Festival letting is the ideal way to make some money through your property during August. The Edinburgh Festival is the biggest arts festival in the world, attracting over a quarter of a million visitors to the capital every year – and they all need somewhere to stay.
Factotum have been providing accommodation for performers, administrators and visitors for over 35 years. Each festival, our dedicated festival team successfully manages hundreds of lets across the city.
What is a Festival or Holiday Let?
A festival let is a rental agreement that lasts for one week up to six weeks during July, August and September. A holiday let is for a week at a time during other times of the year.
Short term holiday contracts may vary depending on the individual requirements of landlord and tenant.
What are the benefits of Festival Letting or for a Holiday?
As a landlord, it gives you:
- Flexibility to let the property that you live in. If you’re away on holiday or for work, you can enjoy a rental income when your property would be otherwise empty.
- A higher rental income than any other type of letting
- The prescribed regulations for holiday letting are not as strict. You do not need the same number of certificates such as HMO etc.
What are the disadvantages of Festival or Holiday letting?
- There is no guarantee that you will find a let at all times, as specific dates can be more difficult to match.
- The property must be fully vacated of all personal possessions, or at least have them locked out of view.
- You are still liable for all reasonable bills and utilities for the property, including Council Tax.
What is included in the rental price?
The price quoted for festival letting and holiday letting is for the weekly rental, inclusive of Council Tax and reasonable use of utilities.
All properties must be furnished, offer adequate self-catering accommodation, bed linen and towels. Provision of broadband is recommended, as there is an increasing demand for this service.
What is Factotum’s commission?
Every property is different, so Factotum tailor our service depending on what is required by each individual landlord. We can be as involved as much or as little as you need us to be.
We provide a full management service for short term lets. Once we have matched a tenant to a property, this includes:
- Collecting rental income
- Liaising with the government-run Tenant Deposit Scheme (TDS)
- Taking references and / or setting up guarantors where required
- Arrangement of maintenance
- Emergency response
- Regulations management (gas safety, insurance etc.)
- Inspections
- Compilation of a full photo inventory at the start of each tenancy and reconciliation at the end of each tenancy
- Arrangement of buildings and contents insurance. Factotum (Scotland) Ltd are appointed representatives of Spence Insurance Ltd.
A cleaning service and linen / towel laundering is also available at additional charge.
Our commission rate is 20% + VAT of the weekly rental income. Commission is reduced for landlords with multiple properties.
What is the deposit for a festival or holiday let?
The deposit taken from the tenant is normally equal to one week’s rent. In some circumstances, for instance if pets are allowed, the deposit can be increased to two week’s rent.
What is Factotum’s administration charge?
The registration fee for a festival or holiday let is £50 + VAT. Factotum offers a free advertising service in the first instance and does not apply any charges until the let is secured. As a result, any admin charge is deducted from your first week’s rent.