The holiday home game is child's play

By Jane Slade
Posted: 2010/02/18

Going family-friendly will boost a second home's appeal and double its rental value, reports JANE SLADE

TREEHOUSES, swimming pools, sand pits and dressing-up boxes are key elements your holiday home needs if it is to make any serious money from rentals. Wendy Shand, 35, mother of three (Barnaby, six, Maisy, four, and Monty, four weeks) set up a self-catering holiday company two years ago and has seen business boom by 80 per cent in the past 12 months.

"If people want to buy a second home and make it pay then targeting the family market at the top end w ill pay dividends and increase y our weekly rentals by as much as £350 a week, " she says.

Wendy advises prospective buyers to avoid very large properties of five bedrooms or more. "If you need more than one family to rent a property it can get complicated with bookings, which are more likely to fall through, " she advises.

"Consider a mid-sized villa with three or four bedrooms, preferably near a beach, with a swimming pool.

"If you are looking for a property as a pure investment then get the highest standard you can and equip it with two of everything, including cots and high chairs."

Kitting your home out with plenty of good-quality, modern baby equipment is essential, not the stuffy our parents would have used or even y ou did if you have grown-up children.

"Provide sterilisers, changing mats, bottles, plastic cutlery, high chairs and booster seats, plastic crockery and plastic mugs, " says Wendy.

"The most important thing is to make your home family-friendly but child-safe.

"You don't need to fence in the swimming pool if that spoils the look of the garden, rather install an electric cover, which will carry the w eight of a child. Also, install a pool with a shallow end and Roman steps, w hich are easy for small children to negotiate."

WENDY adds: "Don't bother with expensive alarms as most holidaymakers can't operate them and don't trust them." Wendy started Tots To Travel when her two-year-old son fell into an unenclosed swimming pool while on a family holiday in France in 2005.

Wendy spotted a gap in the market to provide families with small children and babies with safe, family-friendly holiday accommodation in France. She has now expanded to Italy, Spain, Portugal and the UK, with Asia and A ustralia following soon, and has turned over £1million.

"Holidaymakers are demanding more for their money, " she says.

"Properties that have followed the boutique hotel trend and are furnished simply but tastefully have added touches such as nice linen and a basket of local food on arrival.

They book up fast, despite charging higher rents.

"Those that have found a niche market also benefit from a longer letting season. Our experience shows that properties aimed at families travelling with small children and babies are in strong demand for much of the year.

"As our customers' children tend to be pre-schoolers they don't want to travel at peak times and in 2008 more than 70 per cent of our bookings were for outside of July and August.

"People are surprisingly conservative about holiday destinations, " says Wendy. "France and Spain are the most popular places for rentals. People prefer villas over apartments.

"Go through a child equipment catalogue and be generous, " she advises. "Get trikes, lots of games and soft toys, build a sandpit and stock it with buckets and spades.

Trampolines are popular, even though there's an insurance issue.

"Play equipment like swings and slides is great. Going up the scale, treehouses are fabulous as long as they can't be accessed without an adult, as in via a step ladder.

"You need to get into the mindset of a mum in her mid-30s. Avoid dramatic paint effects and rich Provençal hues like deep terracotta and bright blues.
Get rid of dark brown and avocado bathrooms. Avoid big-patterned wallpapers, large artworks and religious imagery. Reserve the colour for quality furnishings.

"People expect high quality. Think about them arriving after a tiring journey with two toddlers. Think about what you would expect and like to see when you open the door.

"Don't expect guests to use their RyanAir baggage allowance on bed linen and towels. Provide it all and make sure it is good quality. Buy your beds from hotel suppliers. Tiled floors are good and practical but if you have tiled stairs make sure you have a stair gate top and bottom.

"Fence off areas that are hazardous such as paths to a pond or a river and think about the layout of the house.

You don't need to make your home a fortress but the more child-safe features you have the more money you will make."

IF YOUR home is in the UK, think about the bad weather.

Install wood-burning fires and under-floor heating as well as satellite TV, DVDs, games, dressing-up boxes. If you make your home cosy on bad weather days you can rent it out during the autumn and winter months more easily.

"In hot countries install shutters that can keep the place cool during the day and help children sleep in the afternoon as they block out the light and can also deaden unwanted noise.

"Get rid of the cheap plastic chairs and avoid buying a boxy property. Open-plan design is best, maximising visibility and light.

Install lots of labour-saving devices like dishwashers, washing machines, hand-held blenders, coffee machines/ cafetières and good-quality knives."

Homes near a sandy beach rent best but if not then near water such as the Lake District, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cornwall, North Wales. If your home is within walking distance of a local village that is a bonus, as long as it has a good bakery and supermarket.

If you are looking to exploit the family rental market Spain is still a winner but owners tend to be very unimaginative about how to appeal to a sophisticated market so there is a niche to be exploited there. The Balearic Islands are ideal as the self-catering market is not exploited at all.

The Cape Verde Islands are less popular as they are more distant and not that well serviced by UK airports. Access is important. Ensure your holiday home is no more than an hour from the airport.

In France the Charente region is very popular, as is the Côte d'Azur, Dordogne and the Lot. Portugal and Italy are other great family hot spots.

"Some people are finding the family market so lucrative they are buying clusters of properties and creating mini self-catering resorts, " says Wendy, who is launching a website offering advice to home-hunters and homeowners on how to appeal to the self-catering family market.

MORE INFORMATION:
Visit tttowners.co.uk or call 0845 269 4126.