How much deposit do you charge?

[Speyside Steve]

When we started holiday letting, we tried to keep things simple and chose a fixed deposit (£150 per week) regardless of the season. Advantages were that it simplified things for us when handling the admin. It also avoided the fact that many people are lousy at calculating percentages!!

As we have slowly increased prices over the past couple of years, the deposit has remained fixed and I am having a rethink. A deposit of £150 to book a summer week of £625 seems too low.

So the question is, what level of deposit do you charge? And is it a percentage of the rental or fixed?

Would really appreciate the benefit of LMH experience here!

[windrush]

We take a 20% deposit so would ask for £124 for a week priced at £625.

[Harborfields]

We charge 25% of the rental as the confirmation deposit, with the balance due upon arrival. We always do the calculation for them and include that in our quote.

We're thinking about offering a discount to those who might pay in full when booking their August vacation in January, as it would certainly help out our cash flow! (We're only open 5 or 6 months out of the year.)

[Speyside Steve]

Interesting thought about offering a discount for full payment at time of booking. Cash flow would definitely be improved.

[Nemo]

25% deposit at time of booking, balance due two months before. I get enough money flowing in from deposits in Jan/Feb, so I'm more than happy to wait for more cash to flow in through the rest of the year!

[apexblue]

We have upped the deposit from £100 to £200 with payment 8 weeks before arrival.

[e-richard]

I charge 20% rather that 25%

Now the geeky bit:

All my list prices end in either 0 or 5 (e.g. £795, $1200)
THUS: The deposit is always an integral value, i.e. no pence, no cents

[marsh frog]

We ask for 25% deposit and calculate this for them. Balance is payable 8 weeks before the start of their holiday

[kendalcottages]

When we started holiday letting, we tried to keep things simple and chose a fixed deposit (£150 per week) regardless of the season. Advantages were that it simplified things for us when handling the admin. It also avoided the fact that many people are lousy at calculating percentages!!

Your guests don't need to do the calculations. You can do it for them and tell them what is owed. Better still, you can use a management system (eg. e-richard's PIMS) and all the maths is done for you.

A deposit of £150 to book a summer week of £625 seems too low.

I wouldn't say that is low. It works out as exactly 24%.

We charge 25% deposit at the time of booking, with a minimum deposit charge of £100. ie. if it's a short break at say, £300, we'll charge £100 deposit rather than £75.

The balance is due 2 months before the stay commences.

[waterwitch]

I charge 50% of the rental as deposit.

If they are booking over 12 month's in advance I may reduce this to 25% if they ask.

[Paul G]

25% by end of January or on booking if after end of January. Balance 8 weeks prior to arrival. Never ever allow people to pay balance on arrival. Can relate story about how that can work.

[Yorkshire Lass]

I charge a flat £150 deposit which is non-refundable with the balance due 8 weeks before arrival. My feeling is that it's sufficiently large enough to deter anyone from cancelling without a good reason. Presumably some owners taking larger deposits may have to refund partially in the event of a cancellation a long time in advance (or am I missing something).

[Mouse]

50% deposit here. Seems fair to share the risk

However for people booking before xmas for the next summer I accept 10% with the remaining 40% due in January.
Seems to work well as we tend to be the first villa to book up until the post xmas rush.

Mousie
x

[charles cawley]

We request 25% and then the rental balance 8 weeks before the stay. This follows what the market seems to stand reflected in the practice of (love them or hate them) Hoseasons.

On the tricky subject of damage deposits, the general advice is that they rarely cover the cost of significant damage and claiming on small items is, often, not worth the upset. Our members usually have their own policies but generally share most of this approach.

A major point of a damage deposit is to show that you care. Nowdays, this appears to be more and more necessary. We usually advise around £100 and a higher sum, sometimes, if the weekly let is more than an average of about £800.

On rental deposits... we have never yet felt they have put people off from booking and if you can insist on them in many cases this policy can save endless grief.

[brendan]

30% deposit at time of booking