A castle for the weekend. A hut for two.
Cottages, cabins, castles, boats and lofts by the night, booked and paid on the record with a deposit to a regulated stakeholder. No guest fee, no host commission.
Homebinding Host: one calendar, one inbox and one set of rates for every site you list on, and direct bookings here with no commission. Demonstration listings, marked as such on each page. Prices are a night. A booking on the live site is held with a deposit to the same regulated stakeholder that holds a sale deposit, released to the host on arrival.
Bed and board for a few hours' help a day
A farm that needs hands at lambing, a project that needs a joiner for a month, a smallholding with a spare cabin: a work exchange is a stay paid in hours rather than money, the way Workaway and WWOOF arranged it first. Homebinding lists them beside the holiday lets, with the same photographs, the same calendar and a written exchange agreement so both sides know the hours, the days off, the food and the room before anyone arrives.
A work exchange is not employment and not a tenancy, and the page says which rules apply: a host cannot require more than the agreed hours, the guest has no rent to pay and no deposit, and either side can end it with the notice the agreement states. Whitehole Springs will be the first project to offer exchanges when the farm is bought.
Before you let by the night
| Question | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do I need permission? | In Greater London a whole home may be let for up to 90 nights a year without planning permission under section 44 of the Deregulation Act 2015, which amended section 25 of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973; beyond that it is a change of use. Elsewhere a change of use is a question of fact and degree for the council. The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 gives power for a national registration scheme for short term lets. | Planning as in England outside London. Wales has legislated for a statutory register of visitor accommodation and a visitor levy, and a property must be available for letting 252 days and actually let 182 days a year to be rated as a business rather than paying council tax. | Every short term let needs a licence from the council under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022, and in a short term let control area a whole home let also needs planning permission. | Tourist accommodation must be certified by Tourism Northern Ireland before it is let, and planning follows the ordinary change of use rules. | In a rent pressure zone a home that is not your principal residence needs planning permission to be let short term, and your own home may be let for up to 90 days a year on registration with the council, under the Planning and Development Act 2000 (Exempted Development) (No. 2) Regulations 2019. A national short term letting register is being introduced. |
| Whose consent? | Your mortgage lender, your buildings insurer, and, for a flat, the lease: most residential leases forbid short lets outright or require the landlord's consent. A tenant needs the landlord's written consent. Council tax or business rates depends on how many nights the property is available and let. | ||||
| Safety | A fire risk assessment under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (its Scottish and Northern Irish equivalents), an annual gas safety check under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, electrical safety, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and for a boat the safety certificate for the waterway. | ||||
| Tax | Income from short lets is property income. The furnished holiday lettings regime, with its capital allowances and pension treatment, ended on 6 April 2025, so short lets are now taxed like any other letting. Letting a room in your own home falls within the Rent a Room allowance of £7,500. VAT registration applies once turnover passes the threshold. In Ireland, income is returned to the Revenue Commissioners and hosts are reported by the platforms. | ||||
Each Act is read in full on Homebinding. Rules on registration and licensing are changing in every nation; each Act's page carries the date it was last read.
List a place for holiday lets
How booking works
Choose the dates on the listing; the price and the total are shown before you ask. The host confirms; you pay a deposit to the regulated stakeholder, and the balance on the date the listing states. The booking, the house rules, the safety certificates and the messages between you and the host are all on the record. If the host cancels, the deposit comes back in full. If you cancel, the listing's stated terms apply, and the record shows them before you book.
