As we approach the New Year and start thinking about static caravan rentals, it’s worth reviewing our strategy. If you are considering Letting your Static Holiday Home on one of the Towyn caravan sites during the summer season, then this article will give you some practical advice on what you need to be conscious of. The sub-letting of your caravan can be a good way for you to recoup some of the expense of maintaining it, and if done properly will at least cover the cost of your own holidays.
Have you owned a static caravan at Golden Gate Holiday Centre for some time? If so, are you aware that you can rent it out at times when it’s not occupied by you and your family? More information about letting your Static caravan here.
How to advertise your static caravan for rental
The advantage of letting your holiday home through a park’s letting agents is that you may not necessarily have to personally advertise your caravan, as they will promote it for you. You can, of course, still, choose to maximise your rental potential by advertising on eBay or creating a Facebook page for your holiday home, showing photographs of inside and outside views.
You can also register it with a busy caravan rental portal such as Rent My Caravan, which provides you with your own webpage. You will be able to upload details and photographs to the page. You have access to a reservations calendar, allowing you to easily keep track of all your bookings. Potential renters will contact you directly.
When will your static caravan be available to renters?
When will you let out your holiday home? Will you rent it out for the whole summer, or just for weeks when you and your family do not wish to use it? On a family–orientated Towyn Caravan sites such as Golden Gate Holiday Centre, school holidays will probably be the most popular to renters and in peak demand.
Legal advice
Remember that there are some legal obligations you need to adhere to before you can let your static caravan to paying guests. You will need to provide a Portable Appliance Test- PAT certificate for all electric items and a Landlord’s Gas Safety Record will need to be on display in your static caravan. In addition, for your own safety too, you will need a carbon monoxide detector, a fire extinguisher and a working smoke alarm.
You will have to alert your insurers to the fact that you are letting your holiday home, to ensure that your policy is valid, no matter the eventuality.
Letting Agents
If you use letting agents or the operators of Towyn Caravan sites you’ll need to Inform them of the dates when you won’t be using your caravan since they may have had enquiries from prospective renters waiting for specific dates. If your caravan is at Golden Gate Holiday Centre, our authorised letting agents are EasyLet. You can contact them on 01745 833048 and they’ll be happy to assist you with any queries you may have regarding letting your static holiday home on any of the Towyn caravan sites.
Are there any fees or restrictions?
When you first purchased your holiday home, you will have been given a contract which will stipulate the terms and conditions for renting out on the holiday park. Some Towyn caravan sites have rules regarding the age of the caravan and may have restrictions in place. There may also be administration and letting fees if your park, or its designated letting agent, organize the rental on your behalf.
At the end of every holiday, the site will possibly arrange for your holiday home to be checked and cleaned ready for the next tenant, usually by their own cleaners, and this again will be charged for separately. A fee of around £20 or more plus VAT is not an uncommon charge for each clean. Of course, you could arrange this cleaning yourself, but remember to budget in costs for your time and travel to and from your home to the Caravan site. A check for any damage caused by your rental tenants should be carried out against the static caravan inventory. Most tenants will not report any breakage but if problems are found they can either be billed or money for replacement items taken from their deposit.
Holiday park restrictions
Some holiday parks will not allow static caravans to let on their sites. You would have signed an agreement when you bought your holiday home. Read through all of the small print to make sure you can rent it out before you make a decision to do so. If you haven’t yet bought a caravan but are considering it, ensure that the site it’s on, or the one you choose allows letting.
The age of the static home may also be a consideration on some caravan sites. Caravans to let may not be allowed if the caravan is more than nine years old. This may have a negative effect on your projected rental income. This particularly applies if you are allowed to site the caravan on the park for 15 to 20 years. You could have up to 11 years during which time you can’t let it out. In this scenario, you would either have to upgrade to a new static home or resign yourself to years of zero rental income. If you need the rental income to cover costs it’s imperative that you choose a park that doesn’t have these restrictions in their agreement.
Caravan letting restrictions
A number of holiday parks insist that owners only let their caravans through the park’s letting service. There are pros and cons should this be the case.
