How to get a cheap holiday this year: prices are down by up to 40%

So summer has finally decided to join the party. It’s been a long wait.

If you’re planning a fantastic holiday in Britain, now is the time to grab up to 40 per cent off holiday cottages from Cornwall to Cumbria.

The climate in the first half of this year, coupled with the cost of living crisis, a supply glut and distractions in the form of the European Championship and general elections have created a perfect storm for home-based businesses.

The result? There’s plenty of availability and some amazing deals.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of trade association UK Hospitality, says bookings did not materialise as much as expected in May and the first few weeks of June following an early Easter.

“The climate has certainly influenced bookings,” he says. “The cost of living has been another factor.”

A May state-of-the-market survey by tourism boards Visit England, Visit Scotland and Visit Wales showed 29 per cent of people cited weather as a barrier to taking an overnight trip in the UK, with 31 per cent citing the cost of living crisis.

Oversupply is also playing a role. Data from AirDNA, which tracks listings on holiday rental sites, showed there were 355,000 short-term rentals available in the UK in the 12 months to May 2024, a 15 per cent increase on the previous year.

Vacation rental owners who raised prices to accommodate demand during the height of the pandemic are now cutting them.

“We’re seeing discounts all over the place, even in the key weeks of August and July that weren’t normally available,” says Matt Fox, CEO of Snaptrip Group, marketing partner of Hoseasons, Sykes and Holiday Cottages, among others. “I’ve never seen so much availability for the first week of August.”

You can even find places near the beach at a considerable discount off the advertised price.

For example, Snaptrip offers Primrose Cottage in Beer, Devon, which is 200 metres from the coast and has three bedrooms sleeping five people in total.

In August, the discount is 29 percent and three nights cost from £1,146.

Some of the best deals are in the West Country, where Nicholls says “there has been a significant rise in Airbnb and self-catering holiday accommodation”.

In St Austell, Cornwall, Snaptrip is offering 33 per cent off the one-bedroom Cider Press cottage, which is free most weeks in July and August and is now £708 for three nights in August.

James Norton, director of Toad Hall Cottages, which has 1,300 properties in the West Country, says they had discounts of around 20 per cent on properties that are just a few minutes’ walk from the beach.

“Given the past six to nine months of bad weather, it is not surprising that there are gaps, especially in July,” he added.

The larger the property, the bigger the discount – some prices are as low as 40 percent.

Many large houses, which are normally booked in January for the summer, remain empty in peak season, says Ed Maughan of Groupaccommodation.com, which lists 1,600 properties, mostly in the UK. The website currently has a 40 per cent discount on The Country House in Cumbria, which sleeps 16 people.

Four-night midweek stays there this month are now £2,970, down from £4,950, and £3,180, down from £5,300 in August.

The Whitehall Dairy, a ten-person cottage in Powys, is offering 30 per cent off selected weekends in July and August, with three-night weekends now priced at £1,848.

Typically, large homes and premium properties on the coast or with hot tubs and pools tend to hold off on bookings for full weeks in peak season, but more property owners have opened up the short-stay market to appeal to those wanting longer getaways.

Rowena Owen, co-founder of Bloom Stays, which has 110 holiday cottages across Kent and Sussex, says there are often discounts of 30 to 40 per cent for midweek stays compared with weekend stays.

She adds that one of the best ways to get a deal is to ask about under-occupancy charges for a small group staying in a large home.

“Even if you see a big house for ten people that is expensive, it is worth saying that we are only four, can we give some discount?” he says.

Owen says that in the past, she would have hoped to be up to 60 per cent sold by Easter, but booking patterns changed after the pandemic, meaning cabins now tend to be only 20 to 25 per cent booked by then.

Nicholls agrees that bookings are generally made much later now. “It used to be three months, now it’s three weeks, and sometimes people book three days in advance,” he says.

This means that a sunny Wednesday could bring plenty of bookings for that weekend, but not necessarily for the peak of summer, particularly as it is not yet clear whether the good weather will continue.

“We’ve seen a spike in the last few days,” says Fox. But he says football and the election have distracted people from booking a holiday. “As soon as England are knocked out or win, bookings will go through the roof,” he predicts. That means if you want to grab a bargain, act fast.

Martin Dunford, founder of Cool Places, says: “You now have a better chance than ever of getting a good place in a good location at a good time of year and at a good price.”

…and if you go abroad, make sure

By Lucy Evans

Holidaymakers risk losing an average of £1,400 if they leave it to the last minute to purchase travel insurance, research suggests.

According to insurance provider Staysure, only 37 percent of travelers purchase their insurance at the time of booking.

The rest may be missing out on valuable cancellation coverage, researchers say.

Up to 40 percent of tourists do not bother to take out insurance until a couple of weeks or a month before departure, and 8 percent wait until a week before taking out a policy.

This puts them at risk if they need to cancel their trip, which is the most common reason for a travel insurance claim. Staysure paid out an average of £1,414 per cancellation claim last year.

Therefore, it is best for tourists to take out insurance as soon as they book a trip, so that they are covered in case of illness or natural disaster.

Cancellation coverage should be set at the appropriate level so that travelers are not left out of pocket.

l.evans@dailymail.co.uk