Splash Out On A Holiday Cottage With A Pool

Whether it is indoors or outdoors, one of the best things about holiday cottages with a swimming pool is that you can happily spend all day 'at home' in them simply relaxing 'poolside.' They are also very effective in tempting the children away from their i-Pads and mobiles for an hour or so. Whether for exercise, wallowing around on something inflatable under a sunny sky, or keeping the kids entertained, pools can provide hours of calorie-burning fun without having to leave your accommodation.

There’s nothing quite like coming home after a hard day’s sightseeing or sandcastle building for a rejuvenating dip in the pool. It also means you don’t have to go to the beach every day for a swim and makes a great venue for poolside BBQs (just remember the difference between chicken wings and water wings before taking the plunge).

Five great things about having your own pool on holiday:

With your own pool in the garden, there’s no need to be right on the beach for a swim
A holiday cottage with an Indoor pool makes a great wet-weather alternative (and where kids are concerned, this probably applies to outdoor pools as well)
Exercise – perfect for early morning or evening dips
Poolside BBQs!
It impresses your friends and colleagues at work

So, when looking for a holiday cottage this year, why not go for one with a swimming pool? Here are some guidelines to ensure that the pool lives up to your expectations together with our recommendations for some UK self-catering cottages that have their own swimming pool.

Holiday Cottages With Pools For Every Occasion

Swimming pools come in all shapes and sizes. Don’t book a cottage simply because the advert says it has a pool as it may not be exactly what you have in mind. Here is a list of the usual options:

What type of pool is it? This will determine whether it is likely to be usable. Cottages with non-heated outdoor pools, for example, are usually only in use between mid-June to early September. Beginning with the smallest option:

Swim spa - More than a hot tub: A longish trough in which water is pumped from one end to the other allowing you to ‘swim against the tide’ without actually going anywhere. Great for fitness fanatics- but not so good if you want to float around on an airbed!
Plunge Pool – like an overlarge bath - strictly for wallowing – usually with room for 2-4 people to wallow together with a glass or two of Chablis.
Outdoor – heated or non-heated. If you are holidaying in June or September, a heated or non-heated pool can make a big difference to the water temperature. Just remember to check.
Indoor – heated or non-heated. Perfect for holidays out of season such as at Christmas or for weekend breaks.

Is the Pool Private or Communal?

A private pool is all yours. A communal one gives you or your children the chance to make and play with friends staying in other cottages on the same site. It’s also worth checking the size of the pool. Some owners will have negotiated free access to a local leisure pool, such as Pudding Cottage in Cumbria where guests can enjoy access to the amazing swimming complex in the town.

As for size, if you’re someone who likes to plough up and down, clocking up laps, then you’ll need at least an 8x4m pool to keep you happy. Communal pools tend to be larger.

Before you book your cottage, do make sure the pool will be available during your bookings. Some outdoor pools could be ‘winterised’ until May and as early as September.

Tip: When booking a holiday cottage with an outdoor pool with young children, take 'shortie' wetsuits for them because kids will spend a lot more time in the pool when wearing one of those. They look cool too. Also, don’t forget to bring buoyancy aids.

Are there Roman steps or ladders or is it a case of diving in and heaving yourself out? Something to take into account if you have young children or elderly people in your party. Roman steps where you just walk down underwater terraced steps are increasingly popular.

Privacy

Outdoor pools can be as much about lounging around on a sunbed with a glass of Pimms as they are for swimming. If you’re planning on using it to sunbathe, is it sufficiently private? Outdoor pools frequently have deck chairs and sun loungers – but don’t take this for granted- look at the photos, check it out on Google Maps or just ask the owner. That’s the advantage of sites like My Favourite Holiday Cottages – you can call the owner and ask these questions. If you’re going through an agency, the chances are that if the information isn’t in the literature, they won’t be able to answer your question if you do call.

