Latest / Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights / Where To Buy A Holiday Let In The UK

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Where To Buy A Holiday Let In The UK · Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights

0:00
Welcome to holiday. Let's Insider, the podcast that
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takes you behind the scenes of the holiday letting industry.
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Brought to you by Host Planet and Sykes Holiday Cottages, this
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show is packed with expert. Insights.
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Real world strategies. And actionable advice.
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To help you succeed as a holiday let host, I'm James Farley, the
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founder of Host Planet, and in each episode we'll dive into key
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topics like property management, guest experience, and revenue
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growth. And we'll be joined.
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By industry experts who know what it takes to thrive in this
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sector. In today's episode, we'll be
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discussing where to buy a holiday rental in the UK with
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Harriet Kerr from Sites Holiday Cottages.
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See if you can guess the top locations.
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Are you looking to take the hassle out of holiday letting
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while setting yourself up for success?
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With Sykes Holiday Cottages, you benefit from working with a team
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of real people with vast experience and knowledge, all
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providing a unique service to support you every step of the
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way. Eleven time consecutive winners
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of the best large company for UK holiday home rentals at the
1:06
British Travel Awards. Sykes uses industry leading
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pricing systems, dedicated account management and a network
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of more than 700 booking partners to help get the most
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out of your investment. Sykes aims to combine trusted
1:20
experience with local expertise to help make your holiday let's
1:24
a success. Get in touch today to find out
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more at the sykescottages.co.uk/letyourcottage.
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For further details. Hello and welcome to the very
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first episode of Holiday. Let's Insider.
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Today's special guest is Harriet Kerr, the portfolio director at
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Sykes Holiday Cottages. How's it going, Harriet?
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Great. Thank you.
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How's it going for you? Oh good.
1:52
Thank you. Yeah, the sun's shining so.
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Very happy. All right, today we're going to
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discuss making your first holiday.
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Home investment so. Just explain to us how Sykes
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helps people. Who are entering the market for
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the first time? Yeah, Thanks, James.
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I think it's really important to note that it, this is still very
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much holiday letting, is very much a thriving market.
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And for anyone entering the market, it may feel slightly
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overwhelming and there's lots of information and there's lots of
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changes going on. So it's really important for us
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to make it simple and straightforward and provide as
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much advice as as we possibly can.
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So for people entering the market, we've got lots of pieces
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of information available to them and we've also got lots of
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services available. So we can on our website, we've
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got a host of content which will provide articles on on how to
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approach holiday letting for success, how to optimize
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property, how to go about all the varying different things
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they need to know depending on where in the country they're
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looking to, to purchase. We've got a, a holiday homes for
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sale page, which are market marketplace full of holiday
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homes that are, that are for sale.
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We also have income calculators for people who are not sure on
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how much they may may earn, which give really good guidance
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on on the income based on the location and usually the size
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and any features of the of the property.
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And we also have mortgage comparisons, so anyone who's
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looking to obtain a, a holiday let mortgage.
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So we've got various different services available.
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So it depends on where they are in their journey, whether
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they're dreaming of something currently on holiday and
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dreaming of it, or whether they're a lot further down the
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line, we can help them. Yeah, really comprehensive set
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of resources. There and just.
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How important is it to do your research if you're getting
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involved in this sector? It's really important setting a
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property up for success at the very early stages and whether
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that's whether you're building, buying, planning, having a
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holiday home and setting it up is quite different to how you
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may live in a house and you know, and whether you for a
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residential use or long term less.
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So it's important to know, know your stuff and do lots of
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reading and or gain support from the experts.
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So for anyone who is slightly further down in their journey
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and they have a property and that maybe they're looking to
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renovate or they, they're not quite sure what to do.
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Our local experts can go to the property, give them local
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information if they're not from the area, local suppliers and
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support and also give advice, practical advice around
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important issues such as health and safety or again, how to to
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set the property up for success from a personal choice
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declaration perspective. But all the really important
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practical points of view to ensure that once the property's
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up and running, that the property gets the best reviews
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from the customers and holiday makers enjoy themselves
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ultimately. With Sykes, is it a case?
