This article is meant as a guide only. Advice should be taken from a qualified person.

Letting a fully furnished holiday home in the UK may mean the income made is treated differently than other rental income. Holiday lets are considered a business, where as other property letting income is classed as investment income.

The are some tax incentives for holiday lets, but your accommodation must comply with inland revenue rules, referred to as “QUALIFYING TESTS” which are:

* Based in the UK.

* Furnished rental accommodation.

* Available for holiday letting to the public for at least 140 days a year.

* Actually let as a holiday let for at least 70 days a year (and
these must be commercial lets, not at cheap rates to friends and
family).

* Your occupier cannot stay for more than 31 days in any 7 month period.

* Lets must be at the full market value. This means letting your
cottage to family for £2 a week will not count.

And holiday lets must be (both):

* Short term lets of not more than 31 days.

* The only lets over a period of at least seven months.

Your income from you holiday let is subject to income tax, but you can off-set expenses for example:

* Repairs and maintenance.

* Decorating.

* Heating & lighting.

* Legal and letting agent’s fees.

* Management fees and cleaning costs.

* Insurance.

* Mortgage interest payments.

If you make a loss, you can off-set this against your other income to reduce your tax bill. You can avoid paying capital gains tax on the sale of the property if you roll-over the income within 3 years to another holiday letting property.

There are other advantages, and as stated before, take professional advice before heading into holiday letting. There are many mortgages available for the buy to let market and spending some time with a well regarded mortgage advisor would be in your best interest

Well it has taken alot of hard work but I am really pleased with the new site. There are a few areas to be finished, one of these is adding all the lat and longs into the data base for the mapping system. Here is an example of a propertys map page http://www.visitdevonandcornwall.com/rental-map/1

The navigation splits the site for Devon or Cornwall, making it easier to located your holiday rental. We kept the map navigation after alot of requests, and improved the quality of the mapping images.

You can now search for available dates, but this requires property owners to keep thierdetails updated.

All in all there are some massive improvements alot of which is behind the scenes

A new faster email booking request form has been added, to encourage more quality enquiries, as well as better intergration of the magazine you are reading now.

This has to be my favourite beach in the county and I have been coming here for over 25 years and even  my Mum came her as a young girl as a holiday maker to enjoy its fine sand and clean sea.

Poldhu means “Black Pool” in Cornish, but its far from this. A small cove with a sandy flat beach extending to over ½ a mile at low tide creating a great natural surf. There is a small café offering food and sea side gear open during the main  holiday season. A toilet is open 24/7 and a car park which I think only charges through the summer is just across the road, making it very accessible to a range of users. There is a rip current that normally runs out of the right side of the beach along the cliff base, then straight out to sea. Please be aware of this. Also the beach often has a bar and as the tide comes in the beach will shelve then shallow and then get deep again, please be mindful of this!!

Fishing is good off the beach at the right tide and after a good storm. Bass, Flatties and Dog fish can be caught from here and I have seen most of these having spent many hours snorkelling the beach.  Bait can be found here or bought in Mullion or Helston.

The Marconi centre is located on the headland where the first trans Atlantic radio signal was sent and reached Newfoundland after having bounced off the ionosphere twice. The letter S was sent in morse code (…). There is an amateur radio club located here now as well as a visitor centre for all to see.

Accommodation can be found near by at Criggan mill in Mullion cove and Mullion holiday park as well as many cottage rentals and Bed and Breakfasts in the village of Mullion.

Dogs are banned from Easter day to October 1st each year.

Common Standards

Accommodation is assessed by the AA and then graded using a set of quality standards agreed by national tourist boards. The aim is to give the holiday maker a clear and easy method to understand the standards expected from an establishment.

3 groupings have been employed,

• Hotel
• Guest Accommodation
• Budget Hotel

These can be further split into,

HOTEL -

Hotel formal accommodation with a full service
Country House peace and quiet with ample grounds or gardens
Small Hotel limited service with a personal touch
Town House Hotel a high-quality distinctive service in a city-centre location
Metro Hotel a full service except dinner, close to town centre restaurants

B&B
Accommodation provided in a private house by the owner for up to six paying guests.
Guest House
Accommodation for more than six paying guests, with the owner and staff providing more services, e.g. dinner.
Farmhouse
B&B or guesthouse accommodation provided on a working farm.
Inn
Accommodation provided in a fully licensed establishment. The bar will be open to non-residents and provide food in the evenings.
Restaurant with Rooms
A restaurant offering overnight accommodation.
Guest Accommodation
Any establishment that meets the minimum entry requirements and chooses to use this general category description.

A simple star rating is used to help you gain a quick understanding of the quality you should expect.

	Staff provide a prompt, polite and informal service. The majority of rooms are en suite and there is a designated eating area serving breakfast everyday and dinner most evenings.	A clean establishment, offering a minimal service with a full cooked or substantial continental breakfast available.
	Staff are smartly presented and provide a well-informed service. Rooms are generously proportioned. Breakfast and dinner are available seven days a week.	A courteous and helpful service. Breakfast is prepared with a good level of care and bedrooms are comfortable.
	An ample number of easily identified staff, who are able to anticipate requirements. All rooms have en suite bathrooms. Meals are cooked and presented to a good standard, using good quality ingredients.	A positive and friendly service. Breakfast will be prepared using good quality ingredients. Rooms will be well-appointed and comfortable.
	Attentive staff provide a very good level of service. At least half of the rooms will have an en suite bath and a shower. At least one restaurant offering a good range of hot and cold skillfully prepared food.	An attentive and welcoming service. Breakfast is prepared using fresh ingredients with a high degree of care. Rooms have comfortable beds and furnishings of high quality.
	Impeccably dressed staff provide attentive and unobtrusive service. All bedrooms will have an en suite bathroom with a bath and thermostatically controlled shower. Meals are cooked and presented to an excellent standard using high quality ingredients.	Guests are made to feel at home and extra services are offered. Breakfast is of an excellent quality, prepared using fresh, local and seasonal ingredients. Rooms have comfortable beds and furnishings of excellent quality.

Hi,

Welcome to the new Devon and Cornwall blog. We hope to bring you information about Devon and Cornwall, including activities, attractions, latest news and happenings from around the area. As well as this we will be bringing you updates for the web site and general travel news.

I hope you enjoy this improvement to the site and use it to comment on anything you feel strongly about or even just have a view about.