Pool Health and Safety Considerations

Is the swimming pool secure? For families with young children, you’ll want to be sure that they cannot access the pool on their own. Outdoor pools should really be fenced off with a self-closing gate to keep little ones away from the water’s edge until you are ready to accompany them. The terms and conditions for rental for your holiday cottage will probably stipulate (amongst other do's and don'ts) that children under a certain age should never be allowed to use the pool without parental supervision or alone. Some cottages may have pool alarms. These float on the water and are set off when it is disturbed by someone entering the pool.

It is also a good idea to show young children how to get out of the pool - either by using the pool steps (check photos beforehand to make sure these have suitable handrails) or to make their way to the shallow end. Is there a diving board? These can be fun, but again, it is worth making sure that your children know how to use them safely.

Go Find Your Perfect Pool!

Using these simple guidelines to help you choose a suitable cottage will help to ensure that you can add some memorable features to your holiday and – if you use your pool regularly - burn off oodles of calories and avoid adding on the pounds while on holiday. What can be better than that?

Read More advice and information to help you find and book a self-catering holiday in a cottage with a swimming pool:

Summer Budget - Simpkins Edwards

2015 Summer Budget and Autumn Statement

What’s of interest to FHL owners

We invited our accountants, Simpkins Edwards, to offer a thumbnail description of the way the changes in the 2015 Summer and Autumn budgets will affect holiday cottage owners to help identify and calculate possible changes in the tax payable on your property.

Although the news has been in the public domain for a few months, as we approach a period when many owners will be preparing their budgets for 2016-17 (and prices for 2017), it would be opportune to provide this information. Here’s what Partner Jilly Watson has to say.

If you are the owner of a holiday cottage, there were various announcements in the Summer Budget and Autumn Statement which will directly affect you as a second property owner or would directly affect you should your cottage no longer qualifies as furnished holiday lettings (FHL).

The main changes announced in the Autumn Statement affecting buy-to-lets and second homes, including FHLs:

These changes will make buying a second property after 1 April 2016 more expensive with the increase in stamp duty land tax (SDLT) on second properties and after April 2019, bringing forward the date on which capital gains tax on the sale of a second property will become due. - Stamp Duty Land Tax on second properties: The government has announced that from April 2016, there will be a three percentage point hike in the SDLT rates on purchases of additional residential properties. A residential property worth less than £40,000 will not be taken into account when considering if an additional property is being purchased. (The definition of residential property excludes caravans, mobile homes and houseboats.)

It is the government’s intention that properties bought as furnished holiday lets will be treated the same as other residential properties and therefore, this increase in SDLT will apply if the property purchased is an additional property.

If you are considering or are in the process of purchasing or selling a second or additional residential property you need to complete the sale on or before 31 March 2016 to avoid the additional SDLT charge. - CGT payment date: Another announcement, but not due to take affect until April 2019, is the requirement for CGT arising from the sale of a residential property to be paid on account within 30 days of completion of the sale. (It would otherwise have been due ten months after the end of the tax year in which the sale took place.)

This will not change the amount of tax due, just the timing of the payment. The detail of this announcement is not yet known. Draft legislation is due to be published for consultation in 2016.

Furnished Holiday Lets

You have a holiday cottage, but does it qualify as furnished holiday lettings (FHL) for tax purposes? - The property must be let commercially with a view to making a profit - There must be sufficient furniture for normal occupation - The property must be available for 210 days per annum - The property must be actually let for 105 days per annum - Any periods of longer term occupation (say, winter lets) must not exceed 155 days per annum

If the property does not qualify in a bad year, there are a couple of elections that may help you. An ‘averaging’ election might be possible if you have multiple properties (but you cannot mix the UK and other EEA property businesses). It allows you to average the let days over the properties in each letting business. A ‘period of grace’ election is available to single-property and multi-property businesses and is in addition to the averaging election. This election allows you to treat a year as a qualifying year if you were unable to meet the 105-day threshold, despite having a genuine intention to do so.

