Lay My Hat

In the Highlands we had the initial £10k and then nothing until last week when we got the first payment under the Strategic Framework Business Fund grant, which is being paid at £2k per property, every 4 weeks in arrears. Very, very grateful as I was reaching the bottom of my bounce back loan!

My insurers said that because I didn't have a case of the notifiable disease in the property it was still usable and therefore refused to pay out (Hiscox). Raymond Blanc has been turned down for a payout on 37 premises under the same policy clause with them and is taking them to court, so I'm waitin...

Got mine on Friday, also from Highland. 2 weeks 3 days to process, which included Easter - they're doing well, I think, given they reckon they have 4,400 potentially eligible properties.

Hi Aphra, I'm just over the border from you in North Sutherland. Cottages.com offered me 18%+VAT 2 years ago because they're short of property in this area, their 'normal' rate is 24%+VAT. We're just doing our second one further west, which is a large 3-bed house sleeping 6. I've been quoted £55 for...

Just switched my phone back on after an overnight flight back from our own holiday and found that I got a booking last night for 16th-23rd December!

Got people in for a week over new year, Christmas not sold yet and I'm not particularly bothered whether it does or not. Only 3 nights empty in November, I need a bit of a break!

Cumbrian Cottages is part of cottages.com, isn't it? If you've signed the contract but haven't got access to the owners' portal yet, ask them for the discount code for Out of Eden - it'll give you 10% off and I've found their cotton hotel bed linen very good: https://www.outofeden.co.uk/category/cot...

I think it also depends how badly they want you to sign up - they were desperate for more properties where I live, so offered me unlimited owner weeks up front.

I have a theory that they penalise you somehow in their searches if you advertise independently elsewhere. I leave it all up to them, the only thing I do is run a Facebook page and an Instagram account for the cottage, both of which link to a Scottish Cottages (part of cottages.com) booking page. Th...

Half full at the moment. I had an enquiry last week from someone who wanted the whole of the remaining fortnight, but after answering all her questions she hasn't come back, so I'm guessing that's a no. This time last year I only had 1 week booked though, so technically I'm ahead of myself!

Mine is, in Scotland. Pros - no council tax, 100% rates relief for small businesses. Cons - now have a business water bill (Scotland includes water in council tax) and have to pay for bin collections, but overall still lots better off. Bear in mind (because this is about to hit us) that if you have ...

On the offchance this isn't a wind-up...I think you might have to consider that holiday letting isn't for you if you're going to object to unmarried couples.

I don't charge one either. Total damages in the first year, 2 chipped dinner plates, 1 chipped bowl, 3 smashed wine glasses, 1 smashed water glass, 1 smashed cafetiere, 1 slightly chewed cushion. All of them either left me an apologetic note and some cash or bought replacements before they left.

Yup, I agree with Joanna too - I think people are waiting to see what happens at the end of this month to make a decision about whether their holiday this year is in the UK or abroad.

We started last year and in the 10 months we were open to guests we booked 26 weeks, had 70 adults stay with us, bringing 7 children and 26 dogs. I didn't work out the percentage of bookings that brought a dog, but it was most of them. The agency I'm with has a rule of no dogs in bedrooms or on furn...