Holiday home landlords face competition from rental part timers
Holiday home landlords in the UK could face more competition if home owners take the advice of research carried out by WhereToSleep.co.uk.
According to the travel accommodation website, renting out a spare room for just 22 nights a year will generate enough revenue to cover the cost of the average British holiday.
On average, those renting out a spare room to tourists earned £37 a night in 2011 – average rates were £43 per night at the peak of summer when demand was at its highest.
A recent survey of more than 2,000 people showed that Brits spend £836 on the average holiday.
The majority (53 percent) use savings to cover the cost but with the day-to-day cost of living so high and interest rates so low saving is a struggle for many.
However, Brits with a spare room need only rent it out for just over three weeks a year to completely cover the cost of their annual holiday says the website.
And those who decided to rent out their entire property to holiday makers earned an average of £73 – £140 a night at the height of summer.
For those willing to vacate their entire property in order to let it, the number of nights required to cover the cost of a holiday is reduced to 12.
Wheretosleep.co.uk, which provides a link between holiday makers looking for accommodation and people with a spare room looking to generate additional income, has found that one in 25 Brits currently rent out a spare room on a short-term basis to help cover the cost of holidays.
But with the number of tourists visiting the UK expected to rise next year many more Brits could take advantage of demand.
The number of tourist visits to the UK has risen to an average of 3.9 percent every quarter for the last year.
Should this trend continue the UK can expect an additional 5.5m tourists in 2012 compared to 2011 as well as an additional one million visitors generated explicitly by the London Olympics.
Radek Dobrolecki, director of WhereToSleep.co.uk, said: “Next year is going to be a huge year for Britain, tourist numbers have been rising steadily for the last year anyway but the Olympics is going to bring an additional one million people to our shores.
“This gives cash strapped Brits an excellent opportunity to take advantage of demand for accommodation and let out a spare room or two on a short-term basis.
“Even though times are tough for many at the moment, the annual holiday is something that a lot of us are reluctant to sacrifice.
“Using a spare-room to generate some extra income is an excellent way of covering costs, not just for a holiday but for any number of things that are proving a struggle in the current climate.”
• Landlords with holiday homes and along a UK coastline may soon receive additional protection from the risk of flooding.
Owners of properties that are at high-risk of water damage in Southsea near Portsmouth will be offered the opportunity to have special equipment fitted in the buildings.
And local letting agents will also be pleased to hear the news, as it should make renting out homes there even easier.
The work, which is set to begin next year, was made possible after Portsmouth City Council was awarded an £104,000 grant from the Environment Agency. The council is adding £2,000 of its own money to the fund.
Article source: http://www.residentiallandlord.co.uk/news2950.html