Accomodation costs

Yeah it's how the world is now. £100 seems to be the going rate, apart from the odd Premier Inn in winter... but once getting to summerish, it's £100+. Even the Premier Inn at Fort William was £170 a night.

I've just found a bunkhouse place which wants £63 a night in a bunk roomed dorm of 20!

Yeah, loads of glorified camping pods for £90+ a night.

And don't get me started on trying to find Airbnb accommodation with secure bike storage... Grrr. It'd help if there was a filter for it.

Anyone else finding this too?

I had to pop over to Edinburgh for an event and available accommodation for a Saturday night  in November ranged from £500 to £1000 for the night. I haven't paid lass than £200 for midweek overnight in a Travelodge there for quite a while.

I worked there last year for 8 months and we had an accondation allowance of £370 per week and by the end of the stint places were wanting £330 per night. I think we can very realistically expect to see the festivals and  film industry (which was tipped to bring half a billion into the town over the next couple of years) in Edinburgh totally crash and burn over the next year if those sorts of prices persist.

Not just in the UK. We had a road trip in America a bit before Christmas and it was around $100 for a budget motel room (and that was definitely low budget in cleanliness and quality). Over $200 in Moab. All out of season and mostly empty places.

Yea, seems like the norm. You can still find the odd bargain but the last work trip I did we stayed in the Holiday Inn, M6, Junction something or other, near Stoke on Trent and it was eye wateringly expensive (and really, REALLY bad).

I think last year it seemed like they were all packed with a mix of UK holidays and kids sports (football, dance comps etc). I guess directly as a result of Covid and with 2 years worth of events being put off. Surprised they're still high though, but then I guess £100+/night is still a lot cheaper than a foreign holiday.

Absolutely, some eye watering amounts for the glamping style stuff particularly.

Demand clearly outstripping supply, I really find this on the West coast of Scotland and the islands. Places I've got on my list to visit for years and never been due to some of the prices.

From the perspective of somebody who runs a holiday cottage:

Costs are rocketing for us too, energy for heating, laundry costs, travel costs to get to the property, fees for the booking portals (all approx 15%), new Scottish holiday let license, correct insurance, maintenance, appliances replacement, etc.

Additionally a lot of self catering is now full week bookings

Yep, on average we get a longer booking (3 weeks+) once a year, often in off season. That is worth far more to us than blocking the calendar out with odd weekends here or there. I would rather leave it empty waiting for a longer booking.

We have a holiday cottage in the garden we run and because of that frequent a few Facebook groups and the like.

Yes - there are some hefty prices out there. Airbnb especially - with flat rates with only minimum discounts for booking a full week making them very expensive for week long stays.

Scotland specific - a new licence coming in. Probably a good thing but the licence is not cheap (ours will be circ £450) and also lots on the to do list to apply for one (EPC certs, electrical safety certs, pat checks, water quality checks) most of which we did already but some places were not (was not actually a legal requirement). This will be passed on to guests.

Supply and demand - a lot more places are shutting because of heating costs in shoulder months - holiday accom on commercial rather than domestic contracts are not protected by energy price caps. Those places staying open are upping their prices partly to make it worth their while opening with increased costs and partly because they can as competition closes.

Staffing issues - getting cleaners is a ball ache now more than ever. The people we used in 2021 wanted to increase their price by 70% for 2022. Fortunately we had options but others will have be 'blackmailed' into it....and passed it on.

Laundering......has got soooooo expensive. Mind you - would you want to be running a high energy use sme at the moment! And that will be being passed on to customers.

Sadly the financial numbers for the next couple of years look pretty bleak.

Yep. Its a real pain as has stopped me taking a few short breaks as i just cant justify the expense.

Many years ago I used to pop up to the lakes with my mate, in summer, on a Saturday and go for a ride and then find a b&b near a pub for £25 pppn. Those days seem almost mythical now.

So - If airbnb is understood to be expensive (as a few have said) where should one be looking???

Supply and demand.

Aviemore was rammed this past couple of weeks - possibly as busy as I've ever seen it. Also in this past week, three planning applications to add 60 more holiday units in total. Nobody has any idea who is going to service them though as there is already a shortage.

