Your essential guide to the language of holiday letting.
At the root of our success in maintaining fast and efficient administration is
our commitment to the use of computers to handle the routine tasks. The
technology is teamed with friendly and efficient staff who add the all
important personal touch. They will ensure that all payments have been received
before confirming final holiday details, and that guests are given full
instructions about how to get to your property and collect their keys – even if
they are booking at the very last minute.
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Much of our marketing budget is assigned to attracting new clients. Our
advertising spend is strategically split between traditional media like
newspapers and magazines and advertising on the internet. We monitor every
response from each advertising source carefully to ensure that it is effective.
This allows us to recognise trends early – such as later booking – and seize
these opportunities to gain a competitive advantage.
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We believe our booking service is second to none. Not only can our customers
leave brochure requests day and night, they can also ring our offices to have
their holiday queries answered seven days a week. Our sales team are highly
trained, and to help them achieve maximum efficiency we have a sophisticated
telephone system and a fast, fully computerised, reservations facility, as well
as systems for credit and debit card transactions that guarantee bookings can
be confirmed and paid for immediately. In addition, customers can log on to our
Web site at www.classic.co.uk to search
for their ideal property, check availability and book securely on-line at any
time of the day or night.
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Even in the age of the internet our brochure is still our ‘shop window’. As well
as being attractive and informative, it must also give the client confidence in
the quality of the product we offer. We strive to produce the best brochure in
the business. Please send for it by clicking here
to judge for yourself.
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The rents quoted in our brochure and on our Web site include the cost of our
cancellation guarantee. This covers our guests for cancellations on medical
grounds and guarantees you full payment once you have received written
notification of a booking.
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We are holiday letting agents, and our specialist service is in marketing your
holiday home. We do not undertake any property management. If you are unable to
manage the property yourself, it is vital that you appoint a Housekeeper or an
agency to take on all these arrangements, and of course your guests.
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Our commission is 20% plus VAT (effectively 23.5%).
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We do recognise that circumstances change and therefore our contracts run for a
calendar year at a time. We send out new contracts every summer for the
following year.
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Our office is open seven days a week to take bookings and deal with enquiries or
problems. We also have a duty Property Manager every weekend to ensure that
someone is available to help in the event of a problem. We forward details of
forthcoming bookings on a monthly basis, by email if you prefer, and notify you
of any bookings that fall outside these mailings by telephone. We also forward
booking information to your Housekeeper or Caretaker, if you have nominated
one.
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More than half our bookings are generated from previous clients, their friends
and their families. Our previous clients are our most valuable asset and as
soon as your holiday home is added to our portfolio, you tap into that large
potential market.
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Our clients are buying a high value product based only on the information they
see on the screen or the printed page. Our professional and imaginative
presentation on screen and page reassures our customers that we can be relied
upon to provide the holiday they desire. Buying a holiday is an emotive pursuit
and we add to the enjoyment by presenting our holiday homes in an attractive
and exciting way.
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We produce an attractive and specifically targeted direct mail campaign which is
sent out to our large database of customers. It is highly productive and we are
highly successful in encouraging repeat booking customers.
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Where agreed, we offer late booking discounts to guests, normally up to 20% and
generally only available within two weeks of the holiday date. They are
designed to encourage last minute bookings. We also offer a 5% re-booking
discount to encourage re-bookings from guests who book a holiday in the same
cottage within 18 months of their last holiday.
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Each year we plan a comprehensive email campaign, which offers customers new
information, selected holiday homes and late availability due to last minute
cancellations.
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Bookings will not be accepted from groups of three or more single people under
the age of 25, or all male or all female parties of more than four people
without the prior agreement of our Owners.
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Since the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 were
passed, all manufactured upholstered furniture has been required to pass
certain tests of fire resistance. All upholstered furniture purchased after 1st
March 1990 should meet the requirements. The only exception is that furniture
made before 1950 and the re-upholstery of furniture made before that date are
exempt from the regulations.
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We have negotiated a favourable policy exclusively for our holiday home Owners.
The policy is specifically written for holiday homes and covers public
liability as well as buildings and contents. If you stay with your existing
company, it is important that they are aware that you are holiday letting. Also
it is essential that you check you are covered for Public Liability.
