| Holiday
Homes in the News 
Holiday
homes are very much in the news at the moment. It is the time when owners of self
catering properties much achieve their booking quotas and especially in 2009 when
many prospective holiday renters are searching for bargains.
“The
Independent” ran a feature on the 22nd April entitled “If you want
your holiday rental to stand out from the crowd, a quirky interior with a local
touch is essential”. The
article went on to describe how twenty years ago life was so simple for the holiday
home owner. You bought your holiday rental and furnished it with leftover from
your own home or local cheap and cheerful furniture from the locality. Then you
put an ad in the Sunday newspaper and the enquiries and bookings flood in.
In
2009 it is a different story. Prospective renters want to see photos and details
on the Internet so that they can compare holiday rentals. A property owner in
Portugal was quoted as saying you need individual furniture, pictures on the walls
and leather sofas that are easier to clean rather than cream linen covers that
show every stain.
In
the April 2009 edition of the ARLA (Association
of residential Letting Agents) “Agreement magazine there is a three
page feature. The article says that a growing number of letting agents are going
into holiday lets. These would be in the UK and don’t have to be by the sea. Cities
like Bath, Edinburgh, Oxford and London have a fifty two week a year appeal. Many
holiday lets are in fact used by business people who don’t want to stay in a hotel
for example. With
the strong euro and dollar against the weak pound sterling, many people will be
looking at staying in Britain this year. Advice in the ARLA article for Landlords/property
owners is not to skimp on fixtures and fittings and make sure that widescreen
televisions, Internet access quality kitchen and bathrooms are supplied. There
should be a good heating system and this of course applies to that holiday rental
in Spain or Portugal, particularly if you are attracting winter lets.
The
provision of a cleaner is essential, after all your guests are on holiday and
don’t want to spend the time cleaning. Dishwashers and washing machines should
also be supplied. The
Agreement article goes onto to define a “Holiday Home” A
property can be defined as a holiday home for tax reasons:
- If
it is available for letting to the public for at least 140 days of the year
-
It is furnished – meaning furnished so that people can live in it without having
to bring their own furniture.
-
It is occupied with paying guests for at least 70 days in the year
-
If individual lets do not exceed 31days
-
If the property is not let to the same person for more than 31 days in the year.
Tax
benefits are that a holiday home is treated as a business asset unlike a buy-to-let
property which is currently not. Thus a holiday home is more favourably treated
by the tax authorities – losses can be set against overall income and a Capital
Gains Tax exemption means that owners can roll up from selling to go on to buy
another holiday home (Source ARLA Agreement Magazine April 2009).
Remember
regarding tax on your holiday home income, many countries have tax treaties with
the UK, but you should check the situation out carefully so you don’t pay tax
in two countries. Many European countries now have methods of finding out who
owns a holiday home property and if the owners are paying tax.
Another
important area for homeowners to consider is the insurance on the holiday let.
Insurance written in English arranged via UK brokers and insurance companies make
a lot of sense. To find out more visit jml-insurance.co.uk.
If
you want to let that holiday property, you can advertise it at an incredibly reasonable
annual cost of £11.75 including VAT at jmlvillas.com.
Together with euro-rentavilla.com the website has been running since 2001.
©
jml Property Services April 2009
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