So why is it so important to be aware of these rules? If your property qualifies, there are certain advantages over ‘ordinary’ residential lettings:

The ability to claim capital allowances for income tax purposes. This lets you write off the cost of certain capital assets against taxable income
FHL income counts as relevant earnings when considering the maximum pension contributions you can make
Favourable capital gains tax treatment if you sell the property
Possibly favourable inheritance tax treatment, given the right circumstances

And what happens if you don’t qualify as a FHL:

First off, your holiday cottage will be re-categorised as residential letting, and you will lose the preferential treatments given to FHLs detailed above.

Secondly, you need to be aware of various key changes announced in the Summer Budget that will now affect you as a residential landlord - finance costs, which is bad news for those with borrowings, but also two bits of good news regarding the ‘wear and tear’ allowance and ‘rent a room’: - Finance costs: The government announced that there is going to be a restriction on the amount of tax relief that landlords can claim on their finance costs. For example, mortgage interest and arrangement fees. The relief will be at the basic rate of income tax only and is going to be calculated differently. Instead of being an expense deducted from rental income, it will be given as a relief deducted from your tax liability. The outcome of this is that you are likely to have higher taxable income, and for some people, they may end up being pushed through a threshold to a higher tax band. To allow taxpayers to get used to the idea(!), the new rules are being phased in over four years starting in 2017/18. By 2020/21, all relief will be claimed by a basic rate tax deduction.

This key change does not apply to FHL landlords or to companies. You could give some thought to owning residential property through a limited company, but there are multiple issues to consider, including the changes to the dividend regime, also announced in the summer budget. - Replacement of wear and tear allowance: Landlords of fully furnished residential lettings are currently eligible for a deduction to cover the depreciation of equipment and furnishings by way of a 10% ‘wear and tear’ allowance (based on rental income less various costs that the tenant would normally pay).

Landlords of partly furnished properties (since April 2013) have not been able to make a similar claim unless the expenditure can be classed as a repair.

From April 2016, the ‘wear and tear’ allowance will be removed, to be replaced by a new relief for replacement furniture that will be available to all residential landlords. Do remember that the initial cost of furnishing the property will not be allowed.

This is a welcome amendment to put both furnished and unfurnished residential lettings on the same footing and to put right an anomaly that had crept in when HMRC tweaked the rules. - Rent a room: Do you provide furnished accommodation within your own home? For years a taxpayer has been exempt from income tax on the profits if the gross income they have received has been less than £4,250. At last, this threshold is to be increased to £7,500 per annum (from April 2016).

If gross income is in excess of £4,250 (soon to be £7,500), the income can be taxed on an alternative basis which may produce a tax saving.

This is a brief look at some of the key changes. No two situations are exactly the same, and as with everything, there are exceptions to the rule – which might just apply to your circumstances. You should seek advice before taking any action to give your adviser the best chance of keeping your tax bill as low as possible. If you are looking for advice in connection with your property lettings, call us on 01271 342233. We’d be delighted to listen to your particular circumstances and see how we can help you.

Jilly Watson. Simpkins Edwards. Millennium House, Brannam Crescent, Roundswell Business Park, Barnstaple, Devon EX31 3TD. jwatson@sellp.co.uk_ https://www.simpkinsedwards.co.uk/

Holiday Cottages With Winter Walks

There’s nothing quite like a bracing winter walk through muddy country lanes or across windswept beaches and cliff tops to blow out the cobwebs. So, pack your wellies and make a weekend of it. Combine one of these winter walks with a 2-3 night self-catering holiday in a nearby cottage. Here are six scenic walks and cycle paths to explore and six idyllic, warm and toasty holiday cottages to relax in front of a log fire after the long plod.

The Medway Marshes – Kent

Here’s a great one to start off! The River Thames flows through many marshes and mudflats, and these lowland walks make for some fantastic birdwatching or shooting! With a camera, of course. The great thing is these birds tend not to be overly afraid of people, so you can get a good look with your average pair of binoculars, even if you leave your bazooka lens or Hubble telescope at home.

