Holiday lets - preparing for relaunch

Growing up in the 1970’s, I have happy memories of many different family holidays in rented holiday homes all over the UK, including Bourton on the Water which is where I now live. Back then Airbnb wasn’t even a thing, nor was the internet, so we booked our holiday lets from catalogues which arrived in the post.

The quality was enormously variable –many were lovely but I also remember some that were frankly awful. They were often furnished with what looked like the results of a house clearance project, you often had to take your own towels and bedlinen, and the kitchens were stocked with a random assortment of odds and ends, tired old pans, and mismatched crockery.

At the time of writing, the coronavirus restrictions mean that holiday lets and airbnbs are largely standing empty – the few that are occupied are being used as long term lets, or as housing for key workers. However it seems likely that restrictions will be lifted soon - currently thought to be from early July. So if you are a holiday let owner, this is the ideal time to refresh and update your property ready for when this happens.

While the tourist industry generally has been massively affected by this crisis, we feel it is likely that the “staycation” will become even more important and that once restrictions are lifted, holiday accommodation in the UK will once again be in strong demand.

This does not mean that holiday landlords can be complacent and wait for the bookings to roll in. A quick google search for holiday lets in the Cotswolds alone brings up 7,130,000 results. The first few pages are mainly the larger professionally run companies, and a quick scan down the listings highlights the words “luxury”, “bespoke”, and “elite”. Running a holiday let is now very much a business, and there is a great deal more competition out there.