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Marketing on the internet is a critical part of our overall strategy. We were
one of the first in our business to see its potential and we are determined
that our internet presence will remain the best in the market. We have adapted
fast to maximise the potential offered by the internet and will continue to do
so as the internet environment continues to change, concentrating currently on
search engine optimisation.
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We specialise in offering a service to Owners who regard their holiday home as a
small business. Our investment in marketing means that we must do the same.
Hence, we do require our Agreement with you to be exclusive. In addition, the
minimum period for which we are able to market a holiday home is 19 weeks
between May and September. During this period, up to two weeks can be set aside
for you or your family. We will only market your holiday home if we are
confident that we will be able to let it for a viable number of weeks.
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If you have a mortgage you should inform the building society that you are
holiday letting the property, but this can cause problems if not handled
properly. Some societies do not allow holiday letting.
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When your property is listed with us you can opt whether to open all year round
or just for the main season in line with our minimum occupancy requirements,
although we would advise Owners not to withdraw the winter months if possible
as they are becoming increasingly popular travelling times, with a huge growth
being seen in the short break market.
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We have to deduct tax at the standard rate from your net rent if you are
resident overseas. The Inland Revenue have now established self-assessment for
Overseas Residents (www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/nr_landlords.htm).
Once we are notified by the IR that you are eligible for self-assessment we
will then stop deducting tax and will refund as necessary.
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We have developed a Web site for our Owners so that you may view booking
notifications, party details, financial information and returned questionnaires
amongst other things at any time of day or night. You can also amend
availability and contact your personal Property Manager or another member of
our team via these pages.
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On the 10th of each month, we pay the Deposits collected in the previous month
and the Balances – which represent the remaining two-thirds of the rent – for
all the holidays started in that previous month. When a holiday home joins our
portfolio payments are held until a satisfactory Final Inspection has taken
place.
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On joining our portfolio you will receive a personal service from your local
Property Manager, with whom we hope you will develop a good working
relationship. Your Property Manager will visit you at least once a year and
will always be contactable.
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Effective PR and a good reputation with the national and regional press and
consumer magazines is essential. We are confident of the quality of the holiday
homes we offer and our service, and operate a co-ordinated PR programme that
regularly achieves significant coverage in key national publications such as
the Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph.
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£75 plus VAT. This is a one-time charge deducted from our first payment to you.
We do not ask you to pay any monies up front. Any additional holiday homes
under the same ownership will not be charged a registration fee.
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Anyone who has tried to decide where to pitch their rent to maximise their
income will know how difficult it is. Each holiday home has its individual
characteristics and each client their own set of preferences and priorities,
making it impossible to use the same formula in every case. However, with
thousands of bookings a year, ranging across hundreds of holiday homes, we have
built up a wealth of experience upon which to base our calculation of the most
profitable rent for any given property. Our income is tied to your own, so you
can rest assured that our only incentive is to maximise your return.
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Carrying out a risk assessment is an important step in protecting your guests
and your staff, as well as complying with the law. It helps you focus on the
risks that really matter in your holiday cottage – the ones with the potential
to cause real harm. In many instances, straightforward measures can readily
control risks, and for most, that means simple, cheap and effective measures to
ensure the safety of your guests. Carrying out a risk assessment may seem a
daunting task, and you may wish to use a company to do this on your behalf. The
VisitBritain Pink Booklet on Legislation for Tourist Accommodation will also
give you further guidance, and this can be found at
www.accommodationknowhow.co.uk.
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You can offer short breaks to your guests of three, four, five or six nights at
a 30%, 25%, 20% or 10% discount on the weekly rate respectively. Winter short
breaks can be booked at any time during the year, and are applicable from
January to Easter and from late October to Christmas. Spring and Autumn short
breaks can be booked between two and 8 weeks ahead of the holiday dates or at
any time to suit you in advance. They apply from Easter to the end of June and
from mid-September to late October. Christmas short breaks can be booked from
the 1st December and New Year short breaks from the first week of November.
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If you let your property for holidays, rather than on a longer term basis, then
the Inland Revenue regard this as a business. This has considerable tax
advantages, including significant reductions on your potential Capital Gains
Tax liability, more favourable allowances on your capital expenditure and the
ability to avoid Income Tax on a proportion of your income by investing in a
pension plan.
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VAT registration is normally not advisable because you have to pay VAT on your
income. VAT registered Owners are treated in the same way as non-registered
Owners.
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Ask our advice, send for an Owner's Pack or arrange a visit.
