Holiday Lettings Advice - Cornwall & Devon

Health and Safety In Your Holiday Let

Whether you are a first timer at holiday lettings or a bit of a pro you should never overlook the aspect of Health and Safety when it comes to renting it out to the general public.

My advice would be initially to give it a bit of a test run or ask a family member of friend to test it out as if you were a holiday maker.

If you do this you will soon find any issues that you may have overlooked before. If you dont manage the changeovers and property management yourself then I would recommend that you employ the services of a professional trades person - if you are with one of the large firms who specialise in this its normally taken care of by the company and they will tend to have a list of tradesmen that they use on a regular basis.

Though saying this for the day to day maintenance and general up keep you should provide spare fuses and light bulbs in the property.

Another big issue with holiday letting is what steps to take when the property is empty. First and foremost I would say its a very good idea to change the locks when you first take over ownership of the property, specially since you have no idea how many other people may hold keys from the previous owner.

If you employ a cleaning service or property management company then they will need their own keys for access so just ask the question what precautions then take when holding these keys for you.

Some people I know who have holiday lets tend to say that they encourage their neighbours to keep an eye on the property when its empty and I would say also give them your phone number and email for any emergencies.

Another thing to consider is extra security locks for all downstairs windows. I would say it would also be wise to extend this to include outbuildings, storage cupboards, pool and surfboard stores and the like.

Those are a few tips I can think of to hand and I hope you have found this post useful. If anyone has any other good suggestions they feel would be worth a mention or your own experience then please feel free to contact me and i will add it on to help our other fellow holiday home owners.