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With owners to give them as much hand holding as they might need
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during the journey. It really depends on what they
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need. If they're a seasoned,
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experienced holiday let owner who's been doing it for years,
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but perhaps they're looking for a different level of service,
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then we can on board them in a, in a super efficient way in a
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matter of hours. So however, if somebody's really
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on, on the early stages, we could handhold them and support
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them through their journey for years, genuinely.
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And we do see that. So it really depends on the
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level of service that that individual needs and, and how
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much advice and support they want.
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But they can work with us in any way they choose, really.
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There will be investors out there who know the area that
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they want to buy in. You know, maybe they've been
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holidaying to a particular seaside resort for years and
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they've always dreamed of owning somewhere there.
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But I guess there might be people out there who investors
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also that want to buy a whole dealer and they want to know
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what the best locations are to invest.
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So with that in mind, where are the places that people should be
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looking to buy the first rental? Yeah.
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I mean, we, we do, we publish lots of data around around this
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and, and, and hot off the press is some data in reference to
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sort of key locations. And really there's kind of five
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large locations. So those bit and it's it's no
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surprise that the locations are top holiday hotspots.
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So in first place is the Lake District and the number of key
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locations there. Grassmere, Windermere, bow nest
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and so on. The Cotswolds is, is a is a
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classic Stow on the world. I'm from Oxford, so know it well
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and both on the water. Cornwall.
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So the North Coast of Cornwall in you're focusing around
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Harvest Bay, Cran Top, Newquay, that kind of area, the peak
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districts and then also an up and coming location, which
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hasn't featured in our kind of top ten before is is Suffolk.
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So and it's also been noted as a kind of key location, but from
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the Lonely Planet as a new up and coming location.
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And so it's maybe we we're sort of referring to it as a location
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of 1 to watch. Excellent.
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Yeah. And it's.
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Suffolk, a place where perhaps you might be seeing more demand
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in future. And maybe there's not as much
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competition there as there are in places like the Cotswolds and
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Lake Districts, of course. Yeah.
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So one of the things that's not this, that's not really too
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surprising on some of these key locations are that they are year
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round locations. And you know, we, we've we see a
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lot of what we refer to as kind of staycation snacking and and
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like more shorter, more regular trips and and people booking
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last minute. So the locations such as the
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Lake District, Cotswolds, Peak District are quite easy to get
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to for and perhaps we're seeing that slightly maybe with
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Suffolk, although you know, for some it can be a lot further to
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go to, but perhaps for others it's a much place where it's
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sort of a shorter trip. So whereas some other locations
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such as Scotland and Cornwall, we tend to see longer trips in
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those locations because they're slightly further to get to.
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Yeah, of course you've got to get your get your money's worth
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if you've got a 5 or 6 hour drive or something like that.
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Are there any other up and coming locations that people
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should be having a look at? I mean, those are the main sort
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of key focus areas that we've looked at in our report.
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And it really does depends on, you know, what somebody's
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looking for from an investment. I mean, you know, in terms of
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the the cost, the output, whether they want to use the
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property themselves and so on or whether they're looking purely
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for an investment. So we like to say to people,
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talk to us about what are the, what are your, your needs, what
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you know from your business idea and we can help shape that for
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you. Yeah, always interests me with
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the holiday let industry that we have people on such a huge
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scale. You've got people who've got a a
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property maybe that they've inherited and they might use it
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a few times a year all the way up to the really serious
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investors who were looking to scale and scale as much as they
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can. What do you find that the split
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is between those people? Is it mostly people who've got
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their own rentals that they want to use several times a year or
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or is it a lot of like high end investors I guess?
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Genuinely like even splits and we see, you know, some people
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who are kind of hobbyists where it's, it's, it's their
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lifestyle, you know, so they live on site they want to
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provide, they've got lands, they want to provide good quality
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accommodation and they, they are part of the holiday experience.
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So they might, for example, provide a shepherd's pie on
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arrival and they'll organise local activities or provide a
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really fantastic local hamper. And then there are others that
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have never even been to their property.
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So they live overseas and, and so, and then there's every mix
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in between. So yeah, we do see a vast array
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of, of, of different reasons and that and there's, there's an
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emotive element to it too for some.
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So somewhere, you know, like, like you say, where they've
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inherited the property and they've got an emotional tie.
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So there's the decisions that they make aren't easy to make.
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And, you know, we're sympathetic to that.
