Can anyone point me in the right direction of where to find a contract for UK holiday rentals? thanks

Hi Lynn,

I can not help but I am sure Vanessa can and she will no doubt be along soon.

Steve

Hi Lynne,

Welcome to Property Tribes and a big wave from fellow holiday letters!

A holiday let is similar to a guest staying in a hotel and a contract is not necessary.

The service is paid for in full in advance.

If you use an agent to market your property, they will obviously have some Terms and Conditions such as what happens about refunds, cancellations, complaints, etc.

If you are self-managing you can create a simple Terms and Conditions, rather than a contract that they can sign to agree to the use of the property etc.

Hi Nick,
thanks for the reply. Well I suppose I just work out my own terms and conditions, etc rather than a formal contract? I just wonder how I would stand legally if say the renter walked off with all the furniture or caused a massive amount of damage? How would I be able to chase? Would them signing to agree the terms and conditions be enough?
We're brand new to this so want to get it right!
lynn

(23-09-2012 11:42 AM)nick tadd Wrote:  Hi Lynne,

Welcome to Property Tribes and a big wave from fellow holiday letters!

A holiday let is similar to a guest staying in a hotel and a contract is not necessary.

The service is paid for in full in advance.

If you use an agent to market your property, they will obviously have some Terms and Conditions such as what happens about refunds, cancellations, complaints, etc.

If you are self-managing you can create a simple Terms and Conditions, rather than a contract that they can sign to agree to the use of the property etc.

Hi Lynn,

Let me add my welcome.

Some standard T & C's would be fine but be sure to cover every eventually such as XX% refund if booking cancelled up to 2 weeks in advance, no refund is booking cancelled after that. Also, your complaints procedure, how you will treat damages etc. If they leave before the end of the booking through no fault of the property, they are not entitled to a refund.

Be sure that you have the correct holiday let insurance, not general buildings / BTL insurance.

It is very unlikely that you would have such issues as property being damaged etc. We have had had holiday lets for four years and we've only had one glass broken!

Create a Welcome Pack and set our your "rules" in that.

The best way to protect your property is to take a "Good housekeeping" deposit, somewhere in the region of £250.00. Any breakages or damages can be deducted from this.

You should have an inventory and schedule of condition of the property - we recommend Imfuna - and you can check the guests in and out, ensuring that the property is in the same condition when they leave as when they arrived.

If you create a space that people respect, I believe it is less likely that you will suffer damages.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Thanks for all the replies-realy helpful. Website is great too with lots of tips.
Can I just ask that when replying to a post, should I reply to the top or bottom of the post?
thanks again,
Lynn

(23-09-2012 11:52 PM)vanessa warwick Wrote:  Hi Lynn,

Let me add my welcome.

Some standard T & C's would be fine but be sure to cover every eventually such as XX% refund if booking cancelled up to 2 weeks in advance, no refund is booking cancelled after that. Also, your complaints procedure, how you will treat damages etc. If they leave before the end of the booking through no fault of the property, they are not entitled to a refund.

Be sure that you have the correct holiday let insurance, not general buildings / BTL insurance.

It is very unlikely that you would have such issues as property being damaged etc. We have had had holiday lets for four years and we've only had one glass broken!

Create a Welcome Pack and set our your "rules" in that.

The best way to protect your property is to take a "Good housekeeping" deposit, somewhere in the region of £250.00. Any breakages or damages can be deducted from this.

You should have an inventory and schedule of condition of the property - we recommend Imfuna - and you can check the guests in and out, ensuring that the property is in the same condition when they leave as when they arrived.

If you create a space that people respect, I believe it is less likely that you will suffer damages.

Hope this helps and good luck!

@Lynn

I press the big "New Reply" box to the bottom right and that brings up an empty box so that you don't have to make a choice.

I am not too keen on seeing the post that is being replied to copied in the new reply in full.

I usually just get round that by putting

@the person's name I am replying to.

As per the above. Glad you are enjoying Property Tribes. Where is your holiday let?

Hi Lynn, I suggest you think about all the terrible things that could go wrong and ensure your Contract has them covered. In particular, state the terms concerning non-arrival, flight cancellation, bad weather, force majeure (like the volcano incident a while back), cancellation terms and early departures to name a few.

I believe a Contract is very important, as it is a signal you are professional in what you do. It also gives you the opportunity to enter a dialogue with the guest before they arrive. You have a record of the physical address, phone numbers and names of guests.

If you have something nearby to the property that may be a distraction, like a busy highway, train etc, you can mention it in the contract to ensure you are covered in case the people arrive and don't like the location and insist on getting their money back. Or there could be major building works close by, for example. If you include these items there is no opportunity for the person to change their mind at the last minute, leaving you in the position of having to fill the booking at the 11th hour.

If you do a search on the Internet, I'm sure you will find examples of Contracts, you can then pick the bits you require and create your own. It is also sensible to include the jurisdiction of where the dispute will be heard. It may sound like overkill, but it is better to be safe than sorry and demonstrates you are meticulous. I suggest you ask the person to sign it and scan it and e-mail back to you.

Here are a couple of examples to download;

http://www.homeaway.co.uk/info/owner-res...l-contract
http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/resourc...a-1-32-75/

You can also get some ideas from the ones holiday cottage agencies use on their website/brochure.

To summerise, it should include the renters details, booking dates, your cancelation terms, what isn't allowed (e.g. smoking). It's always useful to get the renter to sign or check an agreement box (if emailing the booking form), but I'm not sure whether such contracts would be lawful in the event of disputes? IANAL