Holiday Let Service - Cornwall

 

Norfolk Holiday Lets

Holiday let booking service for your second home in Cornwall

It makes sense to earn a rental income from your second home in Cornwall to help with the running costs and maintenance expenditure. We have an easy to use and low cost letting service to help holiday home owners organise their guests who are usually, friends and colleagues. We also offer an advertising service utilising airbnb and other major channels if required. We understand that you will want to be selective when renting out your holiday home & also have control over how many bookings you wish to consider. Our staff are on hand to offer you the advice and assistance you need to set up & run your holiday let property.

                          
         

Advertise on the major holiday let booking websites

Consider our complete advertising & booking service only - 7%  plus vat 

We give you more major portal advertising than many of our competitors & for much less commission.  Email us for more info

We 'Channel Manage'  these different websites and process bookings and payments on your behalf and update the booking calendar systems. The major holiday let agencies all rely on these powerful advertising portals to get the majority of their bookings.

  

 

We also act as a back up service to help you run your holiday let, we are not a fully automated online platform but a busy and friendly lettings team offering support and advice to our property owners. -   Request our brochure 

Our holiday letting service includes:

 

 

Start receiving excellent services at reasonable cost:

We are here to assist holiday cottage owners with all aspects of their holiday let.

We have an excellent local knowledge, and can offer advice and assistance to potential guests wanting to know more about the locality.

Landlord Direct have the perfect availability, booking and payment service designed to dramatically reduce the cost of letting holiday cottages / farm stays / lodges.

 

 Step 1 

Advertising & channel manage your holiday let     

We will list your property on powerful Online Travel Agents , now household brand names. We will utilise these commission bearing marketing websites & build in the advertising commissions into the tariffs charged to the guests.

 We channel manage all the different Online Travel Agents from our master ical calendar that links to the OTA’s preventing double bookings. ( we can link to our client’s own ical booking calendar systems if required).

 We set the intricate pricing required for your property, to take account of seasonal pricing, short stay pricing, and late availability if required. This pricing is agreed with you then entered on each O.T.A. system and managed & updated as required.

 Step 2

Direct booking webpage for your property

We create a webpage for your property on our website landlorddirect.com . We personalise  this as much as possible to reflect the attractiveness of your property & optimised to achieve high google listings and to attract direct bookings for your holiday let.

    

Booking Calendar

Included on your webpage will be a Holiday Let Calendar that shows the prices and availability for your bookings. (We can link to our client’s own ical booking calendar systems if required). Email or telephone enquiries link through to the Landlord Direct Lettings Office, and our staff handle these booking enquiries on your behalf.

Step 3

Handle bookings   

Email or telephone enquiries link through to the Landlord Direct Lettings Office, and our staff handle these booking enquiries on your behalf.

We stick to your letting criteria, your do’s and don’ts.  We have a full consultation with you, we list the services you include with your cottage on your booking page, and also the ones you prohibit, so our booking staff can refer to your booking criteria at all times.

We sync and up date all booking calendars on all sites, to prevent double bookings.

Step 4

Handle payments

 We take payments from guests via the Online Travel Agent websites or directly if they come through our own website. We take payments by Visa and other Debit Cards or by bank transfer.

Insured Client Account

We arrange payments due to you monthly along with a statement of account. All client monies are held in insured client accounts. This gives peace of mind to both owners and guests.

We arrange payments to you along with statements of account. We are a registered 'Safe Agent' all client monies held are protected by client money protection insurance. ( Set to be a legal requirement for all agents ) All client monies are held in insured client accounts. This gives peace of mind to both owners and guests.

              

 

Send us your property details below and we will contact you to discuss short let options - without obligation:

 

 

 

 

Please send us some pictures of your holiday cottage by using our image uploader 

Our image upload will automatically resize your photos and then email them to us.

 

Prefer an informal chat about our service

Tel: 07951 712 958 to speak to our director Mark Hutchings.

 

Holiday Let Safety;

 

Need An Energy Performance Certificate - Legal Requirement

All holiday cottages must now have an EPC Energy Performance Certificate, they typically cost around £60 and last for 10 years.

See National database, Norfolk EPC Inspectors

Need Smoke Alarms or Carbon Monoxide Alarms Fitting - Legal Requirement

.

Read up to date fire health and safety requirements :

Landlord Gas Safety Certificates - Legal Requirement

Whether Calor or Mains gas, it is a legal requirement for holiday cottage owners to obtain a 'Landlord Gas Safety Certificate' carried out by a Gas Safe engineer annually.

Calor Gas Suppliers 

For Calor Gas ref-fills or to set up new storage tanks or the supply of Calor cookers 

Electrical Certification & PAT Testing

We would recommend that you obtain a 5 year periodic electrical certificate for your holiday let, and arrange for all portable electrical items PAT tested annual. 