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And we just, you know, we want to support owners in the best
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way that that we can that suits them.
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For others, I say if they've not been there and actually it's
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just a matter of how the income, the return of investment and the
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income that comes in, great, OK, we can support that too.
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So yeah, got the completely complete mix.
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I'm sure there are people out there listening who were really
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excited at the prospect of buying the first holiday rental.
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What would be the? Top bits of advice you would
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give them, maybe the top one or two things that they have to get
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right from the start. Yeah, I think getting getting
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the advice and talking to the right the right organisations
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around setting the property up for success.
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And, and when I say that, what that means is not only, you
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know, the, the sort of interior and the declaration, but the
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health and safety aspects, setting it up for thinking about
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from a customer perspective, ensuring that they that you're
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working with a reputable organization, give you good
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advice on income. And so therefore get the getting
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the pricing right. So to ensure that you optimise
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the number of the pricing and bookings and therefore the
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income and, and all, all of that, those that that you know,
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that's the sort of recipe for a successful business.
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And yeah, you know, gaining as much information as you possibly
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can at the earliest stages is key.
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And when owners work with you, what are your top tips for
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success in managing the property effectively?
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You know what are the kind of the common traits between the
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owners and the properties that that are really successful?
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I think so quality is key and ensuring that, you know, when
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people go on holiday, they usually want to go on holiday
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and stay in the place that's nicer than their own or you
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know, at least match their own if not nicer than their own.
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Responding to guest feedback. What what's up and running?
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Responding to guest feedback is. And again, this can be an
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emotive topic for some. For some owners, they find that
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they find it difficult that a customer may not have enjoyed
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their stay or may have made a comment on something that that
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to them was important and to an owner, not necessarily.
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So I think, you know, making sure that there is a response
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to, to all reviews. We, we work with owners around
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what's important to them. Is it, is it the income or is it
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the because for some they, they, some people have two properties
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and treat it to treat them completely differently.
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So that maybe that they want to get lots of property, lots of
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bookings in in one property because they want to maximise
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the income and then the other they want they're quite happy
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for there to be some open availability so that they can
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use it when it's not booked. So it really depends on what
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they are looking to achieve from their business, you know, but we
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always focus in on, on quality, health and safety, responding to
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reviews from a booking and and an income perspective, ensuring
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that the pricing is right and we can give obviously lots of
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different options and guidance around that.
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Accepting short breaks is also really important.
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We see it, we're seeing shorter, more regular trips, people
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booking last minute, really last minute, you know, so having the
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ability to book shorter breaks is really important.
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Yeah. I think that comes down to
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flexibility a lot of the time. And when it comes to flexibility
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with maybe the shorter breaks and particularly the pricing,
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how important is that and and how do you make sure that?
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You get the. Pricing, right?
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And especially when you're having those conversations with
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the owners at the start of, you know, making sure that the rate
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is something that they're going to be happy with.
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Yeah, we always try to provide a realistic income projection
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rather than anything that's that, you know that that's
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potentially pie in the sky. So yeah, we focus in on getting
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the get, setting the base price at the most realistic price.
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And then we have the ability depending on again on the
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choices the owner has that choice, the options the owner
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chooses, we have varying different things available that
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we can do to optimise that price.
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So we can move it upwards or downwards depending on the
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demand in in the market. And this is some of our
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superpower around understanding the demand that's in the market
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and optimising the price towards that.
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So if in in super peak, for example, we can see that there's
15:06
particular demand in an area, then we will look to to flexibly
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move those prices and vice versa at the times of the year.
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So setting that base price is, is really important.
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And again, we work with our owners and talk to our owners
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where we see performance perhaps off par or we see performance
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really flying, then we look to potentially move and increase
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those base prices and look at doing various reviews.
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Now, there are challenges in the holiday industry at the moment.
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There's lots of things being thrown at owners, whether it's
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tax changes or regulation or registration schemes, fire
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regulations, all this kind of thing.
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There will be people out there a little bit worried, thinking I'm
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not sure if I want to get involved in this, but what would
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your message be to people who perhaps are a little bit
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standoffish about investing at the moment?
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Yeah, it it, it absolutely is involving landscape for people
16:03
who are either joining or in the holiday letting industry.
