New Rental Conversion. Newbie questions

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Fronwen
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Mar 10, 2019 6:35 pm

New Rental Conversion. Newbie questions

Post by Fronwen »

Hi Everyone, We are just completing our holiday let conversion. It stands on our property and is a converted small barn. We are going to let it out as a holiday let and now need to make sure i have all the correct paperwork in order to enable us to do so.

It does not have an address registered on the Postcode Address File managed by royal mail. Do i want to be telling someone its now a business and it needs a new business address? We ourselves are registered as a tourism related company with companies house (using the main property address). It does have its own water and electricity supply meters. Do i need to do this for buildings insurance etc? I am currently trying to get quotes for when we begin renting.

What insurances do i need to get covered for / paperwork in place? have i missed anything here?
- Buidings insurance
- Contents
- Public liability

Are there any other checks and paperwork i need to get?
- Pat testing appliances?
- health and safety assessments?

Any help for the newbie would be great.

thanks!
zebedee
Posts: 1270
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 2:57 pm
Location: yorkshire dales

Post by zebedee »

Wow! Huge question - I’m sure you will get lots of suggestions.

I presume you have all the necessary permissions to convert the property in the first place?? That way your local authority will know that you are establishing it as a holiday let???

In addition to what you have mentioned, you will need gas safety certificates done annually, or oil servicing and emission testing if your appliances use either.
Fire risk assessment and equipment is a must.
It would be recommended to have an access statement - this will help you think through colour choices and types of floorings so that you are able to accommodate people with disabilities as far as possible, although to be honest this is something best done when planning the conversion. As you already have a business, I’m sure you are already aware of the legal obligations re disabled persons.
Even simple measures such as contrasting floor colouring helps people with visual disabilities. The Visit England website will help you with templates etc.
A carbon monoxide detector in rooms with a log burner, gas appliance or oil fueled appliance.
Insurance - you need specialist holiday let insurance- this will cover buildings and contents for you. One such company has their logo on the top of this forum.

Good luck - where is your property?
Fronwen
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Mar 10, 2019 6:35 pm

Post by Fronwen »

Thanks zebedee for your reply. I know that i have a lot of things to look into before we can let. but wanted to see if there was anything that i hadn't thought of.

Yes all planning is granted and building regs have been inspecting the work so far.

I'll get a fire risk assessment done, Is that also something i can do myself?

No gas or oil on the property so no need to worry about those, just electric and a log burner stove (newly installed with certificates)

We are in mid/west wales and moved here 3 months ago. We have been finishing off a holiday let conversion started by the previous owners so its a case of following the plans which were agreed by the planning. Ive not seen an access statement as part of the agreed plans so i'm assuming it wasn't needed with it only being a small re-development and change of use. I see your point though that it will be beneficial. do you have any suggestions as to where i can find a good template? can i do it myself? I looked on visit England site but couldn't find anything.

Certificates and building control related paperwork will all be in order, I've got a reasonable understanding of what is needed for a residential property. Its the additional things for rental properties that i'm less familiar with.

I have just clicked through to schofields (via the link) and await a quote for the insurance, so i hope thats not going to be a shock!
zebedee
Posts: 1270
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 2:57 pm
Location: yorkshire dales

Post by zebedee »

Try this

https://www.visitbritain.org/business-a ... sment-tool

https://www.visitbritain.org/business-a ... lity-guide

To be honest, the access statement is rarely asked for and is only a “requirement” of Visit Britain to the best of my knowledge, but it is a useful and thought provoking thing to do.
Stewart
Posts: 131
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 1:32 pm
Location: Fife, Scotland

Or just get on with marketing your property

Post by Stewart »

Nobody is going to die if you get going without all the fine detail in place. Providing your services are in place and are sure you are not going to create a ruck with neighbours or locals, spend all your energy on getting business and delivering a truly terrific experience. As long as you are doing things in good faith let the authorities come to you and plead ignorance if you have to. That's how we kicked off our let eight years ago.
User avatar
greenbarn
Posts: 6146
Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 6:41 pm
Location: The Westmorland Dales, Cumbria

Re: Or just get on with marketing your property

Post by greenbarn »

Stewart wrote:Nobody is going to die if you get going without all the fine detail in place.
Guests could well die if you haven’t done a proper fire risk and evacuation assessment and acted on whatever it brings to light. Likewise electrical safety.
They probably won’t die, or even be injured, which is what all the make a fast buck cowboy owners operating on the cheap rely on.
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