If airbnb is understood to be expensive

All the booking sites take a similar cut, the fees are presented differently but they all work out about the same.

I think because it is so easy to use that it attracts some of the more 'opportunist' operators who jack up their prices.

@convert and @robola - agreed that every cost is going up, and that staffing and resourcing is under huge pressure - and clearly there is a shortage of accomodation.

eye wateringly expensive (and really, REALLY bad)

This seems to be the combination at the bottom of the market. The midrange, professionally run is good and getting better, it's the lower end that is really poor... 🙁

The only thing I have to add to this is buy a good tent or a van to sleep in. Save the cash for a new bike

I posted about this last year.

My son is a freelance model maker and was using travel lodge type hotels staying Monday to Friday. Typically they were £160 to £180 for the four nights. February last year they jumped to that per night. It made freelancing unviable. He was earning £5-600 per week.

I was told I was being ridiculous expecting the costs to remain that low, but every business that is having employees staying away from home are not going to be able to sustain that type of cost increase indefinitely.

The only thing I have to add to this is buy a good tent or a van to sleep in. Save the cash for a new bike

You've seen the cost of a) vans and b) campsites too?

A lot of hosts have got used to the boom times during covid and some are asking unrealistic prices. Holiday cottage agencies advise customers on what are realistic prices and without that guidance people can get carried away on the likes of AirBnB and booking.com, what kind of occupancy rate they get is another matter.

I run an AirBnB in the Forest of Dean (3 bed, with secure bike storage #stealthadd) and I know of others nearby that have high rates but are empty a lot of the time. I suspect many just want to get to the magic 105 days booked per year so they don't have to pay council tax and are happy to keep it empty the rest of the time

We notice a marked increase in campsite prices throughout the back end of last year for UK sites. Now around double their equivalent European sites were charging at the same time. Expecting further hikes in prices for this year.

I run an AirBnB in the Forest of Dean (3 bed, with secure bike storage #stealthadd)

That's the single most irritating thing about most of the booking sites, no filter for bike storage.

I'm trying to find a place to stay for 3 nights within an hour or so of Torridon, with bike storage, on the 27th to 30th April. Can I ****!

I've got a week guided trip up there from the 30th, going to do a few days in Peebles beforehand but fancied a couple of extra days in the area to see some of Skye/have an easy ride. Also I really don't fancy doing the 12hr drive from Kent to Torridon in a day...

#stealthwantedadvert...

If you want cheap the ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam can be booked midweek for around £65 each way for 2 people as foot passengers. Granted it's not much use if you don't want to go to Amsterdam but it's way cheaper than a Premier Inn.

The last time I was away I stayed in a Travelodge in Whyteleafe on a which was pretty horrid. It was £135 for one night (Wednesday) which included a terrible breakfast. A year or so ago that would have been £65-75 and even then would have been too expensive.

If you want cheap the ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam can be booked midweek for around £65 each way for 2 people as foot passengers.

so if I’m working in Newcastle I’m best booking a return to Amsterdam and back every night and just sleep on the ferry 🙂

Holiday cottage agencies advise customers on what are realistic prices and without that guidance people can get carried away on the likes of AirBnB and booking.com, what kind of occupancy rate they get is another matter.

Indeed.

But even on the owner FB groups for the likes of Sykes there are some idiot owners. Sykes give you advice but you can override it. Owners posting things along the lines of 'well with pricing going up and booking falling away I've got no choice but to request Sykes put my prices up by 50% with no basic understanding that if you the owner are feeling the pinch your punters are too!

This seems to be the combination at the bottom of the market. The midrange, professionally run is good and getting better, it’s the lower end that is really poor… 🙁

The worst bit was they only booked it as it was the only option with availability for ~30 people for 6 weeks. The brand new Marriott Courtyard which was near enough the same price up the road lost the job because they were a few rooms short on some dates!

I’m trying to find a place to stay for 3 nights within an hour or so of Torridon, with bike storage, on the 27th to 30th April. Can I ****!

