If you are planning to buy a rental home, or you're thinking about what to do with one you have just acquired, this is the place for any questions about starting out in the rentals business.
If you were building holiday properties from scratch, or converting or upgrading your properties would you build 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, 3 bedroom or 4 bedroom properties?
I'm thinking of building three rental properties on the same site and I'm keen to build the most popular/flexible size... and that's where you can help me.
As the most experienced group of people I know of, which would you say is the most popular size for renting?
Why do they all have to be the same size? Where are you building, what market are you trying to attract? I don't think it is simply as easy as saying how many bedrooms. Larger properties are more profitable, but are more difficult to fill outside the holidays, smaller properties are cheaper but will attract couples who tend to come out of season.
All our cottages have three bedrooms, but we cater only to families.
I personally wouldn't bother with two bedrooms at all because they cost much the same to kit out and take virtually the same time to clean as a three bed property, but you have to charge less. Also you can always drop the prices (ie. have special "couples discounts" ) etc. in order to attract couples out of season.
One bedroom would be a complete waste of time in a new build and the market for four bedrooms in quite a bit smaller than the market for three (for families anyway).
I'm just in the process of finishing a fifth cottage on our site and that will be bigger and have four bedrooms - this is to cater for the two small families travelling together market and also the large/extended families market. I think the key is to make your properties as versatile as possible - ie. at least one of the bedrooms should be large enough to have several beds in it.
If I was building holiday cottages from scratch ( as in fact we are doing on another site ) I would be inclined to stick to 3 bedrooms.
Hi Richard - thanks for this, very useful. We have been unsure about the right combination but having three identical houses has the advantage of needing only one set of plans... and makes it much easier to equip if the measurements are the same.
You maybe able to offer advice on the number of pools if you're doing something similiar... on my other thread?
great advice though... just what we're looking for thanks
For what it is worth, here is some info I received from a rental listing sites regarding the searches done for guests per property. It bears out what Richard says:
4-6 guests: 40%
1-3 guests: 34%
7-8 guests: 11%
9-10 guests: 6%
11-12 guests: 4%
13-18 guests: 3%
19-25 guests: 1%
25+ guests: 1%
Good luck with your project Sandie - I've been thinking about what you are doing and what you are planning really makes sense. Doing a new build on separate plots each with their own pool is far less risky and much easier to sell if you want to in the future. And of course you won't have the headache of all the never ending maintenance issues that you get with old buildings - I've spent a fortune on re-doing the DIY bodges which were done by the previous owner. Bon courage!
Welcome to LMH! I think the question should be more about your possible market. Our property, for example, is rented by either groups of friends clubbing together for a special luxury break or multi-generational families or groups of two or three families. So our five bedrooms works for us - but we have year-round renters with long weekends `out of season` and full weeks in the summer, school holidays etc. Based in the UK and only 90 minutes from London that is our market.
So, you need to think about who would travel, by what means of transport and how far to get the right balance for you if that makes sense
