how much??? Where??? We are paying £700 for a week in a really nice cottage, and I thought that was a bit dear.

I think they have. We booked a cottage in place that would usually be around £500-£650 and it was £900 this year, Not school holidays either so would usually be a lot cheaper than that.

I think they're trying to get back the money they lost last year and they're in demand with people not being able to go abroad. Wether the prices stay inflated remain to be seen, I guess.

It is a big house as for the extended family, 6 bed. That’s why it’s expensive to start off with.

Yes, we noticed that too. UK holiday lets are ridiculously overpriced IMO. Saying that, some of our best family holidays have been in the UK, but lots of places esp Cornwall are taking the piss this year.

UK holiday lets are expensive, plus the risk of bad weather. Understandable why many people prefer to holiday overseas in normal times.

You should really get a direct booking discount as the owner avoids the agent's fee. Possibly tax too as it's cash in hand (better to pay electronically?)

Most of the cottages have gone up this year and would normally increase each year with say inflation. There's a lot of extra cleaning requirements with covid so a few more hours cleaning required plus demand is up. I would say its a fairly average increase.

Assuming a six bedroomed property sleeps 12, that works out at just under £24 per person per night. I think that's very reasonable but I do agree that if you are booking direct and paying cash they should pass on the saving they are making by not paying agency fees on your booking.

For that many people if in nice holiday area is what I would expect

Of course they have gone up. Most people can’t holiday abroad at the moment so naturally holiday lets in this country are much more in demand, therefore more expensive.

Same reason they are always more expensive in July than in February. Supply and demand.

Anecdotally we rented a lovely cottage on Skye last summer, booked back in 2019 for £1100 for the week. Looked at it again for next summer (22) and it’s now over £2k for the same week. I’d expected an increase but this does seem on the high side!

Someone said to book direct to avoid extra fees. Having had a stressful few weeks over a rental abroad, I'd say the opposite if there's any chance of another lockdown and/or cancelling due to covid related reasons.
Well worth the extra couple of hundred to be able to press a button and cancel knowing you'll get your deposit back as per the terms of the rental site, keeps it all nice and impersonal.

As to prices going up - well yes and no I suppose. I looked for a UK holiday in February and prices seemed on a par with normal except in real tourist hot spots. They missed a lot of business through lockdowns so I guess some of them are trying to recoup that.

I think prices are higher this year but foreign holidays will also go up next year I think

Our usual holiday ‘lodge’ was 1150 PW two years ago. I looked to book this year and it was 1700 PW for the same dates.
Nope. Didn’t book.

We went to the Isle of Wight July 2019 and September 2020. The cost was around £1,000. This year the cheapest week was £2,500 and next year £4,500.

We had a lovely house in Suffolk earlier this month for £1,250 per week.

Speaking to the owners, they don’t seem to have any say in the renting costs if they are with a letting company.

£2,000 for six bedrooms seems reasonable for a nice house in a nice place. And twenty-odd percent increase over the last two years is not abnormal. No discount for booking direct seems a bit greedy though.

Sounds about right @adeirf

Varies around the country but I paid £1600 4 years ago