@ta11pau1

http://www.stevecarter.com/minch/Minch.htm

We stayed there a year or so back. Lovely place, they had a shed we used, but two of the bikes we just locked to the fence. Totally hidden, and it's Torridon, not Easter houses.

He lists more which are not on usual cottages site.
http://www.stevecarter.com/ansh/ansh7.htm

As a family we bill a lot of cottages. Full weeks since where touristy

Prices are definitely up. Although not crazy. In think we lucked in Autumn Half term. Lots of discounts in Devon. Well the crazy no chance pandemic price crossed out and then an ok price written in.

We paid £600 i for a 4 bed flat. Lovely sea view. Garage nearby. Can’t complain really

I have seen cottages on Airbnb that I’ve just seen on a tradition website but 25% more expensive

I wonder if the hotels thing is partly staff and brexit?

My chance his arm uncle, free from the inconvenience of needing to earn a living is off to a small a flat in Cornwall for all of January. Bills paid, £500, for the month

But that’s the exception

Torridon you say??

The descent to Annat passes the back garden of this one.

https://www.maryrankincottage.co.uk/

This all sounds like an opportunity to get the kids into wild camping next year.

I did quite a lot of working away during the pandemic and was getting the nice premiere inns and Travelodges for less than £30 a night during lockdown. Changed times.

Even Travel lodges are out of our reach as a family now. They only allow max 4 per room so with 3 kids you need 2 rooms. Doable in the old days say £120-200 for a stopover but now looking at £300-400 to stay with earshot of a major motorway junction.

There's still some winter cheapness.... we're in a Premier Inn this weekend for £52.... in a couple of weekends time it was £56... Both on Sat evenings.

They only allow max 4 per room so with 3 kids you need 2 rooms.

We did many a night with the 5th on floor with a camping mat. We just used to head out with one kid and come back in with two, while third was in room. Ahem.

All good until they're teens.

http://www.stevecarter.com/minch/Minch.htm

We stayed there a year or so back. Lovely place, they had a shed we used, but two of the bikes we just locked to the fence. Totally hidden, and it’s Torridon, not Easter houses.

He lists more which are not on usual cottages site.
http://www.stevecarter.com/ansh/ansh7.htm/blockquote >

Torridon you say??

The descent to Annat passes the back garden of this one.

https://www.maryrankincottage.co.uk/

Cheers both, saw the second one already, it's booked up. Will have a look at the first one.

I'll add it's only me so only need a small place, have emailed the Kinlochewe hotel as they had an article on DMBINS about their bike storage but there's zero mention of it on the website...

Worse case I can spend a few more days in the Tweed Valley, or stick the bike in the car for a few days.

 

Lots of self-catering places only take bookings in week blocks because of the difficulty in arranging change-overs - some places here struggle to find housekeepers as everyone’s busy at the weekend, so they pay a premium and increase their charges.
Had someone on the local FB group moaning that they couldn’t find self-catering anywhere for 8 nights…

Booked a Premier Inn at Heathrow in April for £52 - was expecting to get reamed

We did many a night with the 5th on floor with a camping mat. We just used to head out with one kid and come back in with two, while third was in room. Ahem.

Like your style...have considered it but one kid cannot be left alone (freaks out), one has the sense & enthusiasm of a Labrador puppy and the other is very obviously disabled. It'd be like an unsolvable version of those the fox, the goose and the corn puzzles.

I suspect many just want to get to the magic 105 days booked per year so they don’t have to pay council tax and are happy to keep it empty the rest of the time

That’s wrong. They should be absolutely clobbered imo. Taking housing away from locals and not even paying in to the local community. System is ****ed.

Soz for the off tangent rant.

Lots of self-catering places only take bookings in week blocks because of the difficulty in arranging change-overs – some places here struggle to find housekeepers as everyone’s busy at the weekend, so they pay a premium and increase their charges.

Also, the changeover cost is the same whether the guest stays for a week or one night, so the net profit on short stays won't be much, hence why some don't offer it.

Also, the changeover cost is the same whether the guest stays for a week or one night, so the net profit on short stays won’t be much, hence why some don’t offer it.

Yes to both of these points. Also, if you take a short let it basically blocks you out for a week long let unless you are really lucky and someone else wants the spare bit.

