Quay Holidays: Holiday Letting Comes of Age

We caught up with business partners Helen and Duncan Challis, to find out more about opportunities waiting to be seized upon in the holiday lettings industry. For those of you who haven’t heard, recent tax changes have suddenly given the industry fresh impetus; so here’s the low down:

Helen and Duncan launched their business, ‘Quay Holidays’ in 2006 off the back of roaring success renting out their own property. Other owners caught wind of their triumph and soon those with properties to let were entrusting them into their capable hands. With a real gap in the market for luxury self-catering properties and demand for their portfolio of properties growing, the couple decided to set-up business in a small shop, just off Poole Quay. Five years down the line and following a move to larger, purpose-built offices in Orchard Plaza, they set-up sister company ‘Quay Living’, the estate agency. It allowed them to offer a wider range of property services, fulfilling an aspiration to satisfy clients’ desires for a comprehensive ‘one-stop property service’, covering everything from short and long term lettings, sales, property management and investments. The group currently manages a substantial portfolio of over 200 properties in and around Poole and Bournemouth.

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“We wanted to create a flexible service; a ‘one-stop-shop’ for all things property…to mirror the ever-changing market. Some landlords like to let their property to a residential tenant over the winter months and flip to more lucrative holiday lets in the summer. Whatever their situation, having a broad range of services means we can work with landlords to tailor the best possible solution for their property.”

Quay Holidays is unique in Poole in offering such a breadth of services. Whilst the majority of competitors act purely as booking agents, Quay offers a comprehensive management service, and they take their job very seriously; “We’re the complete antithesis of a third-party booking agent; we keep everything in house. Our cleaners and handymen are directly employed and our plumbers, engineers and electricians are trusted partners. They receive regular training, to maintain high-levels of service across the board”, Helen explained.

A Smart Investment
“Recent tax changes will encourage more landlords to move into holiday lets”, Duncan said. “Poole and Bournemouth are ideal locations for holiday letting”, he continued, “and as of April this year the Government are reducing tax allowances on buy-to-let mortgage  interest, so that by 2020 you’ll only be allowed to claim tax relief at the basic rate. Landlords with high loan-to-value mortgages could find that, once they’ve paid the tax, their net income from their property ‘investment’ could actually be negative”. Buy-to-let landlords in this situation will have fairly limited options at this point; sell up, or transfer the property into a limited company (which raises further tax issues), put in additional equity, or alternatively come to see Quay Holidays…

In contrast to buy-to-let, mortgage interest on holiday letting is still fully allowable against tax. This is because holiday letting is classified by HMRC as a business, due to the level of work required to maintain it. But for many landlords the option of running their own holiday let is impractical and incredibly time consuming; time they really don’t have – which is where Quay comes in.

Peak income potential for holiday lets is often four times what can be made from long-term letting, but many landlords are deterred by the need to manage bookings, clean and service the property, pay the additional costs, and face the risk of lower cash flow during quieter seasons.

Quay Holidays uses a wide range of third-party portals to maximize holiday bookings and consistently achieves circa 70% occupancy across the whole portfolio. By using their own staff, ensuring each property is maintained to a 5-star standard, happy guests keep coming back time and time again.

Quay Holidays are currently seeking high-quality properties to add to their expanding portfolio for summer 2017, so if you have a home with holiday letting potential, do get in-touch for a no-obligation chat to find out how they can help!

Helen can be contacted on 01202 683333, or helen.challis@quayholidays.co.uk

t. 01202 683333
w. www.quayholidays.co.uk
a. Quay Holidays LLP, Orchard Plaza, 41 High Street, Poole, Dorset BH15 1EG

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