With holiday season in full swing and many of us looking at leaving our homes for a week or two in search of the sun, the thoughts of advertising your home as a holiday-let to make a bit of spare cash may seem quite appealing.

If you’re comfortable with the concept of strangers spending time in your home, possibly lounging on your furniture and poking through your collection of knickknacks and houseplants, then renting out your property on the likes of Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Homestay and the like has seen a real boom in recent years.

However, as easy as it may be to list your home on these websites, there could be some serious consequences for your mortgage if you haven’t done your homework first.

Different lenders have different rules regarding Airbnb and similar holiday-let platforms, and many existing residential mortgages currently prohibit letting the property without the lender’s permission – which includes Airbnb.

Alternatively, some lenders may allow homeowners to let their property with certain conditions, or for certain timescales – the devil is in the detail, and the small print that you’ll have signed when you applied for your most recent mortgage.

Therefore, before listing your home – it’s important to consult your documentation and to contact your mortgage lender to inform them that you wish to do this. As your mortgage adviser, we are able to assist if you have any specific queries on your circumstances, so just let us know if you need any guidance here.

Alongside the mortgage, there are other implications of letting your home out – for example taxation and home insurance too.

Using your home to generate an additional income can leave you liable for extra tax and National insurance if you are earning over the current thresholds¹, and more about taxation can be found on the Government website here – https://www.gov.uk/renting-out-a-property/paying-tax. If you do have queries on the tax implications, it’s always worth seeking an independent tax adviser before taking any action.

Consulting your home insurer is also crucial before listing your property on Airbnb. Your insurer might charge a one-off fee or increase your premium, or you may be able to obtain specialist cover online.

Whilst letting your home out via Airbnb or the other online holiday let platforms may not be as straightforward as one might reasonably expect, it can be a way to increase your income and make more use of your otherwise-vacant property while you’re elsewhere. Just ensure that you’ve conducted the sufficient checks on your mortgage policy and that you’re up to speed on the exact implications for both tax and home insurance, and then you can start to delve into the world of holiday lets.

Our qualified advisors will do all they can to provide help and support when you’re making these important mortgage decisions, possibly discussing alternative routes that you may not otherwise have considered.

We aim to ensure that every client has a happy experience with Mallory and with our consistent 5-star reviews on Trust Pilot we know we’re doing a great job.

Take a proactive approach 

We can simplify the mortgage process for you and help secure you a great mortgage deal in the process. 

Contact the team on 01565 874 246
Email: hello@malloryfinancial.co.uk