For context to potential bookers here is our maths:-

3 bed, 3 bathroom that can take 6 people....

Changeover clean - £110 if we can't do it ourselves (was going to be £180 if we had not found a local couple and stuck was a cleaning agency)
Laundry - £70 for a full house if we sub it out (I tend to do it - gotta love an evening of ironing after a days normal work. But I am a master of the air dried fluffy towel.)
Welcome pack - £12

Basically for us the holiday let is the equivalent of a part time job - probably a day and halfs work a week in season and then as much DIY as I can do myself out of season to keep the costs down in addition to 2 fully time jobs. Doing a midweek changeover we would have to farm out and (as above) once you take those costs into account, take away the agent commission and utilities and build in something for breakages and wear and tear, the number just don't make sense.

I went up the West Coast of Scotland the year before Covid. Having been born in Stirling and a father from Arbroath , and lived in Edinburgh , I know the Easter Coast quite well.

Accommodation places even then were stupidly high - supply and demand, I guess. And some were truly awful (Cairhdown Stagecoach Inn being the best example). Air BnB in Skye started at 100 quid a night. The NW 500 accommodation had been booked for months in advanc.

In view of the amount of seafood that must be available - the food was also rubbish!
We came home.

But with utility prices going up , mortgages going up then overnight accommodation is going to be more expensive. And also in Europe

OK, we’re going to have a ground floor double room, ensuite,shared kitchen/dining facilities, secure bike storage, in our house in around a years time in the Dumfries area.30 mins from Dabeatties/Mabie/Ae. We dont intend to market it much, just word of mouth from friends/family etc to get people to stay. (Oh, and some stealth advertising on STW!).
What would be a realistic price per night?
I think it has got to be £75 a night, is that about right?
It isnt going to be a business, well, it will be for the OH, but not a necessary one, we wont need it to be full, and, TBH, I rather it was empty most of the time anyway.

Places we spoke to on the Isle of Wight last year said they couldn't find staff post brexit, I wonder if the availability of cleaning and maintenance staff has dropped enough to affect business across the board?

It's called inflation and supply/demand along with the cost of doing business.

The first Youth Hostel I stayed in, Mankinholes, cost 70p for the night 🙂

It’s very annoying that YHA haven’t really returned to their core mission of dorm rooms at cheap prices.

Scottish Youth Hostels are still a reasonable £22-£30 a night it seems.

OK, we’re going to have a ground floor double room, ensuite,shared kitchen/dining facilities, secure bike storage, in our house in around a years time in the Dumfries area.30 mins from Dabeatties/Mabie/Ae. We dont intend to market it much, just word of mouth from friends/family etc to get people to stay. (Oh, and some stealth advertising on STW!).
What would be a realistic price per night?
I think it has got to be £75 a night, is that about right?
It isnt going to be a business, well, it will be for the OH, but not a necessary one, we wont need it to be full, and, TBH, I rather it was empty most of the time anyway.

£75 equals £525pw. That would be a lot for what you are offering but as above, the changeover is the hard bit. Discount for longer rents (you want these)? High season and low season rates? I'd do some soft opening freebies/cheapies and work out how many hours a changeover will take. Work out how cheap you value your time (or your wife's!) and factor that in as well as what the market will bear. That's assuming you plan on doing the cleaning and laundry yourself. Are you lives flexible enough to do a changeover any (and every) day of the week or would you have to block out availability when you can't service it?

Are you aware of the Scottish Short term lets licencing that is coming in in April? It's firstly a bit of work and money getting all the info and certificates needed; secondly it's money (ours will be £450). Thirdly - you might have an issue getting a licence with the shared facilities aspect if it's shared with you, the owner (you need to give them floorplans as part of the application). Lastly - as a newbie who has not already been operating you need the licence in place before you can advertise or accept any guests. Rumour has it, it might take months from application to getting your licence. Then lasty lastly, reapplications once up and running will only be granted if you provably have a record of nights booked - varies between region but we'll need 120 nights a year actually occupied for our licence. Part time hustles like you describe just ain't going to get and keep a licence and it a £2.5K fine for operating without a valid licence.

