Short Term Rentals

October 31, 2016 by Rob Kahl

Short Term Rentals

Being in our busy office I get all types of enquiries ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. More and more people are seriously enquiring about short term rental properties and it has become apparent that there is a huge gap in the market.

These short term rentals are classed as 'holiday lets' but it is important not to think about the properties as holiday destinations, although, who knows?

Southend Town Council has just spent a great deal of money on a T.V advertising campaign in Holland promoting Southend as the new holiday destination for the Dutch to come and check out, so we may get an influx of the orange army?

The minimum term that people can rent on the normal Assured Short Hold tenancy agreement is 6 months, but people have a genuine need to stay at properties for a shorter term and currently there is very little available. The needs of this client base vary greatly from people visiting family, visiting the area on business, people selling & buying properties and moving dates not coinciding, insurance claims for homes being repaired or people carrying out home improvements or extensions to their existing properties and needing to vacate for a few weeks for the builders to crack on (something I know only too well!).

At present the only accommodation available are hotel rooms and if people have families it is not much fun all sitting on a bed watching T.V at night and having to eat in restaurants for every meal. Together with the cost and trying to get a local hotel room for a term of a week, a month or longer, it is far from ideal and extremely limited.

The good news; we have hopefully met that need and have what we consider a much better alternative.

We have persuaded a current landlord that rather than rent out one of his properties in the traditional manner to try the holiday let alternative. This has taken a great deal of trust and investment from him, but he has given it a go and so far, so extremely good.

The property; We have a charming 2 bedroom cottage, which is a converted stable, just off of Leigh Broadway that is available to rent for a night, week, month or longer. It is fully furnished to an extremely high specification with beds, sofa’s, T.V’s, all kitchen equipment and it even has bedding, towels, crockery & cutlery and everything you could possibly need to make it feel like home from home (in fact it is a lot better than mine!).

The idea is, if you're having some building work done on your new house and your builder has suggested that moving out for a couple of months would make a huge difference to the timescale and cost of the project you now have a place that you can stay for a few weeks that all the family can stay together in; you can lounge in your pants in front of a telly if you wish, you can make a sandwich at 3am if that floats your boat, and all in the knowledge that you are not tied to a lengthy contract and that at the end you can give the property back and we will arrange cleaning and the change over ready for the next people.

We have had a great deal of interest so far and are busily taking bookings for this year. The first clients stayed over Christmas and New Year for 10 nights. They were visiting family and traditionally have always stayed in the Travel Lodge types hotels at Rayleigh Weir or Strawberry Fields and they really enjoyed our alternative. It meant that they didn’t have to put upon their families to cook for them every night or pay for expensive restaurants; little things like watching different things on T.V if they wanted and being able to make a cup of tea or do a load of washing just made their stay that much more convenient and pleasurable. They have already booked up for 2 more visits this year and we are extremely confident of a great deal of repeat business from exactly this type of client.

From the owners perspective the potential rental yield should be staggering. It has obviously entailed some considerable up front costs, ensuring the property is furnished and equipped and all of the services have to be paid for as well as change over and cleaning fees, but, rather than renting the property traditionally for £1,000 per month he can now afford to rent the property on a nightly basis for at least £150 per night so it could prove extremely lucrative.

If you or someone you know may be interested in staying in this type of accommodation or if you are a landlord looking for a bit more input and involvement and would like to discuss this further please give me a call on 01702 471155 or email me on rob@scottandstapleton.co.uk.

This article is by Rob at Wcott & Stapleton
Tel: 01702 471155

To read all of Rob's previous property articles please click the link https://www.leigh-on-sea.com/blog/tag/property.html