holiday let for the first time?

mils

Hi we have a property on our land that we are looking into renting out as a holiday let. I Was looking for some advise.
Does anyone use any specific type of rental software to manage there property ? Im not great on excel but can do the basics. or does anyone know where I can access such information that would help me set up a running cost sheet.
Are there any stories or advise that anyone can offer they we may encounter that I wouldn't think of. The property itself is on the same land as our own home.
Paul

Werdnal

Do you know all the rules, regs and legislation covering holiday lets? It is very different to residential!

There is a specific holiday letting forum here:

http://www.laymyhat.com/forum/index.php

which will likely have much more specific information that you will get here.

Just as brief intro, you need to PAT test all appliances, get fire extinguishers/blankets etc, all furniture must be up to current fire regs, you need specific insurance (including public liability) and check whether there are specific planning regs in your area regarding holiday lets. You will also have to register for business rates, as holiday letting is a commercial activity and not covered under Council tax.

You also need to check our the HMRC tax regulations for holiday let income, as it is very different to residential letting tax.

mils

Thank you for the response I will go check out the site

Itismehonest

Werdnal wrote: »

Do you know all the rules, regs and legislation covering holiday lets? It is very different to residential!

There is a specific holiday letting forum here:

http://www.laymyhat.com/forum/index.php

which will likely have much more specific information that you will get here.

Just as brief intro, you need to PAT test all appliances, get fire extinguishers/blankets etc, all furniture must be up to current fire regs, you need specific insurance (including public liability) and check whether there are specific planning regs in your area regarding holiday lets. You will also have to register for business rates, as holiday letting is a commercial activity and not covered under Council tax.

You also need to check our the HMRC tax regulations for holiday let income, as it is very different to residential letting tax.

All correct apart from the Business Rates/Council Tax part. Which one is paid depends on how many days per year are available to let.
https://www.gov.uk/introduction-to-business-rates/self-catering-and-holiday-let-accommodation

Werdnal

Itismehonest wrote: »

All correct apart from the Business Rates/Council Tax part. Which one is paid depends on how many days per year are available to let.
https://www.gov.uk/introduction-to-business-rates/self-catering-and-holiday-let-accommodation

I will read the link, but when I asked advice from my local council, I was told that ANY holiday let is compulsorily converted the BR regardless of the amount of weeks let/available to let. I had no choice, but the BR is less than CT anyway (although refuse collection is not included).

Itismehonest

Werdnal wrote: »

I will read the link, but when I asked advice from my local council, I was told that ANY holiday let is compulsorily converted the BR regardless of the amount of weeks let/available to let. I had no choice, but the BR is less than CT anyway (although refuse collection is not included).

Then, presumably, your council doesn't follow Government guidelines.

We, obviously, paid BR for all the years we traded but then the cottages were let for 30-40 weeks per year.
Since we retired we have to pay CT on them as 2nd home(s) despite the fact that planning restrictions mean they can't be lived in for more than 2 weeks at a time.

Werdnal

Itismehonest wrote: »

Then, presumably, your council doesn't follow Government guidelines.

We, obviously, paid BR for all the years we traded but then the cottages were let for 30-40 weeks per year.
Since we retired we have to pay CT on them as 2nd home(s) despite the fact that planning restrictions mean they can't be lived in for more than 2 weeks at a time.

And my property is let available to let for more than 140 days per year, so BR is compulsory for me. I just dug out the paperwork for my application at the time, and I was asked to specify the expected letting period when I enquired, so that determined the BR requirement. I actually asked them whether there was a minimum actual letting within that which I had to comply with (like there is for HMRC), but they said no, as long as its available for that period, so my statement above was inaccurate, it is only compulsory for letting 140+day/year - I was confused by the actual amount of bookings, not days available!