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Need An Energy Performance Certificate - Legal Requirement
All holiday cottages must now have an EPC Energy Performance Certificate, they typically cost around £60 and last for 10 years.
See National database
Need Smoke Alarms or Carbon Monoxide Alarms Fitting - Legal Requirement
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Read up to date fire health and safety requirements :
Landlord Gas Safety Certificates - Legal Requirement
Whether Calor or Mains gas, it is a legal requirement for holiday cottage owners to obtain a 'Landlord Gas Safety Certificate' carried out by a Gas Safe engineer annually, we would recommend.
Electrical Certification & PAT Testing
You should obtain a 5 year periodic electrical certificate for your holiday let, and arrange for all portable electrical items PAT tested annual.
Open Fires & Log Burners
Make sure all flues and chimneys are swept at least annually and keep the receipt or certificate. Visually check the condition of log burner flue seals and arrange for repairs of you feel they may need resealing. An air vent in an external wall in the same room as the log burner should be in place, and a carbon monoxide alarm as mentioned above. If you intend letting your property to families we would suggest that you supply a fire guard to open fires and log burners.
Fire Risk Assessment
Landlord Direct will help you write a fire risk assessment for your holiday let if it is a standard holiday cottage this should be a straight forward matter.
Holiday Let Insurance
Holiday let property must have a specialist insurance policy in place, general buy to let insurance is unlikely to cover the holiday let 'short stay' use. There are therefore specialist insurance brokers out there who are set up to secure you the correct insurance policy on good terms. Apart from insuring the actual fabric of the building, these policies protect cottage owners against Public Liability claims, absolutely essential when you have paying guests staying. If your property is leasehold, it will be covered under a block insurance policy, you should check with your property managers to see if the block insurance policy covers you for short stay / holiday letting.
Authority From Lender
You may already have purchased your property on a Buy to Let mortgage, however if you have a lender for the property , please check with them that you are able to let out the property as a Furnished Holiday Let.
Authority From Head Lease - Leasehold Property
If your property is leasehold, then you may find your are in contravention of the terms of your lease if you run a short stay business from your property. This can be a grey area so do check with your block mangers or freeholder or residents company directors.
Planning & Local Authority Directives
Most Local Councils do not currently consider short stay letting as a planning issue and most short stay properties pay Council Tax and are designated C3 Residential Property. However as in some London Boroughs, restrictions have been put into place to limit the amount of short stay letting to just 90 days per annum per property. All operators should continue to check with their Local Authority to their position regarding short stay lets, as it is likely that some restrictions may apply at sometime in the future.
Professional Photos
With modern cameras it does not always seem necessary to employ a professional photographer to take pictures of your holiday let property. However we would very strongly recommend that you use a professional photographer who will have the correct back lighting, wide angled lenses and softening filters that get those Wow factor photos! we recommend John McClean
Immigration (Hotel Records) Order 1972 - Keep Records Of Your Bookings
The Immigration Order places a legal duty on all owners or the managers of all serviced and self-catering accommodation to keep a record of the name of all guests over the age of 16 years old and to take a note of their on-going destination usually their home address, for at least 12 months. The Landlord Direct booking service is designed to capture this needed information and we keep appropriate records.
The Equality Act 2010
Although some holiday cottage owners do not allow pets, under the Equality Act all holiday cottage owners cannot refuse a booking from a registered blind person accompanied by their guide dogs. Further the act states owners should do anything that is practically reasonable to assist a disabled guest.
Bunk Beds Regulations
prohibit the supply of bunk beds which could cause a child to be injured or killed, as a result of their becoming wedged or trapped. A bunk bed must not have any: • gap in the bed base greater than 75mm (approx. 3”) • gap elsewhere which is less than 60mm (approx. 2.5”) or more than 75mm Any gap permitting access to the raised bunk should only be in the safety barrier on one of the long sides of the bed, and be of a minimum width of 300mm (12”). Note: The safety of mattresses is discussed separately in the section on upholstered furniture. By means of simple measurement, you should be able to make sure whether a bunk bed satisfies the ‘gap’ requirements detailed above. If you are in any doubt about a particular gap size, you should contact your local Trading Standards Service to arrange for more accurate measurements to be made with a special probe. The general safety of bunk beds can be simply tested by checking for such things as stability, rigidity, sharp edges etc. Some bunk beds may also be marked with a British Standard number. This is currently BS EN 747.
Furniture Regulations
Most holiday cottage owners will by new furniture and soft furnishings which will have to meet up to date regulations, however older furniture should always be checked.
make sure all your furniture and furnishings meet the regulations. They must carry an appropriate permanent label at point of sale.
- Keep all purchase receipts – be extra careful if buying used furniture.
- It is safest to buy new from a reputable retailer.
- It is an offence for retailers to sell no-complying items.
- If in doubt, consult your local Trading Standards Office.
What do the Regulations Say?
As from 1st January 1997 all furniture in tenanted residential property must comply with the 1993 amendments to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 which extends the scope of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (CPA). This covers the supplying (hiring or lending) of specified goods (upholstered furniture and certain furnishings) “in the course of business”.
A landlord letting her own home over an extended period, perhaps to different tenants, would be deemed to be “letting in the course of business” and would need to comply. We would therefore strongly recommend that anyone, regardless of whether they see themselves as running a business or not, should make absolutely sure they are complying with these regulations.
Prescribed Items
The regulations apply to:
- Arm chairs, three piece suites, sofas, sofa beds, futons and other convertible furniture.
- Beds, Bed bases and headboards, mattresses, divans and pillows.
- Nursery furniture
- Garden furniture which could be used indoors
- Loose, stretch and fitted covers for furniture, scatter cushions, seat pads and pillows
Excluded Items
- The regulations do not currently apply to:
- Antique furniture or furniture manufactured before 1950
- Bed clothes and duvets
- Loose mattress covers
- Pillowcases
- Sleeping bags
- Curtains
- Carpets
Compliance
Furniture which complies carries a manufacturer’s label which must be permanent and non-detachable.
All upholstered items must have fire resistant filling material.
All upholstered items must pass the “match resistance test” as prescribed.
All upholstered items must also past the “cigarette test” as prescribed.
Bed bases and mattresses are not required to bear a permanent label but compliance will be indicated if the item has a label stating that it meets BS7177
Legionella Checks
“someone who rents out a building or accommodation” including holiday cottage owners have a responsibility to prevent and risk control exposure to Legionella.
The best solution is to pay a specialist contractor to carry out a Risk Assessment. If it reports a low risk it is unlikely you will need to re-assess annually perhaps every 5 years or of there is a material change.
Window Blind Cords
Window blind cords need to be fixed high enough off the ground to prevent young children being at risk, this is a legal requirement for all rental property some blinds are fitted with a easily detachable catch.
Safe Use Of Cleaning Substances
Always store cleaning products and chemicals in a place that cannot be reached by children. Do not store cleaning products in base kitchen units or low level cupboards. Ideally let your cleaners bring their own cleaning products , and do not store any products in your holiday let, apart from washing up liquid and bathroom soaps.
V.A.T.
Most holiday cottage owners, will not derive a turnover over the vat threshold , and so will not have to charge V.A.T. - but check with your accountant.