A Guide to Holiday Let Costs
Starting a holiday let can be a profitable and rewarding venture. But in order to make it successful and...
by Janine de Lange / Owner
Our property expert for Cornish Cottage Holidays, Janine Woods, shares her many years of expertise and knowledge about buying a holiday home in Cornwall.
In recent years, Britain has enjoyed a staycation boom with more of us choosing to holiday in the UK rather than abroad. Our holiday homes in Cornwall have benefitted from unprecedented levels of demand and are achieving excellent rental yields for owners.
While buying an investment property can be a rewarding and highly lucrative endeavour, it is important to do your homework. So, if you’re thinking of buying a holiday let in Cornwall, this is the ultimate guide to make becoming a successful holiday let owner as easy as possible.
Read on for detailed advice on buying a holiday cottage, or use our quick links to navigate to a particular topic:
Cornwall is renowned for being one of the most popular holiday destinations in the UK. With its unique climate, golden beaches and sunny seaside towns, it’s easy to see why holiday makers flock to Cornwall annually. But look beyond the coastline and you’ll discover elite galleries, world-class eateries and plenty of unique attractions.
In addition to the more obvious appeal of this holiday destination, we’ve chosen to highlight a few unique reasons why we think Cornwall is an ideal place to invest in a holiday cottage.
Thanks to its south-westerly aspect and oceanic setting, Cornwall enjoys a temperate climate, with the mildest and sunniest weather in the UK. While best known as a summertime holiday destination, the warmer winters offer visitors that year-round appeal.
The county has plenty to offer throughout the year and its popularity means superb potential for holiday lets in Cornwall. With this unique appeal you’re likely to have more visitors and an almost guaranteed steady income stream throughout the year.
Our recent poll of 2,000 UK holidaymakers showed that 37% of participants expected to take 2-3 UK breaks in 2024. When it comes to staying in the UK, Cornwall topped the wishlist as the number one location people want to visit. So, it’s hardly surprising that this increased popularity has impacted the attractiveness of holiday letting as an investment opportunity in this county.
One big motivator for buying a holiday let is that you can combine owning your dream holiday home with running a successful business and offsetting the cost of your own holidays. Buying a holiday home in Cornwall is, for many, an aspiration. Having the opportunity to visit your own dream holiday home, as well as run a lucrative letting business in this amazing county, is an obvious appeal.
With an investment property in Cornwall, not only will you own a holiday cottage for yourself and your family to escape to, but you could also make a healthy profit by renting it out to others. By letting your cottage out to holiday makers, you can generate a valuable source of extra income, plus your holiday home could benefit from a range of tax relief options. To understand a bit more about the tax reliefs and benefits you could qualify for, read our comprehensive blog on tax for furnished holiday lets.
Aside from your personal preference, when buying a holiday home to let, it is important to choose a location which has appeal for holiday makers. A prime tourist location will ensure a high volume of bookings and a good return on investment.
Generally, the best locations are coastal, preferably with a sea view, and within walking distance to a beach or the coast path. In 2023, we saw a 12.5% increase in clicks to our pages containing ‘sea views’, as well as a 140% increase in searches for ‘luxury sea view cottages’.
Two things that holidaymakers especially look for are the seaside and walking routes – Cornwall has the best of both, which helps with its year-round appeal!
However, let’s not forget areas of natural beauty, peaceful countryside and picturesque towns and villages, which offer a different appeal. With scenic countryside, rugged coastline and a thriving tourism industry, there are plenty of fantastic locations to choose from in Cornwall.
Close proximity to good amenities is one of the most influential factors in a guests’ choice of holiday home. Being situated within easy reach or, better still, walking distance of a pub, restaurant, shops, and visitor attractions will boost a holiday property’s desirability and booking performance!
For a look at the most lucrative, up and coming locations in the county, read our in-depth blog on the top 6 places to buy a holiday home in Cornwall.
We successfully let all types and styles of holiday homes, character cottages and hyper-modern apartments as well as grand country piles, rustic barns and luxury pads. Ultimately, it all comes down to giving holiday makers what they want.
Here we share some of the best money-earning holiday features chosen by our guests.
We’ve identified outdoor space as one of the top three things influencing Brits’ choice of staycation accommodation, with 32% of our guests considering a property’s garden or outdoor space when booking a holiday.
Whether it is a garden, patio, terrace or a balcony, outdoor space is a top priority for holiday makers. Guests want to make the most of the sunny weather on holiday, so it’s natural that a holiday home with an outdoor area is not only a top priority but can command a premium rate.
WiFi is one of the most requested features and could be the deciding factor when guests are debating one cottage over another.
27% of guests consider good Wi-Fi or technology when booking a property, and having Wi-Fi can earn owners 26% more per year. Cornwall is reasonably well connected but it is advisable to check if WiFi is available at your chosen property.
Synonymous with luxury and relaxation, a hot tub can help place your property way above others in a potential guest’s shortlist. They offer an extra layer of luxury to a holiday and are the perfect way to enhance an already relaxing break.
