Holiday Let Buyers Are Getting Serious Reveals New Data

With demand for staycations sky-rocketing, there have been a number of reports over the last 18 months about the dramatic increase in people acquiring holiday lets – but new data suggests that these figures are not all they seem.

Holiday Cottage Mortgages has revealed that, despite interest being high, almost three in five holiday let mortgage assessments requested in August last year were purely browsing. 

The leading broker, which specialises in holiday let finance, has put this down to what is sometimes referred to as ‘ice-cream lickers and tyre kickers’. These are staycationers who enjoy their UK holiday so much that they get excited about the idea of owning their own holiday let and begin wandering the local high streets, looking in Estate Agents’ windows and booking viewings. 

This is not a new phenomenon though, with research by property firm Savoy Stewart highlighting that 96% of Brits admit to ‘property ghosting’- looking at properties with no intention of buying. Their data revealed that 10% of the population have even attended viewings out of nosiness and curiosity.

Leigh Glazebrook, Office Head at Knight Frank’s Stow-on-the-Wold office in the Cotswolds said: “The sheer demand from buyers in the Cotswolds has never been quite so high. Deciphering between those who are serious about buying and those who are browsing has been extremely difficult at times, particularly when you trying to be efficient with time and also minimising unnecessary foot traffic in clients homes.”

The market seems to be on the upturn though, with the most recent figures from Holiday Cottage Mortgages highlighting that the number of browsers has almost halved (42%).

Indeed, 66% of their enquiries were actively pursuing a holiday let mortgage last month, which is a positive sign for brokers and estate agents and indicates that the market is once again becoming more focused and assessment requests more serious.

Andrew Soye, Founder of Holiday Cottage Mortgages, said: “People forget that holiday letting was already a growing market prior to the pandemic. With the recent focus on staycations, significantly more people have experienced how fabulous UK holidays really are and so we’ve seen a step-change in activity that we believe will last. Although International travel is opening up again, our view is that the demand for staycations is likely to remain high and we will see continued growth in the domestic travel sector, which will be very positive for the UK economy.” 

Due to Coronavirus travel restrictions, staycations have been the only option for many over the last two years so it is unsurprising that interest in owning a holiday rental property has been amplified. 

In fact, Holiday Cottage Mortgages saw their enquiries increase by a staggering 108% between August 2019 and 2020.

The range of holiday let mortgages has widened significantly too. Options have more than doubled since August 2020 and there are now 186 options available compared to just 74, according to MoneyFacts.co.uk.

However, this recent data from Holiday Cottage Mortgages highlights a positive trend in the market with more committed buyers. This, coupled with the demand for staycations remaining, suggests that there will be more serious growth within this market in the months to come.

ENDS 

About Holiday Cottage Mortgages: 

• Holiday Cottage Mortgages is a specialist broker focussed solely on helping new and existing property owners find the right holiday let mortgage to match their often unique circumstances. 
• Founded in 2018 by former holiday letting entrepreneur Andrew Soye, the business is now widely recognised as the sector’s leading niche advisor by both major holiday letting agencies and holiday let mortgage lenders alike.

For more information, please visit https://www.holidaycottagemortgages.co.uk/