It’s a shame that the new short term letting rules in Scotland will push out all the folk renting out their house or spare room part time. Unintended consequences no doubt but it will only push up prices and professional outfits will snap up a bigger share of the market.

The basic rules are a great idea (fire safety plans, safety checks and escape routes) but the additional beurocracy is totally unnecessary and just adds costs and work. For instance why do you need planning permission and a license in some areas. Surely just have a license and control it under one set of rules/one system.

Anyway one things for sure prices are only going one way, unfortunately.

Yeah that does sound like a nightmare!

I've got somewhere booked now, had to give up on the bike storage requirement but it's a remote place in Kishorn so I can't see there being any issues - I'll chuck the bike in the boot if I'm worried.

I had a choice of places in the Peebles part of my stay with bike storage, but then that's a much more popular area.

It could be worse.

I was rather reluctant to pay £300 at a Premier Inn or £450 for an AirBnB in Merseyside for a two night stay this summer for a family event.

However, a family member is pushing for Centreparcs at Sherwood.
£850 due to minimum stay.
Per family.
There's three families.
Plus two great aunt's and elderly father (who we're expected to pay for, as they can't afford it).
And we can only stay two nights due to work commitments.
😱😱😱

On my summer/autumn UK road trip this year I was in the south of the UK during holiday season and the north of the UK after holiday season. I was using AirBnB and it was much cheaper & plentiful in the south than north?

Are you aware of the Scottish Short term lets licencing that is coming in in April? It’s firstly a bit of work and money getting all the info and certificates needed; secondly it’s money (ours will be £450). Thirdly – you might have an issue getting a licence with the shared facilities aspect if it’s shared with you, the owner (you need to give them floorplans as part of the application)

Well, that’s that sideline finished before it even started then. We were thinking of one or 2 night stays, which is what we think people want. But reaching such bureaucracy levels is not going to happen for us, the safety aspect I can see, but the extra cash upfront, that means it’d have to be rented for 10 days or so just to cover admin costs makes the whole thing unsuitable for what we’d like.
Oh well, back to families and friends, which TBH, was what I was hoping for anyway.

£86 for one night in Liverpool this week, parking and breakfast included. That’s the Holiday Inn so not the Ritz, but good enough for one night on my own for work.

It’s a shame that the new short term letting rules in Scotland will push out all the folk renting out their house or spare room part time. Unintended consequences no doubt but it will only push up prices and professional outfits will snap up a bigger share of the market.

Counterpoint:

It's a shame that short term lets push out folk who what to live somewhere and contribute to the local economy.

The trouble with holiday lets (especially ones only let for less than the ~120 days) is they're also robbing all the local shops and businesses of an extra customer the other 8 months of the year.

On my summer/autumn UK road trip this year I was in the south of the UK during holiday season and the north of the UK after holiday season. I was using AirBnB and it was much cheaper & plentiful in the south than north?

Sounds about right tbh, the more supply there is, the less demand and so prices are cheaper. Everyone and their dog are renting out their spare room/shed/tent in the garden.

1 bed apartment with parking (attached to the house) in Cardrona was £86 a night for 4 nights, and a 1 bed Cabin on Loch Kishorn was £110 a night for 3 nights.

Difference being there's an abundance of places to rent in the Tweed valley, and very few places that don't require a full week, or that aren't a boutique hotel for £300 a night in Torridon! 🤣

It's not all bad. I stayed at the Barnsley Premier Inn midweek last month and it was quite reasonable.

The price, that is. The room smelled of damp and breakfast was in a Brewers Fayre next door.

Your quite right holiday houses do push up house prices and can push people out of the area due to lack of residential lets. However there is a balance. Holiday let’s accommodate the tourists who spend locally sustaining the local businesses. Without tourists a lot of jobs would be lost. However without workers a lot of these local businesses can’t operate. Not sure what the right balance is. In my area tourism is throughout the year with very few quiet spells maybe at most 8 weeks a year.

One answer would be a lot more local authority housing but that doesn’t have enough funding at the moment. Plenty of demand though.

