Did you know that 75% of Britons are considering a staycation this year, up from 56% last year? Add that to overseas visitors, and that’s a lot of people looking for a place to stay throughout the UK! 

Whilst staying in a Hotel, B&B, Caravan or even a tent are still very popular accommodation options, more and more people are now searching for a home away from home environment to stay in, meaning that there is a growing market for people to rent out their main or second properties for short-term holiday lets as a way of making an extra income. 

You probably consider St Albans, Hemel, or the local area to be home, but did you know that Hertfordshire is actually a much sought after tourist destination for visitors too, due to its historic landmarks and obvious close proximity and travel links to the capital and other UK cities. 

Alongside the tourists, there are also those who take up temporary residence during the week in Hertfordshire for work in London and the Home Counties either on a short-term or long-term basis, some of whom will also be seeking a place to stay.

You may not have thought much about it before, but there really is a lot of scope to provide local accommodation to those seeking to bypass the usual traditional offerings and choose residential properties to stay in. 

Websites like Air BNB have made it possible to let your home or a second property on a short-term basis, and indeed there is a thriving Air BNB market locally, with property owners managing their own marketing, bookings and lettings. However, if your property is being booked on a frequent basis then it can become almost a full-time job trying to keep on top of managing your property through a site like Airbnb and it can involve a huge amount of time, hassle and effort on your part, which eats into your financial return. 

At Aubrey and Finn, we want to take the hassle out of renting out your home on a short-term basis, so we offer an “Air Hosting” Management service for residents who want to offer short-term holiday lets through Air BNB, enabling property owners to earn an extra income by using a short-term let management agency. 

We are currently the only Estate Agent in the local area offering the unique Air Hosting service in St Albans and Hemel Hempstead. 

So why would our clients choose Air Hosting as an option when renting out their property for short-term let? 

Well, our Air Hosting service is a brilliant option for those who perhaps work away themselves during parts of the week and would like their main property to be earning money whilst they are away. 

If you own a rental property then it’s often common to think that renting it out to full-time tenants is the best option, but did you know that Air Hosting could earn you 60-100% more renting your property through Airbnb by the night than residentially! 

Perhaps you think that Air BNB wouldn’t work for your property as you are not in a position to be able to meet guests and hand over keys, or you simply don’t want the hassle of having to market your property, or clean the place after each booking, well this is where our short-term let management service can help as we will handle every aspect of the booking, from marketing, dealing with enquiries, screening clients, to providing the fresh towels/sheets, managing queries and cleaning, and preparing the property for the next visitor. 

Even with management fees, those using a management company to manage their short-term let typically experience a 30% uplift in income compared to managing the property themselves. Many clients simply pass our management fee onto their customer and so find that at no extra cost to them, using a management company saves a lot of time, hassle and effort on their part, meaning that the owner can sit back, relax and earn a passive income from their property, knowing that there is a trusted, local company which knows the area and can be around to help with any issues which arise during the client’s stay. 

In addition to making more money, short-term lets are also a fantastic way to save on tax as typically, they are exempt from the tax hikes on buy-to-let landlords which came into play in 2017. Holiday Let owners can deduct all mortgage interest payments from rent before calculating their tax liability in some circumstances. This is more favourable than only a portion of mortgage interest which buy-to-let investors are able to offset. Short-term let owners are also able to claim the full costs of furnishing the property, meaning that renting your property out as a short-term let could also be a more tax efficient way of managing your second property. 

If you have a rental property and want to work out how to get the best return-on-investment on it, or if you want to find out more about short-term lets for your main property then we’d love to chat with you. Give us a call or pop into our offices and we can talk you through the process in more detail!