Hello everyone,
We are thinking about buying a holiday cottage either in the Lake District or the Western Scottish Highlands but we are not sure which. (We are reasonably experienced landlords because we have a 2 bedroomed flat in Manchester which we rent to profesionals)
Does anyone have any experience of renting out a holiday cottage in these areas?
The benefits of the Lakes are that it is only 2 hours from Manchester where we live and it is a year round holiday destination. The season seems to run from Easter to end October. The disadvantage is the property price aproximately £200,000 for a two bedroomed terraced house.
The benefits of the Highlands (near Skye) is that property is cheaper £130,000 for a two bedroomed house or even less if you buy one in a poor state of repair. However the downsides are that it is 6 hours drive so it is diffucult to carry out maintenance / deal with problems and the rental season is shorter (probably only May to September). Also the weather in the Highlands is worse than the Lakes.
Any comments, experiences, suggestions are welcome.
Thanks a lot.
Regards,
CathyM
Holiday Cottages in the Lake District or Scottish Highlands
Hi cathyM. Its no contest in my eyes, I would go for the Lake District, mostly because I think you will get bookings during the winter months, you could offer long weekend breaks during quiet spells and its easier to reach from a larger part of the country. Also, from your own point of view its more accessible.
To me it's a no-brainer - Lake District - but I don't know all the facts or your financial situation.
According to 1994 figures, the Lake District gets 12 million visitors a year, of which 10 million are day-trippers and 2 million stay for one or more nights.
130,000 is less than 200,000, but what about the potential return - for Scotland to make sense financially, it would need to be making more than 65% of what a Lake District property makes in a year.
Factoring in the relative distances from Manchester, you could call that at least 75% to make it worthwhile. What about a caretaker for when things go wrong? You could do this yourself if you are 2 hours away (although a 4-hour drive to do a minor repair is not fun). If you are 6 hours away, you have the added expense of having someone local to look after things, and/or a cleaner.
Then you have to think about not just the size of the potential market of renters, but also the competition. There are many self catering homes in the Lake District - are the Highlands as saturated compared to the demand?
According to 1994 figures, the Lake District gets 12 million visitors a year, of which 10 million are day-trippers and 2 million stay for one or more nights.
130,000 is less than 200,000, but what about the potential return - for Scotland to make sense financially, it would need to be making more than 65% of what a Lake District property makes in a year.
Factoring in the relative distances from Manchester, you could call that at least 75% to make it worthwhile. What about a caretaker for when things go wrong? You could do this yourself if you are 2 hours away (although a 4-hour drive to do a minor repair is not fun). If you are 6 hours away, you have the added expense of having someone local to look after things, and/or a cleaner.
Then you have to think about not just the size of the potential market of renters, but also the competition. There are many self catering homes in the Lake District - are the Highlands as saturated compared to the demand?
Paolo
Lay My Hat
Lay My Hat