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And the things that our owners are are most worried about are
16:10
increases in council tax, a potential levy, tourism levy and
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also the potential licensing schemes.
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That it that you know, these things do worry do worry people
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either entering or or currently in it.
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We, we, however, having said all all of that, only 3% of of our
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owners are leaving because of any regulatory issue.
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So you know, we see that as fairly small and actually 23%
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of, of owners that we spoke to are looking at investing in
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more. So, so they're already making a
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success out of what they currently do and they're looking
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at growing that, which I think is a really healthy, healthy
16:52
start. However, we, we support our
16:55
owners with, with all of these regulatory issues and we have a,
17:00
a, a highly skilled, knowledgeable team who are
17:04
working with the government and lobbying the government and to
17:08
make sensible decisions in this space.
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It's really important to us that the right decisions are made for
17:14
the right reasons. And we've seen in the past that
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hasn't always happened. And, you know, it's important to
17:20
us that we have a voice and that we have a voice on behalf of our
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owners. Yeah, Sykes is always really
17:25
good as sharing kind of what's going on in the industry as well
17:29
and the lobbying efforts, of course.
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And just how important is it to? Keep your owners.
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Informed about what's happening in the industry and how do you
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do that? Really important, you know, our,
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our CEO Graham has just recently been announced as the Chair of
17:43
the STAA, which is short term accommodation association who
17:48
work together to obviously support owners in this space.
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And I think it's really important for us to, to, you
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know, to ensure that we are communicating with owners about
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what may be up and coming, what we're, what we're doing about
18:02
it. We've invested heavily in
18:05
providing and, and collating data to share with the
18:08
government and talk about, you know, the importance of, of, of
18:13
varying topics, the empty housing, the, the economy, you
18:17
know, with the, the contribution to the local economies that,
18:20
that, that this sector brings. So I think it's important that
18:24
we continue to to do all of that, complete that activity and
18:28
communicate with our owners openly and honestly about what
18:32
what you know, changes on the change in landscape as it is.
18:36
Now, we've referenced it a couple of times, but a lot of
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the stats that you're talking about today are from your
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holiday letting Outlook report the 2025 version, which has just
18:44
come out. So if people want to see that,
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where can they find it? Yeah, that's right.
18:49
It's our 4th report annual report and it's and and we
18:53
collect this to really get a kind of sense check on, on you
18:57
know, kind of the industry. We also produce monthly pulse
19:01
reports which sort of provides insights into kind of a monthly
19:05
snapshot of kind of evolving trends and and behaviours.
19:09
So yeah, they can download it from our websites, fully
19:12
available, some really great stats in there and opinions.
19:16
Yeah, it's encourage people to go and take a look.
19:20
Yeah, definitely it is really, really useful and we've we've
19:24
prepared a lot of newsletters based on the various data that
19:27
Sykes shares and it's very interesting to see what's
19:29
happening in the holiday let's industry just.
19:32
Finally, then. Harriet, if people are
19:34
interested in working with Sykes, either with their
19:38
existing portfolio that or they want to get involved with
19:40
investment, where should they go For more information?
19:43
Yeah, on the Sykes website, so sites, cottages, sites
19:47
cottages.co.uk and they can go to let your property and all the
19:52
information that they that they're interested in lots of
19:55
various different articles they can find or just send an enquiry
19:59
through or pick up the phone. Superb.
20:02
We will put all those details in the show notes.
20:05
Harriet, thank you so much for joining us on the 1st.
20:07
Episode. Of Holiday Let Insider.
20:10
Thank you, James, lovely to speak to you.
20:12
Great to chat to Harriet Kerr there from Sykes Holiday
20:14
Cottages. I hope you found.
20:16
That episode useful? No surprise that the Lake
20:19
District and the Cotswolds are the best performing locations in
20:23
the UK. All right, that's it for today's
20:25
episode. If you're keen to work with
20:26
Sykes Holiday Cottages, head to sykescottages.co.uk/letyour
20:32
Cottage. For more free education tips and
20:35
trends from the STR industry, visit Houseplanet dot Club,
20:38
where you can sign up for our newsletter, listen to our
20:41
podcasts, and download load a suite of ebooks for hosts and
20:44
property managers. That's it for today's edition of
20:47
Holiday Let Insider. Until next time, happy hosting.