Thinking of making a bit of money from your beach hut? You could earn over £5,000 per year.
BeachHuts.com has been helping hut owners rent out their Beach Huts for over 20 years. Our expert advice and dedicated support team are able to help manage your Beach Hut rental with ease, whether you are just round the corner from your hut, or live further afield.
Hiring out your Beach Hut can provide you with income to cover annual costs like ground rent, maintenance and insurance, make some profit, and still enjoy those special moments at the seaside for yourself.
Can I still use my Beach Hut when I want?
Absolutely! Your Beach Hut is your own seaside haven after all.
With BeachHuts.com our intuitive availability loader means you can easily set your rental availability to times that suit you - simply block single dates or months where the Hut is not available and you can make sure you still get use of the Hut whenever you want.
However, the great thing about renting out your hut, is the benefits your hut can provide at times when you aren’t able to use it, or aren’t getting the most out of it. This can be the obvious financial benefits of generating income from your Hut, or simply sharing the joys of Beach Huts with family, friends and strangers who aren’t able to own their own.
Is there a demand for Beach Hut hire?
Beach Huts remained popular into the 21st Century but have experienced a renaissance and boom in popularity as a consequence of the Covid-19 global pandemic when British holidaymakers rediscovered the pleasures on their own doorstep instead of travelling abroad. A desire to get out of overcrowded towns and explore the open air of the seaside has left British seaside towns seeing a surge in demand.
As the UK’s #1 Beach Hut website since 2004, BeachHuts.com has been at the forefront of this. 2023 was a great year for our site with more than 600,000 visitors, and 2024 is on track to surpass that with more visitors and bookings of beach huts for hire than ever before.
How do I manage the bookings?
Hut owners shouldn’t underestimate the time commitment required to hire out their hut privately. Advertising your hut to would-be hirers - perhaps setting up a website to do so. Answering queries, taking and arranging bookings, collecting payments, it all adds up quickly.
Fortunately, the experts at BeachHuts.com make the management and booking process simple for owners and hirers as we take care of all of the above and more, with a live, automated and online system.
Do you really want to be spending your evenings replying to calls, texts and emails enquiring about your Beach Hut? Managing payments/refunds/cancellations? Or do you want to make your Beach Hut work for you, and concentrate on enjoying and spending the time at your Beach Hut, that attracted you to buy it in the first place.
Our online booking system runs 24/7 so customers can book at the time that suits them. You won’t have any late night calls or out of office voicemails to handle. And this ensures huts never miss out on a booking opportunity.
How do I sign up?
All that is required for owners is a one-time sign up to BeachHuts.com. Upload some pictures and write an attractive description of your hut. Enter prices and availability (keeping the dates for yourself whenever you want) into our easy to use admin system. Then we do the rest.
Over 600,000 visitors a year look for huts to hire on BeachHuts.com. Customers search for availability on our website - so no need to ring you to enquire - and book online, paying through our secure payment system. We send you confirmation of the bookings and payment every month.
Customers love the ease of checking availability and online booking, as something they have become used to in all aspects of life. Hut owners love the simplicity as they don’t have the hassle of responding to time-consuming enquiries.
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What if I live away from my Hut? Do I need to be in my beach hut to welcome guests?
Where you live is absolutely no barrier to being able to hire out your hut. We have many listings on our site that are able to offer Beach Hut rentals without physically being at their hut.
We find some of our hut owners who live locally enjoy meeting the guests at the hut and adding that personal touch to the experience. However, many owners are unable to spare the time or expense to meet every new visitor - especially in the summer or if they live a long distance from the beach.
Most owners who hire out their hut regularly have a keysafe on the outside of the hut. Our system then automatically sends customers a PIN number for access shortly before arrival, which allows them to easily arrive and leave the hut whenever suits them. We highly recommend you have a second backup keysafe in case there's a problem with the main keysafe, or the customer locks their keys in the hut..
With BeachHuts.com, customers receive all the required information to access the hut for their stay in their booking confirmation. When your hut gets a booking, you will receive our email booking confirmation which includes the customers contact details (address, phone number and email) should you wish to contact them at any point.
How much should I charge?
This is always a key question for would-be renters. The easiest way to judge what you can charge is to look on BeachHuts.com for similar huts in similar areas. Then you can give it a try, if you sell out in a flash you are under charging, if you don't get many bookings, you might want to lower your prices. As a starting point, daily hire of a hut on BeachHuts.com typically costs between £20 and £60 a day. We recommend you flex your prices, so charge more in the summer and at weekends, less in the off-season. However, as is the case when buying a beach hut there are several factors that affect how much a Beach Hut is worth when hired out.
Obviously, a hut that provides you overnight accommodation, as well as that spot by the beach, will be able to charge higher prices. Would-be holidaymakers can combine their daily beach hut hire with an overnight stay, avoiding additional costs of a nearby hotel or B&B. Overnight Beach Huts, as a result are typically rented out on a weekly basis with prices on BeachHuts.com starting from £300 a week and rising to £1,500.
Demand for Beach Huts is highly seasonal and daily hire can be more than double during the peak summer season, compared to low season. Typically low season runs from October to April with high season from May to September, with many huts choosing to charge an additional premium during the weeks covering the school Summer or Easter holidays. There is also a premium for bookings made during the weekend, compared to weekdays.