The trouble with holiday lets (especially ones only let for less than the ~120 days) is they’re also robbing all the local shops and businesses of an extra customer the other 8 months of the year.

A hard balance to find - a vacationer could well have a slap up pub dinner every night, could be spending more in local businesses than a year round local. Or, they might be getting an Asda delivery and self catering.

What businesses tourists use, and how, and when, is a complex equation to manage.

It’s a shame that the new short term letting rules in Scotland will push out all the folk renting out their house or spare room part time

Why will it?  It won't deter me at all.  Infact I think its a damn fine idea as it will push out all those who want to holiday let a substandard property.  Mine was going to be done to well above the standards required anyway.  Get rid of the crap places and the folk letting a good place will flourish.  Same as the argument for the minimum wage.  it keeps those who do it well protected from competition from those who cut corners.  some of the places I have seen are barely habitable

To me the 120 days is the barrier that is pretty high. If you are letting a room or a what was small granny flat 120 days a year I quite a high occupancy rate for something that may have seasonal demand.

The only thing I have to add to this is buy a good tent

Campsite are in an even worse situation. Loads take no tents, have minimum stays and have probably increased even more than hotels.

TJ from what I’ve read getting an STL license for a flat will be very difficult. Nothing to do with standards of accommodation it’s a reaction by the council’s following complaints about travellers disturbing neighbours. Currently it’s a blanket no from Glasgow and Edinburgh councils on flats with shared access applying for a license.

Get rid of the crap places and the folk letting a good place will flourish.

You have more faith in your local authority than I do in mine. They have basically said that most of the application is on good faith and that they would only verify the compliance of a property if a pattern of complaints emerged.

My plans remain very fluid.  It was my intent to let my flat for STL while away but ow its 50/50.  No noise issues with mine anyway.

I have no real issue with this as STL have created huge issues both on the supply of housing and in upsetting neighbours along with frankly dangerous condition STLs

A bunch of my pals hired a house for a weekend.  No fire alarms, no safety certs, dangerous gas appliences.  If it stops that than its all good

Your quite right holiday houses do push up house prices and can push people out of the area due to lack of residential lets. However there is a balance. Holiday let’s accommodate the tourists who spend locally sustaining the local businesses. Without tourists a lot of jobs would be lost. However without workers a lot of these local businesses can’t operate. Not sure what the right balance is. In my area tourism is throughout the year with very few quiet spells maybe at most 8 weeks a year.

Our old buy to let flat was rented over 11 years to (mainly) staff from the local timeshare, hotel and pub. We also had a council decorator and librarian. It was one of a shrinking number of privately rented accommodations in the area.

It too is now an AirBnB.

I don't know where the balance is. But I do know that there needs to be some more capacity, at a balance of costs in many areas - both AirBnB and long term homes for rent.

Self catering in the UK has gone mad. We've just booked somewhere for a week in North Devon in the summer - 2 families so split the cost but still, without living in a hole for a week, its cost us £3k. Looking around for May half term - places are quoting a grand a week in Innerleithen in tiny cottage! Isle of Wight last May half term we paid £800 for the week in a really nice house - the same house, for the same week this year is £1100.

My plans remain very fluid. It was my intent to let my flat for STL while away but ow its 50/50. No noise issues with mine anyway.

I have no real issue with this as STL have created huge issues both on the supply of housing and in upsetting neighbours along with frankly dangerous condition STLs

A bunch of my pals hired a house for a weekend. No fire alarms, no safety certs, dangerous gas appliences. If it stops that than its all good

Like you, I'm broadly in agreement with what they are doing. The reputable agents were asking for most of the certificates, RAs and checks that are now being required anyway - but AirBnB and those just freestyling it were clearly cutting corners. The two big positives for me is that it now makes it easy for a local authority to have a quota of STL in an area. Apply later and the quota is taken and you won't be getting a licence. This (hopefully) will allow a bit more control over having a healthy number of stls that can sustain their businesses and free up capacity for actual resistance too. The other thing I like is that you have to put up notices as part of the application process and there is a period for neighbours to lodge official objects - both for initial application and at renewal every 3 years. Of course it only works if the councils do their part too - but they really shouldn't be able to claim manpower issue - they are charging some serious cash for the licences so if they don't use that to employ enough folk to follow through on applications and objects its just pure greed.

