UK ‘staycations’ expect a boom in 2020

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New research¹ from specialist property lender Cambridge & Counties Bank has found that a majority (72%) of UK nationals expect to see an increase in holidaymakers taking domestic, UK-based holidays – so called ‘staycations’ – in 2020. Of this, just over a quarter (26%) forecast a “significant” rise. Just 5% expect that they themselves will go on less UK holidays over the next year.

The top reason given for the increase in staycations was a drop in the value of the pound caused by Brexit making foreign holidays more expensive (cited by 67%). Other key reasons were a rise in the underlying costs of overseas travel (51%) and a rise in barriers to international travel such as stricter visa requirements or tougher border controls (50%). Just over a fifth (22%) said that UK destinations were improving in terms of quality and choice compared to non-UK locations, and this was also driving stronger demand for UK holiday lettings properties.

Cornwall tops the list of UK destinations that respondents think will see the greatest rise in UK staycations over the next three years, according to the research (cited by 51%). The Lake District (43%) and Devon (41%) are second and third respectively (see table below). The study also found that the majority of UK holidaymakers expect demand to be greatest for coastal properties (cited by 67%), followed by rural ones (47%) and those in National Parks (33%).

Top 15 UK destinations expected to see the greatest rise in UK staycations over the next three years

Source: Cambridge & Counties Bank

Cambridge & Counties Bank, one of the UK’s leading providers of specialist property loans for buy to let investors, has recently launched a specific mortgage product aimed at investors looking to buy and develop UK holiday lettings properties. Holiday let properties offer favourable tax benefits that are not typically available on standard buy to let properties.

Simon Lindley, Chief Development Officer at Cambridge & Counties Bank, said:

“The UK is expected to see a rise in demand for ‘staycations’ over 2020 and beyond. We are seeing increasing demand for our very competitive, dedicated loans focused on serving the needs of property investors looking to buy and develop UK holiday lettings properties and expect this demand to increase significantly as the UK becomes an increasing attractive holiday location for UK and foreign holidaymakers.”

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¹ Research carried out by Consumer Intelligence via an online methodology between 20^th-21^st September 2019 among 1,026 UK-based nationals