Open Fires & Log Burners

Make sure all flues and chimneys are swept at least annually and keep the receipt or certificate. Visually check the condition of log burner flue seals and arrange for repairs of you feel they may need resealing. An air vent in an external wall in the same room as the log burner should be in place, and a carbon monoxide alarm as mentioned above. If you intend letting your property to families we would suggest that you supply a fire guard to open fires and log burners.

Fire Risk Assessment

Landlord Direct will write a fire risk assessment for our  holiday let managed clients if it is a standard holiday cottage this should be a straight forward matter. mark@landlorddirect.com

Fire Blanket

We recommend that a fire blanket be fixed to the kitchen wall in a position between the cooker and internal entrance door.

Holiday Let Insurance

Holiday let property must have a specialist insurance policy in place, general buy to let insurance is unlikely to cover the holiday let 'short stay' use. There are therefore specialist insurance brokers out there who are set up to secure you the correct insurance policy on good terms. Apart from insuring the actual fabric of the building, these policies protect cottage owners against Public Liability claims, absolutely essential when you have paying guests staying.

Authority From Lender

You may already have purchased your property on a Buy to Let mortgage, however if you have a lender for the property , please check with them that you are able to let out the property as a Furnished Holiday Let as this could affect your insurance policy.

Immigration (Hotel Records) Order 1972 - Keep Records Of Your Bookings

The Immigration Order places a legal duty on all owners or the managers of all serviced and self-catering accommodation to keep a record of the name of all guests over the age of 16 years old and to take a note of their on-going destination usually their home address, for at least 12 months. The Landlord Direct booking service is designed to capture this needed information and we keep appropriate records.

The Equality Act 2010 

Although some holiday cottage owners do not allow pets, under the Equality Act all holiday cottage owners cannot refuse a booking from a registered blind person accompanied by their guide dogs. Further the act states owners should do anything that is practically reasonable to assist a disabled guest.

Bunk Beds Regulations

prohibit the supply of bunk beds which could cause a child to be injured or killed, as a result of their becoming wedged or trapped. A bunk bed must not have any: • gap in the bed base greater than 75mm (approx. 3”) • gap elsewhere which is less than 60mm (approx. 2.5”) or more than 75mm Any gap permitting access to the raised bunk should only be in the safety barrier on one of the long sides of the bed, and be of a minimum width of 300mm (12”). Note: The safety of mattresses is discussed separately in the section on upholstered furniture. By means of simple measurement, you should be able to make sure whether a bunk bed satisfies the ‘gap’ requirements detailed above. If you are in any doubt about a particular gap size, you should contact your local Trading Standards Service to arrange for more accurate measurements to be made with a special probe. The general safety of bunk beds can be simply tested by checking for such things as stability, rigidity, sharp edges etc. Some bunk beds may also be marked with a British Standard number. This is currently BS EN 747

Furniture Regulations

Most holiday cottage owners will by new furniture and soft furnishings which will have to meet up to date regulations, however older furniture should always be checked.

make sure all your furniture and furnishings meet the regulations. They must carry an appropriate permanent label at point of sale.

What do the Regulations Say?

As from 1st January 1997 all furniture in tenanted residential property must comply with the 1993 amendments to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 which extends the scope of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (CPA). This covers the supplying (hiring or lending) of specified goods (upholstered furniture and certain furnishings) “in the course of business”.

A landlord letting her own home over an extended period, perhaps to different tenants, would be deemed to be “letting in the course of business” and would need to comply. We would therefore strongly recommend that anyone, regardless of whether they see themselves as running a business or not, should make absolutely sure they are complying with these regulations.

Prescribed Items

The regulations apply to:

Excluded Items

Compliance

Furniture which complies carries a manufacturer’s label which must be permanent and non-detachable.

All upholstered items must have fire resistant filling material.

All upholstered items must pass the “match resistance test” as prescribed.

All upholstered items must also past the “cigarette test” as prescribed.

Bed bases and mattresses are not required to bear a permanent label but compliance will be indicated if the item has a label stating that it meets BS7177

 

Legionella Checks

“someone who rents out a building or accommodation” including holiday cottage owners have a responsibility to prevent and risk control exposure to Legionella.

The best solution is to pay a specialist contractor to carry out a Risk Assessment. If it reports a low risk it is unlikely you will need to re-assess annually perhaps every 5 years or of there is a material change

Window Blind Cords

Window blind cords need to be fixed high enough off the ground to prevent young children being at risk, this is a legal requirement for all rental property  some blinds are fitted with a easily detachable catch .

Safe Use Of Cleaning Substances 

Always store cleaning products and chemicals in a place that cannot be reached by children. Do not store cleaning products in base kitchen units or low level cupboards. Ideally let your cleaners bring their own cleaning products , and do not store any products in your holiday let, apart from washing up liquid and bathroom soaps.

V.A.T.

Most holiday cottage owners, will not derive a turnover of more than  £ 82,000 per year , and so will not have to charge V.A.T.

 

 

 

Holiday Let Agreement Owner webpage Booking Calendar Norfolk Inspections