You can start at Cliffe for the entire 15-mile walk or join earlier if you want a bit less of a trek.

You can find out more here.

Countryside and Clifftop - East Sussex

Fancy something with a bit less length and a bit more height? This circular route follows old smugglers’ paths along part of the Seven Sisters cliffs overlooking the channel. You can get spectacular views of the Belle Tout lighthouse on a clear day.

I mentioned this was shorter; being only 3 miles (5km) long, the walk shouldn’t take up much of your day so you will have plenty of time for other attractions. The walk starts (and ends) at the Tiger Inn and goes past the house where “Sherlock Holmes retired”.

You can find out more here.

The Tarka Trail – North Devon

Here’s one close to my heart as it runs just by where I live into my two neighbouring towns in each direction! I still have an old railway bolt I found in the gravel after falling off my bike when I first got off stabilisers! Anyway, this canal-turned-railway-turned-cycle trail runs between Meeth and Braunton. If you want to do the whole track, there are 30 miles to play with! There is an audio track you can download along with 21 information boards.

If you want to know more, Click here.

3 Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden – North Yorkshire

Nature not enough to excite you? This might do the ticket. A 5-mile (8km) walk around the beautiful Fountains Abbey and Royal Water Garden near Ripon in North Yorkshire. You can expect to see the impressive ruins, views of the deer park and the North York Moors, the medieval Plumpton Hall farmhouse, and more!

If you want to learn more, click here.

The Monsal Trail – The Peak District

Found between Chee Vale and Bakewell in the Peak District, The Monsal Trail is a traffic-free path for walkers, cyclists, horse riders and wheelchairs. It runs for 8.5 miles in each direction. The former railway route features many interesting things to see, including wildlife, geology, and rail heritage. The trail is clearly marked with signs, listening posts and six tunnels!

Perhaps the most famous feature on the trail is the Monsal Viaduct, which, at the time of its construction, met with a lot of criticism.

"There was a rocky valley between Buxton and Bakewell, once upon a time, divine as the Vale of Tempe... you enterprised a Railroad through the valley - you blasted its rocks away…” – John Ruskin

To learn more about the features of this trial through time, click here.

Holywell St Piran – West Cornwall

“A long but fascinating walk for the enthusiast”. This walk will take you around Penhale Point and through the dunes. This walk goes past many remnants of St Piran’s Oratory and other holy sites attached to his name. Perhaps the most exciting part of this walk is the extensive mine workings on and around the cliffs. To top it off, there is an Iron Age castle on Penhale Point and some Bronze Age barrows nearby.

Unusual British World Championships

Self-Catering Holidays at Britain's World ChampionshipsIt's so hard to choose where to go for a weekend break in the UK. Few corners of this fine country don't offer visitors stunning views, historic houses, idyllic villages, buzzing towns, moorland and beautiful beaches (phew!). But why not book a short break in a holiday cottage that includes a morning or an afternoon spectating at a World Championship? Britain has so many, from bog snorkelling to worm charming. You wouldn't believe just how extreme we Brits can be when doing something totally bonkers while taking it seriously. Laugh through you may; they all provide unique and eminently watchable experiences to build a short holiday. You might even want to enter one as a competitor!

Here's a list of our favourites - together with some suitably world-class self-catering cottages to enjoy your evenings away from the sport of the day.

Let's kick off our list with the funniest-sounding world championship! It's surprisingly descriptive too.

The World Bog Snorkelling Championships

This event usually takes place on the last Sunday in August. Lonely Planet described it as "one of the top 50 must-do things from around the world". But what is it? In case you haven't worked it out already, this Championship is a very long, deep ditch cut into a bog in Llanwrtyd Wells, Mid-Wales. As a competitor, you must swim two lengths of the 55m long water-filled ditch as fast as possible! But there's a catch. You must wear a snorkel and flippers, AND you cannot use conventional swimming strokes.