Not only do hot tubs increase the likelihood of bookings during off-peak periods, but they often enable properties to command a higher weekly price. Properties with a hot tub can earn an average of 37% more per year.
This trend isn’t showing any sign of going away – 2023 saw bookings for properties with hot tubs up 104% compared to 2022, and 167% compared to 2019.
Log burners or properties with open fires are extremely popular with holiday makers. Installing a log burner will give your property added appeal, boosting your low season bookings and allow you great all year-round occupancy.
We have seen a growing awareness of the human impact of travel with guests wanting to book more sustainable holidays.
74% of the UK public say they want travel companies to offer more sustainable choices, 65% would prefer to stay in accommodation if they knew it had sustainable certification, and 43% would be willing to pay more for sustainable options.
If you are buying a renovation project, consider giving it some eco-credentials. For more information on positive changes you could implement to make your holiday property environmentally sustainable, read our blog on how to make your holiday home eco-friendly.
Providing parking is essential and is often a key deciding factor for guests when booking a holiday property. Having a designated parking spot means peace of mind knowing they can return from a day out and be able to park with ease. In towns and villages where this simply isn’t feasible, it’s worth checking whether you can organise a parking permit for on-street parking or local car parks.
If you are buying a property to renovate or make improvements, it can be worthwhile budgeting to finish it to a high specification.
Pampering your guests with one or two luxurious added extras in your holiday cottage is yet another great way of enticing them to stay with you again and again. Plus, they can also help to extend the season beyond the peak weeks. Extra perks in your holiday let such as a private gym, a swimming pool or a sauna are just a few ways that you could add value to your holiday property and give your property a consistent year-round appeal.
To help your decision process when buying a holiday property in Cornwall, it’s important to consider how to attract guests and generate a lucrative flow of bookings. Do you want to cater for families, groups or couples? Based on this information, it’s easier to understand what type of investment property would best suit your goal.
If yours is a one or two-bedroom holiday home, it will be best suited for couples or small groups of families and friends. For many guests, a holiday home is the perfect place for special occasions such as a romantic getaway, birthday, anniversary or honeymoon.
Couples are willing to pay a premium and expect the price to reflect the quality with good investment in interior design, fixtures and fittings. Bookings from couples or groups of couples make up 41% of staycation bookings and can be your bread and butter during the off-peak months.
In 2023, 31% of our bookings were for families. So, buying a four or five-bedroom property will attract groups and multi-generational families with children of all ages. Aim to offer ample space for all guests to eat, sleep and relax comfortably with a good ratio of living space to bedrooms.
Cornwall is a very pet-friendly county that attracts holiday makers and their four-legged friends all year round.
We’ve seen a 60% increase in searches for pet-friendly holidays since 2019. Properties accepting pets also earn an average of 3 more bookings and 17% more revenue than those that don’t accept pets. Allowing pets will increase the occupancy potential of a property, so it is important to consider this when conducting your property search.
It is a good idea to speak with us to establish what the potential rental income might be from your investment.
If you require financing to buy your holiday home, you will face increasingly stringent affordability criteria from mortgage lenders. They will often require a letter from a reputable holiday letting agent to confirm the anticipated gross weekly rental for the low, mid and high seasons.
We are a recognised source for lenders and can provide a letter including an annual projected income to support your mortgage application.
If you would like to know how much your investment will return, let us help you. We have been managing and marketing holiday homes successfully in Cornwall for over 50 years. This has given us the experience and knowledge to advise you on buying a holiday let and maximising the return on your investment.
No matter what stage of the journey you have reached in buying your holiday let, we are here to ensure you make the right decisions. Cornish Cottage Holidays offer a bespoke service for those that are looking to buy a holiday let and can help you every step of the way.
Use the knowledge and experience of our team, who can tell you the best places to buy and are able to match you with the property that suits you.
Visit our let your cottage page to get in touch, or read our blog on choosing a holiday letting agency in Cornwall.
We are well connected with some of Cornwall’s leading estate agents and can help put you in touch with the right people if you are thinking of buying. We can also work with estate agents to organise visits to a property you are thinking of buying, helping us provide accurate rental projections.
There are many factors to consider when investing in a holiday let; the costs, understanding the market, rental rates and what your property is going to look like, to name just a few.
If the thought of running a holiday let feels daunting, you don’t have to do it all yourself. Cornish Cottage Holidays has a team of industry experts who specialise in the self-catering holiday market, to help guide you through your letting journey.
We understand that you may have lots of questions about buying a holiday let in Cornwall, so we’ve created helpful guides for different subjects. Click the links below to find out more.
For more information about letting your cottage with us, visit our Let Your Cottage page or contact our knowledgeable team on 01326 336773 (select option 2).
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by Janine de Lange / Owner
I’ve had the privilege of living in the beautiful South West since 2010, and in my opinion there’s no better place in the worl...
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