But in general - even as a STL owner (maybe as I live here too and have a interest in the area thriving) there is a limit. Apparently the tipping point is 15% of housing stock being second homes or holiday lets which local services start to decline. Locally there is a good case study.....Boat of Garten is below that threshold and still thriving, Nethy Bridge has tipped over and is in decline.

Apparently the tipping point is 15% of housing stock being second homes or holiday lets which local services start to decline.

Elie and Earlsferry is 70% 2nd homes/holiday lets, other nearby villages not as bad but heading that way. I don't see Fife council having any interest in attempting to control this. As I said above they have basically said no enforcement except for pattern of complaints. Who is checking that these planning notices are going up, I haven't seen a single one. Nice new income stream for the council issuing these permits.

I've run my own accommodation business for 15 years and the present conditions are really tough.

Costs have increased across the board - energy, wages are +25% at least compared to 3 years ago, insurance and it's almost impossible to recruit.

Given the circumstances we have changed our operating model massively this year. We are disallowing arrivals/departures on specific days and stipulating longer minimum stays in the high season. This means we can still have time off and complete maintenance tasks, laundry etc. We no longer offer individual beds in our bunkhouse - it's not worth heating the building and staffing it for 1 or 2 people although we will review that for the main season. We have put prices up to compensate. We are not making any more profit.

There are lots of businesses here (West Highlands) really struggling. One hotel chain has amalgamated it's guests from two large properties into one. They've reduced opening hours - the local Inn has decided to shut it's doors at 6PM each night. Our other excellent pub will be closed midweek during January and probably into February for the first time ever. One cafe in the village has ceased trading and the local shop is very poorly stocked and open minimum hours.

Re staffing - part of the problem as mentioned above is the proliferation of holiday homes and something definitely needs done about it. Young families and other workers are finding it almost impossible to stay in the area. We were without a permanent doctor for at least a year and a half due to accommodation and a few other issues.

TS

I don’t think the new STL legislation will solve all these problems. I agree tightening up the rules for safety is a good thing. However there seems to be an assumption that limiting the number of holiday let licences will increase the number of residential lets. I’m not sure this will happen. It could just result in more holiday homes lying empty most of the year with owners only using them for a few weeks.

I do think it will have an effect on house prices. This will help some locals buy but the prices are probably already too high for most first time buyers.

It could just result in more holiday homes lying empty most of the year with owners only using them for a few weeks.

There is more to it than that.

It (hopefully) will squeeze those playing the system. There are plenty of second home owners that are claiming that their second home is a holiday home and evidencing that with a handful of rents a year. As a holiday let they can access the small business zero rate and pay no council tax. Additionally (unlike b2ls) holiday lets can still put mortgage interest against profits. Voila - free to run second home.

If they can't get a licence they won't be able to let it out a few weeks a year, won't be able to offset their mortgage against the profits from those rents and will now be liable to council tax (at 150% the usual rate as it's a second home). At the very least the 2nd home will now be putting money into the local authority coffers for local services etc.

sorry pressed send too soon...

Or they will have to go the other way (as they can't afford to actually pay for their 2nd home) and rent it out for 120 days a year and at least it will be occupied more of the time with tourists putting money into the economy and provide employment at tourist attractions.

Well somewhat miraculously we found a glamping pod in Glen Nevis for the World Cup weekend, will be the basis of a nice wee 4 day break but in my wife's eyes we're paying £400 for a glorified shed.

I'm struggling to sell the idea of a week on Skye at this rate given it would potentially cost close to as much as an all inclusive break to a family resort on Mallorca with more or less guaranteed weather and no midgies 🙄

(haven't fact checked costs recently, apply 10% margin for exaggeration...)

we usually have an Easter or Summer week in Northumberland, I have just had a look at the place we stayed in last summer, a nice, well appointed cottage. Last year it was £1350 for the week, this year it's £1850,across a variety of dates.

Last year it was £1350 for the week, this year it’s £1850,across a variety of dates.

