renting your property to short-term is a booming market: Nine top tips for Airbnb property letting success

renting your home to short-term guests is a booming market: Nine top tips for Airbnb property letting success

George Osborne's Budget may have done little to enhance his reputation, but the Chancellor's new rules for small traders renting out rooms (or entire homes) looks likely to boost small-scale entrepreneurs.

In future, we will all be able to earn up to £1,000 through property lettings before paying tax. Platforms such as Airbnb and the London holiday rental firm Veeve predict a rapid expansion in the number of 'hosts' eager to hire out everything from an airbed in their living rooms to a luxury penthouse.

Good News for Airbnb Londoners - online Micro Entreprenuers

'We've had a real influx of homeowners approaching us,' says Veeve's co-founder, Jonny Morris, who launched the firm in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics.

Accommodation ranges from treehouses to castles and converted windmills. Hosts and guests rate one another after each stay, so cheerless hovels and light-fingered 'guests from hell' are weeded out.

Britain has 52,000 Airbnb hosts and the boom has also spawned hundreds of small businesses. Take property developer Bill Colegrave, whose apartment overlooks Portobello Market in West London.

TOP TIPS

1. DESCRIBE your property accurately, with photos.

2. A BARGAIN rate early on will help attract guests.

3. UPDATE your information on the listings site regularly to help keep your property near the top.

4. MAKE sure it is immaculate. Poor cleanliness ratings will put people off.

5. GET insured. Airbnb provides up to $1million (£707,500) cover for loss or damage, but this does not take the place of the owner's insurance.

6. CHECK small items after each stay. Unscrupulous guests have been known to 'liberate' cushions and ornaments.

7. LET your neighbours know you're considering hosting.

8. SORT out any queries promptly.

9. LEAVE detailed instructions of how appliances work.

'I first let this flat to a tenant and made £16,000 a year through traditional rental,' he says. 'Then a friend told me she was renting out three Bermondsey properties for short stays on Airbnb. I put this apartment on there a year ago at £120 a night. It's made more than £16,000 in the first six months, with a likely income this year of £30,000.'
Encouraged by this success, Colegrave set up LettsGetSmart.com, managing a handful of London flats, some belonging to expat friends, using Airbnb to market them.

He takes 15 per cent of the rental, after Airbnb's 3 per cent cut and organises the cleaning, changeovers, meeting-and-greeting and answering guests' queries.

He attributes his almost 100 per cent occupancy rate to clean, affordable properties in a tourist mecca and daily updates on Airbnb's website to keep each flat high up the listings.

'Landlords can get twice the income from short-term rental, but most don't have the time or the resources. We enable them to do so,' he says.

Peter Hayes has rented out a double room with a four-poster bed in 600-year-old Caher Castle in Co. Tipperary. It is let for €130 (£103) a night, though the castle remains a work in progress with visitor income funding the reconstruction.

'I used Airbnb to avoid selling the castle,' says Hayes. 'We asked our first American visitors to give us some pointers. They were insisting we declutter and stop drying our bed linen in the living room. Once we made the changes, they gave us a great review.'

FOR many travellers, small is beautiful. Crofters Sue Hollands and Neil Robertson welcome guests to their cosy converted cowshed, Cleadale Bothy, on the Hebridean island of Eigg for just £40 a night. Though lacking hotel luxury, visitors say the sea views towards Rum are worth it.

By contrast, interior decorators Shaun Clarkson and Paul Brewster's two Norfolk offerings, Carrington House and Cliff Barns, are exquisitely restored.

Each sleeps 18 and is booked months in advance, for stays at £120 per person a night and wedding parties. 'We aim for the wow factor,' says Mr Brewster. 'We've had nothing but lovely guests.

'But Airbnb can be difficult to communicate with and though guests pay it upfront when they book, the firm holds on to the money until the day before people stay.

'For our sort of business, though, Airbnb is so big and influential that it's something you have to be a part of.'

Managed Airbnb Services

There are also a number of Airbnb management companies scaled up operating with property stock in London and throughout Europe , who also offer landlords fully managed service of the property , by "Dynamic pricing" your listing competitively and confidently, based on local events and competition in your area. This results they say , maximises occupancy. A similar pricing index known as room rates is undertaken by the hotel industry.

LOVESPACE Business Customer Testimonial - Hostmaker from LOVESPACE on Vimeo.

hostmaker.co/london/ bags £1.3M seed funding as Airbnb management Service

ON THE MARKET: GOOD FOR SHORT LETS

ANGLESEY: You'll really stand out with nine-bedroom Point Lynas lighthouse, which overlooks the Irish Sea. There are two other cottages in 17 acres. sothebysrealty.co.uk, 01932 860537; £1.375million

SOUTH KENSINGTON: A stone's throw from the V&A and Buckingham Palace, this two-bedroom flat with a courtyard will draw in tourists wanting to make the most of the capital. foxtons.co.uk, 020 7590 1000, £899,950

MONMOUTH: Beaulieu Park is a five-bedroom barn conversion with plenty of rental potential, thanks to several outhouses next to the stables in its grounds. hunters.com, 01432 278278, £795,000

Further reading

Airbnb hosting service provider YourWelcome bags £400k Funding ,targeting student

market

Guests staying with AirBnB for the super bowl top 15,000

Airbnb Sharing Economy Marks 4M UK Guests by Hosting, UK Gov Business Secretary

Formula One star Eddie Irvine lists his Irish home on Airbnb

Online estate agents, expecting sales bonaza, as sellers shun costly high street rivals

Hospitality On the Go; Airbnb Messaging Comes to Apple Watch