FAQ

Conditions of the lease and planning permission mean that you are required to use your Residence as a holiday home rather than as a primary residence. The lease shall limit owners staying at The Residence up to 25% of the year to allow the owners the opportunity to fully benefit from the tax advantages allowed for furnished holiday lets and to maximise the opportunity for rental income.

Each Residence shall be sold on a leasehold basis with the leasehold term being 999 years.

We manage the whole booking process for you. This includes marketing and advertising your Residence, dealing with enquiries and making the rental bookings. All bookings made by The Retreat will be subject to a 15% commission chargeable on the rental amount. As the owner you will be responsible on an ongoing basis for the following items: Annual testing on electrics and fire extinguishers, utility bills, cleaning and laundry. Insurance cover must be taken with our group policy to ensure the correct level of protection for a furnished holiday letting and to allow you to avail of competitive group pricing.

If for any reason you wish to change your reserved dates, The Retreat will do their utmost to move a booking to another property. This shall incur a 5% admin charge. Communication between us is critical to optimising usage out of your holiday home, so please do feel free to contact us as little or as much as you like.

The Residences do not come under an obligation to pay council tax as they are not for permanent residency.

Self-catering accommodation which is available for short-term lettings for more than 140 days in any given year and let for at least 70 days in the last 12 months is subject to Business Rate property tax. Since all furnished holiday let properties must be available to let for a minimum of 210 days a year and as the lease requires the Residence to be available for lettings for 274 days of the year to allow the opportunity to maximise rental income for the owner, The Residences shall fall into the Business Rate property tax category. Depending on the rateable value of your Residence you can claim Small Business Rates Relief and may have reduced or no Business Rates to pay.

Yes, Stamp Duty shall be payable and as a holiday let falls into the criteria for higher rates Stamp Duty, you will have to pay an additional 3% of the property purchase price.

An annual ground rent is payable for each Residence. This will be an annual fee of £300 to be reviewed in line with the retail price index (RPI). There will also an annual service charge of £3,350 plus VAT (see breakdown on enclosed sheet). This shall cover the costs of maintaining landscaped areas, lighting of common areas, 24hr estate security, maintenance of road, car parking spaces and site infrastructure, insurance and sewage charges. The Retreat will set the maintenance charges at a level which represents value and ensures the high quality of the development can be maintained.

Yes, as an owner you shall have access to The Retreat members card allowing you the following discounts at The Retreat – food 20%, spa treatments 10% and complimentary room upgrade if booking a bedroom at the hotel.

Each Residence shall have its own electricity meter for the electricity use of the Residence and the owner shall be responsible for supply and billing. Water, sewage and common area electricity are included in the annual service charge.

Yes. See details here.

The Residence comes with structural defects insurance for a 10 year period.

Yes. You should be able to obtain finance for your Residence and our advisors can offer a competitive financial service. Please ask us for more information.

Every month we will make a payment directly into your bank account supported by a full letting statement of the income you have generated from the previous month less any expenses.

Yes, we require the Residence owners to work with one of our nominated interior designers to furnish the Residence selecting one of our packages for interiors and white good appliances.