Many of our NACO members let their holiday caravans or lodges – either to family and friends or commercially to help cover the costs of ownership. Indeed, it’s something that’s sometimes used as an encouragement by salespeople and many park operators have letting arrangements and schemes.
We’ve had lots of contact from caravan and lodge owners following substantial increases in their annual running costs and many have suggested that letting their unit is a way to help with these costs. Letting isn’t for everyone but given the continuing trend of the UK holidays it will prove useful for many people to help towards the cost of their pitch fees and other costs.
Making the renting process simple for you is really important, and it’s why we’ve developed a partnership with rental experts UKcaravans4hire!
We spoke to Mark Wilson COO about the benefits of using their service to help with the rental of your caravan or lodge…
“Our goal as a company is simply about helping caravan owners understand the very real benefits that they can enjoy from renting. It’s about giving them the freedom to enjoy their static caravan their way.”
Here’s Mark’s quickfire overview of the core benefits that you’ll get from using their service!
• You could earn 20k a year renting your caravan
• You remain in control of who stays in your caravan
• Rent for as many or as few weeks of the year, with total flexibility on start days and durations
• Price recommendation engine so you know you’re always competitive on price
• We handle all payments from deposit to security bond and payout - you receive your money quickly, we don’t hold it back to offset against site fees
• Payment Protection Guarantee for guests
• More bookings with less hassle using our online booking platform
• Community of over 4500 owners, with 6200 caravans across 525+ locations in England, Scotland and Wales
Making sure that your caravan or lodge has the appropriate safety checks and is well maintained is also very important too. It will be your responsibility to ensure that your legal obligations are met and any contractual arrangements are covered too.
It’s important to make sure that your park owner will allow you to let your caravan or holiday home. Most standard contracts will make mention of whether you can sublet and will also state whether you must do it through the park or will be able to do it privately yourself. If you don’t have a written agreement, contact your park owner to make sure that private sublet is something that they are ok with.
Gas appliances should be installed in line with current gas safety requirements and in accordance with manufacturer instructions. A gas safety check should be completed annually, and the inspection certificate displayed along with emer- gency contact details of your preferred plumber. Set a reminder in your phone to alert you each year. Ensure that service and maintenance records are kept.
Every electrical installation deteriorates with use and age. It will be your responsibility to ensure that all electrical appliances, circuits and fixed installations within the holiday home are safe and are not hazardous to your guests. Your caravan will need a fixed electrical installation certificate.
It is generally recommended that the maximum period between inspections is 3 years, but dependent on the volume of guests you cater for, you may wish to have your holiday home inspected more frequently. Your electrician will be able to advise you as individual requirements may vary.
Inspections should be carried out wherever possible, either by yourself or whoever manages the changeover. Having a checklist of items to inspect will be a huge advantage to the e±ciency of this inspection. Any hazards must be acted upon immediately. This may be as simple as removing or replacing a defective appliance from the property that you believe to be hazardous, to getting an electrician to replace or repair a fitting. Appliances older than a year old must be P.A.T. tested (Portable Appliance Test) annually.
Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas that has no smell or taste. Inhaling this gas can be fatal. Carbon monoxide is produced when fuels, such as gas or oil, aren’t burnt fully. Burning charcoal, running cars and cigarettes also produce carbon monoxide gas. As well as having appliances, such
as your boiler, frequently inspected and serviced, carbon monoxide detectors must be installed to identify the presence of this harmful gas.
You must fit a carbon monoxide alarm in every room containg a fossil fuel-burning applicance, such as a boiler, oven or log burner.
Health and Safety checks including preparing a risk assessment and safety policy may be required and are most certainly advisable - display details of what the customer is expected to do in the event of an emergency - i.e. how they raise a fire alarm, where the nearest fire points to your caravan are, who to contact on park in the event of an emergency, etc.
Making sure that your caravan or lodge has the appropriate safety checks and is well maintained is very important. It will be your responsibility to ensure that your legal obligations are met and any contractual arrangements are covered.
Before registering with UKcaravans4hire it's important to make sure that your park owner will allow you to let your caravan or holiday lodge. Most standard contracts will mention whether you can sublet and will also state whether you must do it through the park or if you will be able to do it privately yourself. If you don’t have a written agreement, contact your park owner to make sure that private sublet is something that they allow.
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Published on 26 June 2023 By Jenny Blumsom