Most parks, or their authorised letting agents, levy a commission or one-off booking fee when they manage static caravans to let. The fees vary from site to site but can be as much as 20% plus VAT. Naturally, this will eat into your rental income.
However, when the holiday park or their letting agents manage your bookings and rentals, they will undertake all the inconvenient jobs. Changeovers and the associated cleaning will be handled effortlessly although you will be charged for it.
You will never have to worry about renters causing damage or breaking things since your caravan will be checked after each rental. If there are any damages or breakages, or items are found to be missing the renter will be charged. A deduction will be made from the deposit they paid. Whilst you will be informed of any problems, you won’t have the hassle of arguing with a difficult guest.
There may or may not be a laundry service included in a park’s rental management agreement. Holiday parks that don’t offer this service will insist that guests bring bed linen with them. Parks that do offer the service may charge a laundry fee per bedroom.
When considering where to site your caravan, and if you are happy with the holiday park letting services, make sure you know what they provide for the fee you pay. For example, are toilet rolls, washing up liquid, basic cleaning products, scourers and cloths etc., included?
How to avoid problems with letting your Static Holiday Home
Most guests are great but there’s occasionally the odd one or two that can cause numerous problems unless we adopt measures to avoid them. Seasoned owners who have rented out their caravan regularly will have got over all the hurdles, but if you’re new to rentals here is some advice:
Overcrowding
The advertising of your holiday home should always contain information about the maximum number of people allowed in it. There have been cases where a reservation taken for 8 people has culminated in 12 people arriving and using the caravan unbeknown to the owner. Not only will you be in breach of the Holiday Park’s terms and conditions but you will render you insurance invalid.
Make sure guest understand that should more people turn up than have booked, they will lose their deposit and their reservation will be cancelled.
Normally the following manufacturers’ guidelines apply to static caravan accommodation:
- 2 bedroom – sleeps 6
- 3 bedroom – sleeps 8
- 4 bedroom – sleeps 10
This applies only if there is the facility to sleep people in the lounge and includes babies.
Holiday Letting Agents and Park Rentals
If you use a letting agent or choose to allow the holiday park to manage your rentals ensure they take a deposit for damages. If you rent privately through a caravan portal such as Rent My Caravan, you will take your own deposit.
Many agents and parks don’t take a deposit and this means that you could end up with damage or even theft from the holiday home. Whilst it will be the agent’s or park’s responsibility it is a real inconvenience which could decrease your rentals. The time taken in potential redecorating, repairs and replacing stolen items could have a real impact on our rental income.
Even seasoned owners can sometimes make mistakes, especially when it comes to family friends. Take a deposit no matter who you are renting to. The deposit is refundable at the end of the holiday should no damages occur so no one will mind paying it.
Cleaning
Even if your usual guests leave the caravan clean and tidy after they leave, never rely on it. Budget for cleaning on every change over and check for damages. If you can’t do it yourself you can make an arrangement with the Holiday Park staff or someone local to do it for you.
Preventing bad static caravan rentals
Prevention tactics don’t always work but by making guests aware of the terms and conditions of your static caravan rentals, you can avoid most problems.
Included in T & Cs should be clauses covering damages, “mess” and theft clauses. It should be made clear that only named guests on the reservation form are allowed to occupy your holiday home. Ensure guests know what the consequences of breaching these clauses are specifically in relation to losing their deposit.
Suitable T & C documents can be found to download online for a small fee or you can ask your holiday park if they have a template. You can add clauses to them to cover your own requirements if you wish.
Static caravan rental advice
Thousands of owners throughout the UK rely on static caravan rentals to help cover maintenance costs, site fees etc., during times they are not using their holiday home. Owners at Golden Gate Holiday Centre enjoy success with their private rentals or those made through our authorised letting agents EasyLet.
Need more information?
For detailed information about Golden Gate Holiday Centre and our policy on Letting your Static Holiday Home, contact us via the contact form on our website or call us on 01745 833 048. Our friendly staff will be happy to discuss all the options available to you.
