Landlords who let holiday accommodation have largely been left out of the covid-related business support. Where the property was registered for business rates, the owner qualified for some small local authority grants, but other landlords received nothing.
Holiday letting businesses have also suffered from the various lock-downs that restricted travel across the country. This has meant many furnished holiday lettings (FHL) won’t have been let for 105 days in the year, the minimum that is required to achieve the favourable FHL tax treatment.
However, you can retain the FHL tax treatment by claiming a ‘grace period’ for the 2020/21 tax year. You must have let the property as short lets for at least 105 days in either or both of the previous two years (2019/20 or 2018/19).
Where you hold more than one-holiday property, the number of days let can be averaged over all your properties in a single tax year, to achieve the minimum 105 days for all properties.