If you’re a landlord of a holiday let then you’re likely to be struggling with occupancy in these challenging times. It’s a worrying time. How much income do you stand to lose? How do you increase your occupancy rates when there’s no demand?
We’re here to help and support you, with free rental assessments to identify your options. We know that many landlords rely on the income from their lets, and having empty properties just isn’t a viable option. We can work with you to help ensure a sustainable ongoing income from your property.
We can help identify your options
Due to these unprecedented market conditions, we’re offering free rental assessments to all landlords in Edinburgh. Just email us at [email protected] and our experienced team will arrange to meet you virtually with a video call and talk through your current situation.
Your assessment will be specific to your needs, your property, and its location. We’ll consider the options that are available and help identify the best opportunities for you right now.
Challenging times for the short term market
The short term market is currently experiencing unprecedented challenges.
COVID-19
Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, short term occupancy rates have plummeted with the abrupt halt to the global travel market and the ban on non-essential travel in the UK. Most noticeably, the Airbnb market has collapsed, with the platform introducing penalty-free cancellations and full refunds for this period.
Landlords are understandably worried about their loss of income over the coming months. Especially with the recent cancellation of this summer’s profitable festival period.
Short term let legislative changes
A further challenge facing short term lets is the forthcoming change to regulations in Scotland, which will come into force in April 2021. The Scottish Government has outlined three key changes: the introduction of licencing for short-term lets, mandatory safety requirements, and local authority discretion to put further conditions into place.
The Government has given powers to local authorities to define and implement these regulations as they see appropriate. This means we don’t yet know how Edinburgh’s licensing and control areas will be specified, or what additional restrictions will be put in place.
Selling up is not an option
The UK’s property market has been brought to a halt due to the economic shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Government’s mitigation measures to slow the virus spread. It’s not a good time to think about selling a rental property, with reduced house prices almost a certainty once the market begins to stir again.
Is a move to long term lets right for you?
Unless you can afford the long and expensive vacant periods caused by vastly reduced visitor numbers to Edinburgh this year, a sound option is likely to be a move to long term letting. Edinburgh has a strong long term private rental market, well-positioned to cope with the current COVID-19 challenges.
Benefits of long term letting include:
- Reduced vacant periods
- Consistent and sustainable income
- Reduced overheads – your tenants pay the council tax, utility bills, etc.
- Less demand on your time – no need to manage frequent changeovers and cleaning
- Reduced ongoing costs – long term tenants take more care of their home
- Less risk – we use a rigorous referencing process, and only choose long term tenants who are right for you and your property
At Home In Edinburgh can help
We offer a comprehensive, accredited and trusted service, and we’re experienced at helping short term landlords make the move over to long term rentals. We aim to be Edinburgh’s most efficient letting agency, and in the last quarter of 2019, our average property time to let was just 11 days, half the Edinburgh average. You can find out more about our services here.
Despite the challenges of social distancing, we are still carrying out all of our usual services, with a robust system in place to manage lettings. This includes offering online video viewings, online applications, remote document signings, keys collections from office key safes and remote handovers.
We’re here for landlords during these worrying times, and our free rental assessments are available to all. Email us at [email protected] to arrange yours, before you lose out on further income.