LAST MINUTE BOOKINGS FOR HOLIDAYS AND HOLIDAY RENTAL PROPERTIES

These tips are based on our many years experience in holiday rentals and will help you achieve the maximum premium for your rental.

If you are considering renting / letting your holiday home, great, you’ll not regret it. Here are some guideline and tips to help you when preparing your property for rental, ensuring you avoid those familiar complaints and problems. These tips are based on our many years experience in holiday rentals and will help you achieve the maximum premium for your rental

1. Personal items should be securely locked away in a cupboard including photos, ornaments and expensive and valuable items which cannot be easily replaced if damaged.
2. Depending on the number of people in the property sleeps, provide sufficient cutlery, crockery and glassware for each person, makeing sure they are of matching design and colour, simple designs and colours are best, white is easy to match if there are any breakages
3. Three sets of linen and towels should be provided, ensure they are clean with no stains and they match the décor (again simple colours are best). Duvets and blankets should also be provided, even the hottest places in the world can get cold.
4. Paint the property white or cream all the way through. Bright colours won’t suit everybody’s taste and keep some spare paint to touch up every few months.
5. The kitchen should be fully equipped with everything in good working order including iron, ironing board, TV DVD video play a washing machine drying rack for clothes sky TV is an advantage because most holiday renters with expected.
6. If your property users gas bottles please ensure there are two full bottles in the property, one in use and one spare ensure they are full and safety and fitting instructions are clearly displayed, also provide sufficient spare light bulbs.
7. You should provide linens and towels for all tenants. Store extra linens and towels in a lockable cupboard so that the tenants do not use more than one set per week, this will reduce laundry costs.
8. If there is no air conditioning and heating in the lounge and bedrooms, fans and electric heaters should be provided.
9. Two full sets of keys should be provided to each tenant including community entrance doors, security gates, garage remotes, etc. Access to a third full set of keys should be retained in case of emergency with a local friend or neighbours.
10. Organize a thorough clean (polish everything) of the property at the beginning of the season or every six months if you rent all year round. Thereafter you should arrange an intensive clean every 4 weeks during the busy rental season and a change over clean between departing and arriving tenants. If a tenant is staying for more than one week you should arrange for the towels and linens to be changed and we advise you give the property a brief clean
11. Cleaning equipment should be provided in the property including mop and bucket, dust pan and brush, broom and a vacuum as well as essential cleaning products
12. A welcome pack should be placed in your holiday home to greet your guests and should contain:
    • A clear set of instructions should be provided for all electrical appliances especially air conditioning but also washing machines TVs DVDs etc.
    • A copy of the community rules should be placed in the property to avoid complaints from neighbours or the community.
    • Emergency telephone numbers should be provided such as 112 and local contacts are essential if you live in the UK.
    • It is also helpful to provide information about the local area such as, shops, restaurants, bus stops, taxi numbers etc.
13. Give your tenants clear instructions of how to find your property and ensure the front door is appropriately signed, e.g. the door number is clearly shown.
14. Arrange suitable buildings and contents insurance to protect your holiday home. Check the policy covers the property when being occupied by renting tenants.
15. Smoke alarms should be fitted in the property and any large windows or patio doors should have stickers on to avoid collision accidents. These notes should help you when renting your holiday property but something you should always ask your self is, ‘Would I want to stay in my property?’ If not why not? If every one of your guests leaves happy they’ll probably come back and tell their friends buts it’s 7 times harder to generate new customers than keep your existing.

The most common complaints (that are easily avoidable):

1. The property is not clean
2. The description does not match the reality.
3. Furniture is old and uncomfortable
4. Electrical items do not work, particularly air conditioning, heating and the washing machine
5. To get the maximum return from your property you should use uLet.co.uk, we’ll be live with the full site soon, so keep checking back.