This weird tradition *cough* sorry - sport started in 1985 and has been going strong ever since, raising money for charity and getting people very cold and wet! The current world champion is Kirsty Johnson, with a time of 1m 22s. Not bad!

Does it end there? Hell, no! If you come a day early, you get to enjoy Mountain Bike bog snorkelling or even the gruelling Bogsnorkelling Triathlon. Of course, you don't need to get wet to enjoy this event! There are plenty of attractions nearby to keep you occupied, including fancy dress, food and drink stalls, crafts, a bouncy castle, live music and an ale and cider bar! I'll leave the mental images up to you for these.

Fancy giving it a go? Check out the World Bog Snorkelling Championships' official site here.

The World Worm Charming Championships

We're going from physically gruelling to mentally gruelling now! Do not be tricked by the title into thinking this is a silly bit of fun! Eighteen very serious rules govern this annual event near Nantwich. One is "competitors who do not wish to handle worms may appoint a "gillie" to do so for them!" No messing about!

Each competitor is given a 3x3 metre plot in which they can do anything to the ground to get worms to come to the surface! Once caught, they are popped into a cosy container to await counting before being released (after the birds have gone to sleep!) The worms might be slow, but you can't be! The current world record set in 2009 is for 567 worms! Out of 3 metres squared!

If you want to participate this year, you must sign up fast. The charming began in June 2016. Please find out more on their site! www.wormcharming.co.uk

The World Conker Championships

Are you looking for a faster-paced activity? Well… This might not be what you are after, but we think it's a great day out! A well-organised set of rules govern this championship in Southwick, Northamptonshire, to make for a smashing sport. Don't go thinking about filling your conker with rocks, though, as all laces and nuts are to be supplied by the Ashton Conker Club. Yeah, it's a thing.

Click here to read more about the British World Conker Championships.

British Pedal Car Championship

Here's a bit more up my street with speed, engineering, endurance and whacky designs. The pedal racing calendar does not just take up one day and has been going on for 20 years! There isn't much more to say about this; the only thing to do is check out the site and watch a race! Or better. Compete. There are plenty of venues, including Shrewsbury and Curborough (although the latter is a 7-hour endurance!)

The World Bottle Smashing Tournament

Every year the Cairn o Mohr Winery in Errol has a few leftover bottles. And what better way of dealing with this problem than handing them to people having a bad week and telling them to lob the unsuspecting bottle at a suspended stone? Players are given seven bottles and must stand 13 metres from a 2ft diameter rock held between a safety net. Nobody has managed to smash more than four bottles in one round before!

If you want to participate, show up on the day and register before 12:30 - You can find out more on their site: The World Bottle Smashing Tournament.

British Firework Championships

How about a competition you probably won't be allowed to participate in? The annual British Fireworks Competition is held in Plymouth each summer. It pits the best of the best UK fireworks display companies against a team of judges and a huuuuge crowd picnicking on Plymouth Hoe - an excellent vantage point. I can't think of a better way to get a fantastic fireworks display.

The Bognor Birdman

Here's another one you'll want to watch but probably not get involved in! The Birdman is a competition for human-powered flying machines! Or… falling machines. Taking place in the beautiful looking, but not so beautiful sounding, Bognor Regis on England's south coast. This is a fantastic and frequently hilarious spectator sport as you watch countless shivering pilots crash and recover their elegant or outrageous designs from the ocean.

Click here for all you need to know about The Bognor Birman:

Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling

Perhaps the stupidest, most dangerous championship on our list! So much so that it was stopped for a few years due to the number of injuries. This ridiculous competition involves hurling yourself down a steep, muddy hill after a large wheel of cheese. Catching the cheese is impossible, of course, but getting to the bottom of the hill and crossing the finish line the fastest will award you… 'The Cheese'.

January 2016 Happy New Year!

January 2016

Welcome to the first My Favourite Newsletter of 2016. We’ve got lots of news for cottage owners, from interior design to how the advertising market is changing.