Is that through cottages.com or sykes or similar? A lot of (most?) owners sign into their 'dynamic pricing' structures. Basically the owner and the agent agree a base price and the agent can put it up or down by an agreed amount (ours is unlimited up and 10% max down) at will (or rather it's autonomous with some sort of algorithm doing the jiggling) based on booking rates and availability in the area, web page impressions etc etc. It's the 5th Jan - thoughts of the nation have turned to booking summer holidays and I suspect the algorithms will be in overdrive. Ours is showing at +50% across a lot weeks currently. Leave it a week or two and I suspect it'll settle back down.

^^^ no, it's with Stablewood Coastal cottages, so direct. Once we decide on dates I will mail them direct though and see if there is a deal to be had..

It’s the 5th Jan – thoughts of the nation have turned to booking summer holidays and I suspect the algorithms will be in overdrive.

Ah, this could explain some of the costs I am seeing.

I am grateful our summer cottage was booked direct, via a short email conversation, and that they are not paying any website commission and so offered us a modest discount to go direct. 👍

Another few interesting points above - some people do use dynamic pricing and this is a peak booking time so that will drive prices up just now.

Meant to say we add a not insignificant premium to bookings via b.com and a b and b to cover their costs and the hassle of dealing with them. Booking direct is normally cheaper.

Existing tax rules state you must rent out your holiday home 105 days a year to qualify as a short term let. So no need for another set of rules on that.

I think the license for holiday lets is a good thing. However I think the planning permission on top of that is not necessary. What we will end up with is less choice and higher prices when booking accommodation as lots of small operators come out of the sector and more professional organisations come in.

convert
Full Member

It could just result in more holiday homes lying empty most of the year with owners only using them for a few weeks.

There is more to it than that.

It (hopefully) will squeeze those playing the system. There are plenty of second home owners that are claiming that their second home is a holiday home and evidencing that with a handful of rents a year. As a holiday let they can access the small business zero rate and pay no council tax. Additionally (unlike b2ls) holiday lets can still put mortgage interest against profits. Voila – free to run second home.

If they can’t get a licence they won’t be able to let it out a few weeks a year, won’t be able to offset their mortgage against the profits from those rents and will now be liable to council tax (at 150% the usual rate as it’s a second home). At the very least the 2nd home will now be putting money into the local authority coffers for local services etc.”

 

Scottish Youth Hostels are still a reasonable £22-£30 a night it seems.

It could be the turnaround Hostelling Scotland need.  They've faced several decades where its become easier to find and cheaper to book budget accommodation to the extent it was sometimes no longer making sense you use a hostel.  They've closed a lot of hostels in the last 30 years too due to the economics of heating / repair etc.  I hope they can keep the portfolio they have, and it could even make sense to look for new areas to expand into.

Re staffing – part of the problem as mentioned above is the proliferation of holiday homes and something definitely needs done about it.

I noticed a lot of hospitality places complaining about issues with staffing last summer.  At the same time my teenage son was looking for summer work and could find few places which were offering the sort of tied accommodation that was common for students to use supporting hospitality in the 90's.  The reason? seemed to be most of that had been turned into Air BnB's.  Seemed like in some areas at least greed during the boom times may have undermined their own businesses?

I think there will be more of this shortly - the running and renovation costs meaning that business model doesn't add up...

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/we-have-been-derailed-by-scottish-government-legislation-306982/

Yes, I would imagine the main problem will be the electrical safety certificate. Even in places where it obviously isn’t an issue the person signing off the installation will be in full arse covering mode.

We have been derailed by Scottish Government legislation designed to deal with the Edinburgh Airbnb problem.

Yeah, it's really not quite as simple as that.

We've recently had to reduce the price of the airbnb we rent out this year by 20% as we aren't getting the bookings we once were... Generally our guests are couples, under 35, with a dog - and it's the sort of place they would book a week or so in advance and stick on a credit card.

airbnb.com/h/thecabinmiserden

We are getting more bookings come in now, still the under 35 bracket, but it's all last minute (next day), and even with the reduced price enquiries frequently ask for a discount.