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Hosts have been welcoming guests into their homes via Airbnb since 2008 and the impact on the UK economy is growing. Last year, for example, Airbnb listings reached 168,000 in the UK and generated an estimated £3.46 billion boost to the economy from a combination of extra income for host households and increased visitor spending in local communities.1
While Airbnb has the potential to take a landlord’s rental business in a new and exciting direction, there’s often initial confusion amongst would-be hosts about whether their existing mortgage covers this type of short term letting.
Here, we answer some of the most frequently asked questions on Airbnb mortgages to help landlords get to grips with the facts.
Landlords should always check with their lender before becoming an Airbnb host to make sure this is allowed under their mortgage conditions. Each lender offers a range of different mortgage products and not all products will allow customers to rent out their property on Airbnb.
At Paragon, landlords who want to let out a property on Airbnb will need to apply for a holiday let mortgage.
Paragon introduced holiday let mortgages into the product range in November 2018.
Importantly, when a landlord applies for a holiday let mortgage with Paragon, they don’t specifically have to say that they are intending to use Airbnb but they should have checked first that Airbnb hosting is allowed by their local authority and, if relevant, their freehold agreement.
If a landlord has a buy-to-let mortgage or a residential mortgage with another provider, they should also check their mortgage conditions to see if Airbnb letting is allowed. If they’re in any doubt, give the lender a call and ask them to clarify the situation. Likewise, if they’re searching for a new mortgage product, they should confirm their intentions for the property and clarify whether Airbnb lets are accepted.
Again, this will depend on the lender.
At Paragon, for example, we’ll want to check the proposed property is a single, self-contained unit and that it will be let under an approved holiday occupancy agreement for a maximum period of one month at a time.
We’ll also want to consider mortgage affordability. One way that landlords can demonstrate affordability is through holiday rental income. However, at Paragon, we’ll also want to know that the mortgage would be affordable if the tenancy was let on a standard Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST).
Airbnb won’t work out in every case. Higher cleaning and support costs or more frequent voids may mean the economics are not attractive in practice. If this happens, some lenders, including Paragon, allow landlords to revert to letting on a more standard AST.
Paragon’s holiday let products are available through mortgage intermediaries. To find out more information, visit our intermediary page for buy-to-let mortgages.
1 Airbnb UK Insights Report, Bringing You Home Sharing Region by Region
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Paragon Bank PLC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Registered in England number 05390593. Registered office 51 Homer Road, Solihull, West Midlands B91 3QJ. Paragon Bank PLC is registered on the Financial Services Register under the firm reference number 604551