PROPERTY ADVICE
Renting out your home can help fund your travel plans, pay bills and mean your property isn’t left empty. But is it worth the extra packing?
More of us than ever are watching what we spend and trying to reduce our bills. But what if you could make money from your property, instead of simply cutting back? Covering the costs of a holiday by hiring out your home via a rental agency isn’t new, but an increasing number of people are now choosing this option to help earn a little on the side, either by renting out a spare room or an annexe while they are at home, or letting the entire property while they are away travelling or visiting family and friends.
This change isn’t about people renting out second homes; it’s about earning income from a primary residence – atrend that has risen post-pandemic and gained traction as mortgage rates and energy bills rise. ‘The pandemic and the adoption of remote work has untethered many people from the need to be in an office every day, and offered them a newfound flexibility to continue their work from home,’ explains Amanda Cupples, general manager for Northern Europe at Airbnb. ‘As a result, people are spreading out to thousands of towns and cities, staying for weeks, months, or even entire seasons at a time.’
REASONS TO RENT
Renting out your home may enable you to experience living and working elsewhere, with the security of knowingyourpropertyisn’tleftempty and can earn its keep while you are away. ‘The property owners we work with may be retirees who like to travel, others who have a second home overseas that they tend to escape to during the winter months, or people who want to spend time with extended family. We have properties that we market for as little as six weeks a year,’ says Jess Clark, creative director at Unique Homestays, which offers luxury holiday homes in stunning locations, many of them in the countryside.
For homes like these – period properties or contemporary architectural gems, which require expensive upkeep both inside and out – renting creates a circular economy that helps to preserve the beauty and longevity of the building.
‘We decided to rent out with Unique Homestays for multiple reasons,’ says Kate, who owns The Walled Garden near Bath. ‘Firstly, the grounds are just so magical that we realised this special secret deserves to be shared. Having not received much love since the Victorian period, the garden was a huge project, so renting out the property meant that we could bring in revenue which we were then able to pour back into the garden to continue to fund its restoration and dev