This Newsletter is published every month, and we think it is essential reading for anyone interested in holiday cottages - especially their owners. Please click here to subscribe to the Newsletter (free).

For all you long-time subscribers – our new format includes a title and a short snippet that conveys the purpose of the article and the benefits in store should you choose to read the full article. To read the rest, click on the link.

Good News for Holiday Cottage owners – occupancy rates are on the up! Boshers Insurance looks at the latest tourism trends forecast from the experts at Visit England. Especially useful if you want to know which aspects of the market are on the increase so you can adjust your advertising accordingly.

Advertising

And more good news from the ASS for our Scottish subscribers. Join the Association of Scottish Self-Caterers (ASSC) to get an exclusive low-cost web booking engine and availability calendar which automatically updates your EmbraceScotland and VisitScotland listings. Click the link to see how this benefit could drive more enquiries and save you time having to repeatedly update calendars every time you get a booking. The ASSC also holds a great annual conference in December that is well worth attending. We went last year and planned to return.

Marketing

Reasons Why Customer Reviews Are Important

If you have ever wondered whether it is worth the fuss chasing guests for reviews and updating your sites - this article should answer those questions. Read more: TrekkSoft.

And having read it – upload some of your testimonials to your advert on My Favourite Holiday Cottages. It just makes sense!

13 Proven Ways To Get Low-Season Holiday Let Bookings

Not to be outdone by Boshers, that other reputable purveyor of holiday property insurance, Schofields, offers some helpful tips to increase business in, er… around about now, in fact.

Copywriters

If content is king, it needs to look the part. The only thing worse than no content at all is poorly written content. If you baulked at paying someone else to write your website content, this article might encourage you to reconsider.

Vacation Rentals in 2016 – Be Prepared

It’s advertising Jim – but not as we know it! Things are changing fast in the world of holiday cottage advertising as the likes of Expedia seek to dominate the market (and set charges accordingly). Published by Rentivo.com, this is an interesting think piece that looks at how we might be forced to dance to new tunes in striving to get more bookings for our cottages. This a heavyweight article worth reading over a cup of coffee a couple of times (to get around the jargon). When you get to the ‘Lean-Mean Enquiry Machine’ bit, think of My Favourite Holiday Cottages. However, if you want to know how the big guns are trying to dictate how we advertise our properties in the near future, give it some serious thought.

Property Management

Pet-Friendly Cottages

Far too many cottages are labelled ‘pet friendly’ simply because they allow visitors with four paws over the threshold. But to create a true pet-friendly cottage that will attract repeat bookings and encourage word of mouth from past guests, it’s necessary to add a few canines (or feline) home comforts to delight owners and their pets alike. Please read our blog written to help potential bookers identify truly pet-friendly cottages. If you like the suggestion about providing temporary collar tags with cottage contact details (in case a pet wanders off while on holiday), here’s a handy link: amazon

Interior design

A little light goes a long way – gorgeous strings of illuminated fluffy pom-poms can bring a room to life. They look great in photos. Laugh if you like – but if you are looking at ways to add a touch of sparkle to your cottage, you might just find some inspiration here!

Fire Safety Law

Have you got a Fire Safety plan? Does your cottage comply with Fire Safety Law? Here’s the skinny from Boshers. By the way, go to the Visit England website for a Fire Safety template for your accommodation. It will make life a lot easier and go a long way to ensure your insurance policy is not invalid due to non-compliance.

Social Media

A Cheatsheet for Image Sizes

For those of you regularly posting images on your Facebook-Twitter-Linkedin-Pinterest-etc. Social media pages, here’s a great Infographic which sets out the image sizes you should be using for each social media platform to achieve maximum impact. Learn the exact sizes to display your image at its best. If your image size is too large, it may not upload. Too small, and it can look blurred, grainy and just dreadful.

Thanks

That’s it for January! Thanks for reading! Just click here if you’d prefer to get your next copies of the Newsletter sent to your mailbox. Subscription is free of charge.

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