Holiday Home Rental Agreements

By purchasing holiday home insurance, you canother information but as a basic minimum, it
help protect your assets against a wide range ofshould include the following.
perils. The core of the policy wording will also- The full address and postcode of the property
contain liability insurance which can help protectthat is being offered for letting.
you against claims of negligence made against- The name and contact details of the landlord.
you. If you own a holiday home or second- The name of the tenant's)
property, its usage can vary, often, the property- The term of the holiday home rental period,
may have been acquired, solely for the use ofincluding the start time & date and the time
the owner, some people are happy to let thethe rental period ends. You should also state the
property just to family and friends, whilst othersspecific times, the tenant can first use the
use the property for commercial purposes byproperty and the latest time at which they must
accepting regular lettings, which can be eitherleave.
short term ( up to 6 months) or long term ( over- Details of any deposit you require.
6 months).- Details of any additional sums required beyond
If you are going to use your property for holidaythe rental fee( such as amounts for utility usage
letting purposes, its of paramount importance,or cleaning)
that each of your bookings are provided with- An Inventory of items in the property.
some form of letting agreement. Because, in theYou should specify on your contract, that the
main, these lettings are on a short term basis upproperty is being provided for holiday usage
to 14 nights is very typical), the form needn't bepurposes only. It should be pointed out that the
at all complicated, in fact, the simpler the betterissue of a holiday let contract offers the renter
as the incoming renter, is more likely to study theno protection under the Housing Act 1988 ( as
document and understand the terms andopposed to longer lets over 6 months, which are
conditions. Many holiday property landlords, still dousually dealt with by an assured short hold
not bother with any form of contract, whichtenancy agreement). Your contract, should also
seems strange as they are easily available on linespecify, that the property is rented only to the
or from most good book shops.tenants mentioned on the agreement and that no
You can even design your own contract,form of sub letting can take place.
however, it may be wise to have the wordingAlthough, its unusual to find this occurring, with
checked by a solicitor. If you own a holiday homeshort term rentals, you should also point out that
in an overseas country, such as France or Spainthe renter is forbidden from altering the property
for example, it is always wise to seek the advisein anyway (such as repainting etc). One area, that
of a local solicitor or possibly notary to helpcan often cause problems, is the allowance of
provide you with guidance. Overseas countriespets in the property. You should clearly state if
have different rules and regulations relating toPets are allowed, think carefully about this, many
holiday lettings, in fact in some counties, it haspeople will not consider renting a home that has
been known for there to even be regionalhad pets staying in it,then on the other hand, you
variations. By giving your tenants a contract formay find that allowing persons to bring pets to
the letting period, you are demonstrating thatstay with them, is a real advantage for you and it
your business, is run in a professional manner, thewill assist bookings. If you do intend to take
tenant will know what is expected of them anddeposits from your holiday renters, you should
this will help to ensure that the chances of aalso specify, when you intend to return their
disagreement is reduced.monies.
Your holiday home letting contract, can contain