Rise in staycations boosts the buy to let property market

Wondering what Brexit Britain will look like? While the precise effects are still difficult to predict, depending on where in the UK you live, you may notice an influx of native holiday makers. A stagnant property market and our increasing preference for staycation holidays are creating the perfect environment for a thriving holiday rental market. Self-catering holidays in the UK are becoming more popular, with a 22 per cent increase in bookings in the last year alone, and savvy buy-to-let investors are taking note. 

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Cottages.com, the UK’s largest managed holiday letting business, has seen a 23 per cent rise in demand for second homes that are holiday rentals in comparison with the same time period last year, with people seeking to profit from the growing staycation trend.

Some of the details of this trend are interesting in themselves. For one, the way people are doing staycations is changing: we want our staycation getaways to be short, the dates to be flexible, and we want the properties to be high-end. So, that Easyjet fare is going on accommodation instead. There was a 12 per cent increase in luxury property recruitment this year, and this means more sales of new and renovated properties of a high standard. 

Simon Altham, Chief Portfolio Officer for cottages.com, says, 'Not only is this good news for our hosts, it is also good news for the wider economy, as domestic tourism, and especially the holiday letting business, has a strong part to play helping support our rural and coastal economies. 

'With more people encouraged to let their second homes, owners are directly contributing to the viability of the local communities, as we know visitors spend money in local attractions, pubs, restaurants and shops, thereby creating jobs and employment in these areas.'

And what are the most popular areas for staycation breaks? The South West, the Lake District, East Anglia, and Yorkshire.

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