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How, then, are holiday rentals performing? "They are creeping up with the rate of inflation but there is a trend for short breaks out of season which aren't so profitable. You still have to pay the housekeeper and bills, as with a weekly let. And running costs are going up all the time - utility bills have doubled - so margins aren't as good as they used to be."
Is it worth using an agent or running it yourself? Nick House recommends holiday letting agents - even though they charge 20 to 30 per cent of the rental - because they handle a lot of the administrative work, produce brochures, may achieve slightly higher rents and will probably let your property for more weeks of the year. Once you have two or three holiday lets, he thinks it is more economical to establish your own website and do it yourself.
The new professionals moving into the market have come at the right time to meet the higher standards that holidaymakers now expect. Clive Edwards and Wendy Hawkins have five-bedroom West Tosberry Farm on the Hartland Peninsula in north Devon, where they run three cottages, with five, four and two bedrooms, which let for almost the entire year and provide an income of £130,000 to £140,000. Each cottage has its own swimming pool. "Let-ability is down to hard work," says Clive. "We had a website built which has a lot of detail on it, and we get most of our bookings through it. We give all newcomers a proper cream tea with home-made scones. We provide a breakfast hamper with local bacon, local sausages, local eggs and a loaf of bread which we have made."
Weekend breaks are worked at, too. "We commissioned a murder mystery to be written based on one of the cottages, with the body in the swimming pool, and use it to run murder mystery weekends. In the little cottage we have romantic weekends, and put out flowers, champagne and smelly things. You can order veg grown in our own fields and have meals delivered from a local chef. We know a fishing boat which works out of Clovelly and you order fish off the boat. And we know someone who can take you on local safari to see otter and deer." They charge from £295 a week low season to £995 high season for two bedrooms; £595 to £1,995 for five bedrooms with four bathrooms.
There is no escaping the fact that Saturdays are punishing. Two local cleaners come in to help Clive and Wendy strip the beds, do the washing, empty the bins and put out fresh linen and towels. "We decided against using an agency because you have to give them an exclusive contract, and if they can't sell your weeks then you could be struggling," says Clive. "And with the dot.com companies you are competing in a huge market and your unique selling point gets lost." "This is my pension," says Clive. "I want to fish. Wendy wants to travel."
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