The property market in the UK is just brimming over with those wanting to make a living from it. In some cases, it is through long-term investment rather than making a monthly income, which is released when the property is sold.
However, others are set on making a tidy income and running a business which means sharing their property with others who wish to spend their money on luxury pastimes such as the yearly or six monthly (or for some more frequently) family holiday.
#1 Residential letting
One of the most common methods of making money from property in the UK is residential letting. This is where you initially rent your property out for 6 or 12 months to the same person or persons. After this initial time, it is up to you whether you want to offer your tenants an extended rental period or whether you are more interested in obtaining different tenants. Of course, even if you are happy for your tenants to stay – you may find that they have decided to rent elsewhere.
Although you can, should you wish, let your property out yourself, it is far easier to let a letting agent such as Hopewell in Bristol deal with the let for you. This is because they will be able to perform any checks that need to be carried out and stay as a go-between between yourself and your tenants. This will allow you to run your let as a business and gain any necessary advice from an experienced business. It also means that should there be any issue with your tenant, such as not paying rent, your letting agent will deal with it on your behalf.
#2 House share
If you have spare rooms in your home (or own another property entirely), you can opt to set up a house share rental. This is where you will have multiple occupants, all renting one room, each with a communal area such as a kitchen, a living and a bathroom(s). For instance, if your home has a spare room, you can let it out to an individual – or if you like a couple.
If you have another property that has three bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen, you could let the three bedrooms out, convert the dining room into a bedroom, and let that out as a bedroom too. This would give you at least four tenants on that property. This type of let is particularly good if the property is near or within commutable distance of a university so it can be let to students.
For this type of letting, you would probably benefit from the services of a letting agent as well, although you can, if you want, place advertisements in university lobbies or in the hall’s public areas.
#3 Holiday rental
If you are less keen on having full-time long-term lease agreements for your property, you can look to rent it out to holidaymakers. Holiday cottages and homes are always in high demand in the UK; whether it is holidaymakers coming from abroad or those enjoying a staycation, providing this service can be immensely rewarding.
Of course, in order to get lots of bookings and have happy customers that will come back and stay time and time again, you will have to have your property looking top-notch and highly desirable. Professional cleaning should be carried out between guests’ bookings, gardens should be well maintained, and beds and bedding should be kept looking immaculate.
In addition to this, you should also make sure that there is a fresh roll of toilet paper in the bathrooms and coffee, tea bags, and milk in the kitchen – possibly with some cake or scones and flowers – to welcome your new guests to the start of their holiday. This can be extremely welcome after a long journey before having to go food shopping to stock up on the cupboards.
#4 Bed and breakfast
However, if you are purely working from your own property, you can still put your mark on the holiday letting market by offering your home as a B&B (bed and breakfast). You only need one spare room; however, the more you have, the more you can rent out.
A lot of the B&B trade is in one-night stops rather than full-week getaways, but this being said doesn’t mean to say that overnight stops are all you will get. In addition to offering a bed for the night, you will need to provide breakfast for your guests. Traditionally this will be a full English breakfast (with or without vegetarian or vegan choices), a choice of cereal, toast, and beverages; you can, as a nice touch, also offer continental pastries.
Of course, if you offer ensuite rooms, you will be able to ask more per room, and you may find that you get slightly more interest from potential guests.
#5 Small and friendly hotel
If you want more than just those individuals that would normally use a B&B, then you could open your property up as a small and friendly hotel. This could mean that you offer afternoon tea or a full dinner with waitress/waiter service to your guests at additional costs as well as standard breakfast. All rooms offered should really be ensuite in order to gain interest.
Images courtesy of unsplash.com and pexels.com
