Log cabin/holiday rental

Hi
Don't know if this has been brought up before but I wanted to ask if anyone has tried or succeeded in putting a log cabin on there property to rent out for the summer and for friends or family to stay in when visiting??
What sort of, if any, restrictions have you met/encountered and did you require planning. I have searched online and seen some that argue you need planning and others say you don't? Also, does anyone know about any restrictions with regards to distances from house or the yard or any sheds, fixe or non fixed etc etc as the location I have is to the side of the farm with its own entrance, garden etc.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
 

How much

Member
Location
North East
the rules will vary depending on where you are , if in national park etc .

As a rule of thumb , I would expect that you will need planning permission Log cabins vary from true log cabins to static caravans that "look like" log cabins the rules will again depend on which you chose , static caravan type will no doubt be the easiest to do.

if you are in the green belt any sort of new build seems to be very much frowned upon , but to be fair much less than it was 5 years ago , however wales does seem to be place very much after increasing its tourism capacity so even if permission was needed on a holiday let/ farm diversification type project it could well be a viable for buildingbut dont mention anything other than it being a holiday let !!!!!!

No idea of the distances etc , and a word of caution would be that the headline rental for holiday lets are always good but only multiplied by the average let time and even then you cant know what that figure is till you have invested in that property.
if you have to borrow money to build or buy the home ,I would doubt it would make you any money unless you are in area of high tourism /low accommodation availability.
a true log cabin will be an appreciating asset , a static type look alike will be a depreciating asset
It obliviously depends on what your angle is , for friends and family non profit making of for letting it makes a big difference.
 
Bloomin eck; planning permission for a tree-house, they must be having a larf!

As an aside, and not wishing to hijack this thread; is anyone on TFF already renting out accommodation ( log cabin, caravan, cottage, or bloomin tree-house) and at what price? Why restrict rentals to summer only?

What about allowing statics on your land for an annual rental fee? The Mrs and I have a static on a regular caravan site and it costs us close on 5K a year but are presently contemplating giving it up and using the money to make ends meet.

Chris :)
 

Andrew1983

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Black Isle
We have a cottage we started doing holiday rentals on this year. It's a 6bed place with decent garden, large living room, decent kitchen. Downsides are it's driving distance (3miles) from any shop/pub/food places. We were getting about £100/night but by the time we cleaned and wash beds and towels, pay electric, heating oil, keep the garden tidy, it's only working out about £100/month better than a permanent let. We did have it let to a company for polish workers to stay in for 3 months, £65/night was best money going as they looked after themselves.

Since them having to go in and gut the place after 3 or 4 nights is hard work! We had very few bookings for winter so decided to put it back on long term let. Guess it all depends on your area, if we were closer to village or Inverness we could have kept it on weekly only let's and prob kept it full for longer at a higher price. It's been an interesting experiment and has put us off from investing into log cabins to be honest.

I would still consider a few static caravans let long term. If I had somewhere secluded to stick them though.
 
Andrew

an interesting post that lead me to ponder two questions................could the cottage be split into two lets and why would you need a secluded place to set a static caravan or two up? There are pitfalls every where, I suppose!
 
Last edited:
Location
Suffolk
I have a place let out. I aimed for the very best in everything, fittings, design, comfort. I'm busy & permanently full with 5* rating. Yes I have to clean but ground-rules are important & being able to choose clientelle helps.
Yes planning, do it properly with a business plan & as above presentation is paramount.
SS
 

Danllan

Member
Location
Sir Gar / Carms
I've just fallen foul of Planning by building a treehouse for my kids FFS.:banghead: Who knew you needed planning permission for a bloody six foot square treehouse?

I would very definitely contact your local planning office for clarification before starting anything.

Yes, since 2008 the utter tw*ts who legislate for us - headed by the lovely Gordon Brown at the time - have required to us in England and Wales to obtain planning permission for treehouses...

Ragnar, you don't need permission for a six foot square treehouse, but you are 'supposed' to obtain it. I am entirely unaware of a single person I know having done so or intending to do so.
 

D14

Member
Family members have got a holiday let which is 3 bedroom cottage in a village location. Shop and pub within walking distance and they get £700/week but say you can only guarantee 50% occupancy per year. 75% is achievable some years but not every. They also have another 3 bed cottage in the same village on a permanent let for £1200/month. They say there's not a lot in it between them both once you've taken into account the cleaning of the holiday let so are thinking of knocking it on the head and permanently letting it.
 
If a farmer decided to install hard standing, water supply, metered electricity supply, and drainage for one or two static caravans; what do you suppose the farmer may charge static caravan owners per year to occupy the plots? No cleaning, laundry, or gardening to worry about and I know that there are a lot of dissatisfied static owners across the country.

As with all static caravan sites, you would insist on owners having suitable insurance for their vans.

We presently fork out well over £4K a year but had been paying in excess of £5K annually and that was for a restricted season of ten months. Do you recon that £2K a year would be an acceptable rent for having a static caravan on your farm?

Chris :)
 

Andrew1983

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Black Isle
Andrew

an interesting post that lead me to ponder two questions................could the cottage be split into two lets and why would you need a secluded place to set a static caravan or two up? There are pitfalls every where, I suppose!

Our cottage would have originally been 2 cottages but it's been converted to one, would be a lot of work to put it back but it maybe a consideration in future.

The reason I said secluded spot is that I don't really want strangers living on my farm yard, like our privacy with young kids of our own and don't want the worry off someone else's kids being in about dangerous stock and machinery.
 

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