Where in the country the Beach Hut is located also has a major bearing on price, with rental price typically reflective of the equivalent purchase price. It definitely pays to check out the competition and see what other huts in the same location are charging. Some more expensive locations include Mudeford Spit in Dorset and the East Anglian seaside towns of Southwold and Wells Next the Sea, where day hire is typically around £50-60 a day. More affordable locations include parts of the Suffolk/Essex coastline, like Clacton, Harwich and Walton on the Naze.
Where the hut is located on the Beach can also have an effect with front row huts - offering uninterrupted sea views - typically more popular.
The age and condition of a Beach Hut will also affect price with newer huts, or huts with additional facilities typically commanding a higher daily rate. While most huts are typically the same size, some double fronted huts, or huts with a mezzanine second floor, can attract significantly higher prices.
Advertising your hut at a lower rate than the competition may seem tempting to make your listing stand out. However, pitching your hut at too low a price will likely indicate a poor condition hut.
Checking out the competition should give you an indication of the price you can expect to charge. It’s also sensible to work out your annual costs for the hut, the availability that you can offer to hirers (you can always save the best dates for yourself first), and this should give you an indication of the number of bookings you would need to generate the return you require.
There are also tax considerations in regards to your income from hiring out your hut. You should be able to claim the hut as rental income and it will likely be within the tax-free allowance.
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What should I provide with my Beach Hut?
It’s entirely your decision what you choose to provide to visitors, but you want to make sure your guests have what they need to make the most of their day at the seaside.
Furniture is the first essential. People hiring your hut will want somewhere to sit to relax and enjoy the view, and they don’t want to be bringing bulky chairs with them. Guests will expect chairs that can be moved outside as well as seating within the hut if it rains. Your hut may already come with built in benches. A small table should also be provided, suitable for eating food or at least somewhere to place your cup of tea. Don’t forget to consider where these items will be stored away after the hire or between bookings.
The need for a cup of tea or coffee is definitely classed as essential so make sure there is a gas kettle, gas stove, water container, mugs and teaspoons. Many huts provide tea, coffee and sugar containers too. A corkscrew or bottle opener for alcohol would be welcome too. Other cooking utensils could include saucepan, frying pan, spatula, tongs. Guests will likely be bringing picnics or preparing some hot food “in-hut”, so utensils for dining will be needed - basics like cutlery, plates and bowls or perhaps champagne flutes or a cake stand if you are presenting more upmarket. Don’t forget the washing up afterwards; washing up liquid, cloths, sponges or a brush will help keep things clean and tidy.
‘Essential’ items provided by the hut will likely reflect the facilities provided with the hut - if you are fortunate enough to have a built-in fridge or cooker then utensils for using these will be required. Similarly if you are an overnight hut then items like bedding, towels and other soft furnishings will be expected.
Definitely consider spare gas bottles and a second gas stove to guard against any issues when an essential item stops working.
If you are hiring out over the winter, consideration for colder/wet weather would be thoughtful, so perhaps include blankets, throws, a hot water bottle or a gas heater. Games, cards or books for entertainment during wet weather will also help to give your customers the best experience possible.
What happens if a guest breaks something or doesn't pay?
This is one of the first thoughts and concerns owners have when considering renting their hut to holidaymakers. In all our experience at BeachHuts.com, we have found the guests to be trustworthy and responsible, treating the hired hut with the same care they would their own. However, items will incur wear and tear, some more than others, and you should account for replacements within your pricing.
Whilst our experience of managing guest bookings has been positive, peace of mind is very important, particularly if you are not close by to keep a check on things or meet and greet every booking.
We would recommend not accepting bookings without upfront payment. Bookings through BeachHuts.com require upfront payment and there are clear terms in regards to applicable refunds if a customer cancels their booking.
A security deposit could be put in place to cover any breakages, which can be refunded to the customer once the hut has been checked after use. You could also build into the hire price any costs for breakages/replacements or add a separate cleaning fee to the cost of the hire
These are both options that BeachHuts.com are developing and will be offering to our vendors shortly, to ensure peace of mind over your hut and its contents.
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Do you need insurance when renting your beach hut?
You should definitely have Beach Hut insurance as standard and you will need specific insurance for renting your beach hut to guests. Speak to your current insurance provider for more information.
Can I get my hut cleaned or looked after?
Many Beach Hut owners are unable to be at their hut every day or to clean or check the hut over between bookings - especially in the peak season during the summer.
However, cleaning between beach hut hires is important and no matter how well behaved guests are, it’s always worth a check over before the next booking. Making sure surfaces and floors are wiped down fully, nothing has been left out or improperly stored as well as the most important issues like making sure it's been locked up correctly and the gas has been turned off. But this doesn’t mean you need to drive over to your hut every day throughout the summer.
Consider advertising for a local cleaner to help in between bookings. Something as simple as putting a notice in the local village shop can be very effective. Speak to your neighbouring huts and see how they manage or if they know of someone offering this service. If your location has many huts which are hired out regularly there is likely someone already providing this.
More infrequent deep cleans or preparation ahead of the busy season should also be scheduled and consider whether in these cases it is easier or better to do this yourself. It gives you a chance to spend time in the hut and decide on decor and contents. A very common beachfront sight in March and April are the community of beach hut owners maintaining and freshening up their huts ahead of the summer season. For bigger maintenance jobs consider hiring specialist firms which operate in the local area. BeachHuts.com has a list of Beach Hut Maintenance companies which you can contact..
You should also consider joining the local Beach Hut Association if there is one- not least as a friendly means of meeting your neighbours and socialising with other owners. Many include a patrolling service, and can quickly alert you if there are any issues. Annual fees can be as little as £5 and most Beach Hut insurance companies will offer a discount if you are an association member.
