Choosing a holiday letting company in Cornwall
Every agency says they care about your property. Here is how to tell, the questions worth asking before you sign anything, and an honest word about fees.
Cornwall has no shortage of holiday letting companies, from one-person outfits to national agencies with thousands of properties. Most owners only find out what they have signed up to after the first difficult changeover. This guide is the conversation we wish every owner had before choosing anyone, including us.
What to ask before you sign
- Who actually turns up? Ask whether the cleaners, callout visits and inspections are the company's own people or subcontractors booked remotely, and how far away they are based. The answer decides what happens when a guest rings at 8pm on a Saturday.
- What exactly is included? Get the service list in writing: changeovers, linen, maintenance callouts, guest communication, safety checks. Then ask what costs extra. The gap between those two lists is where surprises live.
- Who controls the listing and the pricing? Some companies list your property under their own brand and set the prices; others manage listings in your name. Neither is wrong, but you should know which you are getting, and what happens to your reviews and rankings if you ever leave.
- How do they handle bad weeks? Anyone can manage August. Ask what they do about shoulder-season occupancy, and ask for a real example.
- Can you speak to an owner they already work with? A confident company will say yes without hesitating.
How fees usually work
Most holiday letting companies in Cornwall charge either a commission on booking income or a fixed fee per service, and some mix the two. Commission looks simple but check what it covers, because changeovers, linen and callouts are often billed on top. Fixed-fee arrangements are easier to predict but can charge you for services in quiet months when little is happening.
We are not going to quote figures here, ours or anyone's, because they change and because averages mislead. The honest advice is: ask each company for a written estimate for your specific property and the services you actually want, then compare like with like. Anyone who will not put it in writing has answered a different question for you.
Family-run or national agency?
A national agency brings scale: big marketing budgets, brand recognition and a call centre that always answers. The trade-off is that your property is one of thousands, decisions follow a process, and the person solving your problem has usually never seen your house.
A family-run company is the opposite trade. Fewer properties, so yours matters more; the person who answers the phone is the person who knows where your stopcock is; and reputation is personal, because in a county like Cornwall word travels. The limit is honesty about capacity, and a good small firm will tell you plainly when something is outside their patch or beyond what they can promise.
Neither is automatically right. If you want maximum listing reach with minimum involvement, a national agency may suit you. If you want your property looked after by people who treat it as theirs, choose local, and test it with the questions above.
Questions we get asked
Do I have to use a letting company at all?
No. Plenty of owners self-manage, especially if they live nearby. Our guide on how to rent out a holiday home in Cornwall covers what that actually involves, and part-way options like co-hosting exist if you want help with only some of it.
How do I switch letting companies?
Check your notice period and how existing bookings are handled before you commit to a date, and get the handover of keys, listings and guest records agreed in writing. A decent incoming company will manage most of this for you.
What should make me walk away?
Vague answers about what is included, reluctance to put an estimate in writing, no local presence you can verify, and pressure to sign a long contract on the first conversation.
If you are weighing companies up for a property between Fowey and Newquay, our own holiday home management service is described in plain terms, and we will answer every question on this page about ourselves, in writing, without you having to chase.