How to maximise your holiday let income

The popularity of UK holiday lets has increased substantially over the past few years, with more and more customers looking to book a staycation.  This has also meant that evermore holiday let properties are coming onto the market. So how do you, as a homeowner, enure that your property is the one that customers choose?  In this article, we provide you with some sure-fire ways to give your property that extra appeal, attract even more customers and increase your holiday let income.

The UK holiday let market

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, UK staycations to coastal areas in the South West, such as Devon, were popular. However, with international travel restrictions in place for much of 2020 & 2021, there was a boom in demand for places to stay all over the UK. With this many have opted to invest in this market, making it more competitive than ever. As customers are slowly returning to international travel, it’s important that you know how to make your property stand out from the crowd & ensure you get a return on your investment.

Having worked in the holiday cottage letting industry for over 10 years for a national company, below I’ve shared with you my top tips to increase your holiday let income.

Choosing an experienced agent will save you time and money!

There are so many options on how to let your holiday property nowadays.  It may seem straightforward to let and manage your property yourself on such online portals such as Airbnb or Vrbo.  Whilst the loading of the property on these sites may be simple, there is a lot more to consider than just the loading process.  Choosing an experience holiday let agent, will help guide you along the way with multi-faceted issues such as:

• the correct pricing of the property
• Health & Safety compliance
• replying to customers quickly
• dealing with customer issues during and after their stay
• advice on how to increase the popularity of your property to maximise your income

A good holiday let agent is akin to a good accountant. We could all submit our end of year tax statements directly, but would we do as good a job as an accountant? Your accountant should ultimately save you time and money, with their intimate knowledge of the topic. An experienced holiday let agent, like us here at Cottages On The Coast, will help you understand the market and who your property will appeal to. Thus providing you with peace of mind and great value for money; allowing you to focus your time on other things.

Accept pets

There is more and more demand for properties that accept pets. Over a third of all bookings on our website come with a pet in the party, and our dog friendly cottages page is one of the most searched-for pages on our website.  It is one of the simplest things you can do to ensure an increase in bookings.

If you do accept pets, then you may want to ensure that your property is ‘pet ready’. Having easy to clean pet-friendly furniture, hard flooring, a secure enclosed garden are some of the primary things to look at when accepting pets.

Offer Wi-Fi to your guests

Having access to Wi-Fi is so commonplace in our lives that most guests would assume that Wi-Fi is in place as standard at every holiday property. However, this is not always the case. As a holiday let owner, it is important not to assume that customers will leave their phone alone during their stay, so thus having Wi-Fi available will not be that important. Guests want to get away from it all in terms of their daily life, but still want to engage with social media and family back home. Some may even need to do work online whilst away, or even book a break away specifically for some peace whilst working on a focussed project.

Ensuring you not only have Wi-Fi but that it is unlimited and has a strong signal is so important to a holiday let property and the level of bookings it will receive.

Get the right pricing strategy

Price is one of the key deciding factors for potential guests. It may be obvious, but if a property is too expensive, it will struggle to attract bookings. People are always looking for value for money. They will compare your property with the features it has and other properties on offer in the area to decide if it is good value.

We have vast experience here at Cottages On The Coast at creating pricing strategies for each property.  We take into account criteria such as the location, the size of the property, the features of the property and the time of the year.  Our pricing strategy is designed to maximise your income, finding the right balance between the demand levels and the achievable rental rate.

Use inspiring photography

I can’t underestimate how important the photographs you are using to promote your property are.  You can have a well-written, detailed description of the property, but if your photographs do not show the property at its best, then your bookings will suffer as a result.  The old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” could not be more true in this respect.  This is why we invest so much into the photography for each of our properties, by using experienced, professional photographers who can deliver the best result for each property. We also have access to drone photography and 3D virtual property tours for those properties that will benefit from this.

What do good-quality property photos look like?

Your property photographs need to be clear, sharp and bright. They need to show off the property to potential customers, highlighting the main features and selling points of the property.  You want guests to feel inspired to book your holiday cottage, rather than scrolling through to another property.

Add a touch of luxury

Many holidaymakers are now searching for properties with those ‘added extras’ when it comes to the features they offer.  These features may be things that guests do not have in their own homes like hot tubs, fire pits and wood burners. However, they may also be features that are important to their modern lifestyles and will determine what property they choose, such as electric car charging points.

Cost vs benefit

Adding such luxury features will require a bit of investment and you will need to consider what your return on investment will be and what practical implications adding them will have. A hot tub for example can really help give your property a point of differentiation in a crowded marketplace, and can boost bookings and income on average by around 20%.  Investing in a hot tub will run into a few thousand pounds, but with the right pricing strategy you should see a return on investment over the subsequent 3 – 4 years.

It is important to be strategic when adding a luxury feature. For example, if you have strong summer bookings, but struggle in winter months, then you may want to add a feature such as a wood burner.  Such features add an all-year-round appeal, as there is nothing better than warming up by a fire after a winters walk. The data backs this up, with properties with an open fire or wood burner achieving 30% more bookings in the Autumn/ winter months than those without.

Focus on attention to detail

When looking to maximise your holiday potential, it can be the smallest details that can help.  A well-stocked kitchen, a few surprise items in the guests’ welcome basket, plump bed pillows and good quality bed linen – these are just a few that, if present, will have a big impact on your guests’ stay. Now these will not generally be reasons why guests will book the property in the first instance.  However, they will be very important reasons why a guest will book the property again.

If you have flatbed pillows and average quality linen and towels, then as much as the guests may have had a nice stay at the property, these will act as barriers to them booking again.

By focusing on the details and adding useful extras to your holiday home you are paving the way to return business. Guests are likely to return to a holiday home in which they had a carefree holiday or recommend it to their friends and family.

Listen to guest feedback

In any industry, it is important to listen to what your customers have to say.  This is no different in the self-catering holiday let market. Paying close attention to your guest feedback will help improve the guest experience for future guests and produce positive guest reviews.

It is important not to take guest feedback personally.  Use any feedback constructively and allow your agent to communicate with guests, as they will be well-versed in doing this.  You will never be able to act on every bit of feedback delivered, but it is important to offer channels for your guests to deliver this feedback.

At Cottages On The Coast, we offer a variety of options for guests to deliver feedback to us. Whether it be via our office in Westward Ho!, email, our Google Business profile or our virtual Touchstay property guidebook.

If you own a holiday let in North Devon or Exmoor & are interested in using our services then please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.