Article for owners
Mortgages and insurance for short lets: what to check first
Before your first guest arrives, you need two answers: one from your mortgage lender and one from your insurer. Both are far easier to settle before you start. Here is what to ask and what the answers mean.
The short answer
- Ask your mortgage lender before you take a booking, and get the answer in writing
- Tell your insurer how the home will be used, and get cover written for short lets
- Tell both who your guests will be and how long they'll stay
- A booking site's host protection doesn't replace your own insurance
- No mortgage on the home? You still need the right insurance
Why your lender needs to know
A mortgage comes with conditions about how the home is used. A residential mortgage normally expects you to live there, and a buy-to-let mortgage normally expects a tenant on a standard rental (AST). Guests staying by the night are a different use, so either kind may need your lender's agreement.
If your mortgage needs that agreement and you let without it, you can be in breach of its conditions. Those conditions set out what the lender can then do, so ask first.
What lenders say
Each lender has its own policy, and the answers can be far apart. These examples come from lenders' terms in November 2026.
Answers you might get
- Yes, with conditions
- One high-street lender accepts holiday lets under its permission to let, for holidays only and for up to four weeks at a time.
- No
- Another lender's policy says holiday lets are not acceptable under its permission to let.
- A fee and a time limit
- Permission can carry a charge and an end date. One lender charges £125 and agrees up to 12 months at a time.
- A change at your next deal
- One lender lets you keep your rate until your deal ends, then offers its buy-to-let deals while the home is let.
Some lenders want a holiday-let mortgage instead, which is made for homes let by the night.
Tell your lender who your guests will be
Most of the guests we host aren't on holiday. They are working away from home: contractors, project teams, business travellers, and families placed by their insurer while their own home is repaired.
This matters because permission for holiday lets may not stretch to them. The lender with the four-week limit deals with letting to a company separately, under its own conditions. If you expect contractors or longer stays, say so when you ask.
Who books a home for weeks at a time
Our guide to corporate and contractor stays explains who these guests are and how those bookings work.
What to ask your lender
Put these in writing
- Does my mortgage allow short lets, and if it doesn't, can you give permission?
- Does that cover guests booking by the night through sites such as Airbnb and Booking.com?
- Does it cover contractors, companies and people working away?
- Is there a limit on how long a stay can be, or on nights in a year?
- Is there a fee, and does my interest rate change?
- How long does the permission last, and what happens at my next deal?
We can't advise on mortgages
We'll tell you what to ask, and the decision is your lender's. To find out which mortgage suits you, speak to your lender or a mortgage broker.
Why ordinary insurance often falls short
Ordinary home or buy-to-let insurance often doesn't cover paying guests. Your insurer needs to know how the home is really used. One lender's letting conditions warn borrowers that an insurer who hasn't been told might not pay out, and ask for the insurer's written confirmation that the cover stays valid.
The cover to ask about
The government's guidance for self-catering homes in England is that you should have dedicated holiday let insurance, public liability cover, and buildings and contents cover suitable for short-term letting.
What each part is for
- Buildings
- The structure of the home, on terms that allow short lets.
- Contents
- The furniture, kitchen items and linen you supply for guests.
- Public liability
- Claims from guests or anyone else who is hurt, or whose belongings are damaged, because of the let.
- Loss of income
- Bookings lost if an insured event closes the home. It isn't on every policy, so ask.
- Employers' liability
- If you employ a cleaner or anyone else yourself, the law usually requires this, for at least £5 million.
When you ask for a quote, describe the use exactly: short stays, who the guests are, and that a manager runs the home. Ask how the policy treats gaps between bookings when the home is empty.
What a booking site's cover leaves out
Airbnb includes liability insurance for hosts in the UK. It applies to stays arranged on Airbnb, and it doesn't cover damage to your own property.
Airbnb's separate scheme for damage, Host damage protection, is by Airbnb's own description not an insurance policy. A home listed on several booking sites needs cover that works for every booking, wherever it came from.
Where damage protection fits
Every booking we manage has damage protection in place before the guest arrives. Every guest is ID-checked, and we photograph the home after every clean, so we can show what happened and when. This sits alongside your own insurance and doesn't take its place.
If your home is a flat
A leaseholder has one more check. Many leases say the flat must be a private home, or ban short lets outright, so read the wording or ask the freeholder.
Your lease, deeds and planning
Our planning guide covers the other permissions to check, for flats and houses, in England and Wales.
If your home is in Wales
The questions for your lender and insurer are the same in Wales. Wales is also making public liability insurance a legal standard. Under its visitor accommodation Act of 2026, a licensed home must have a public liability policy, and the licensing scheme is due to start by March 2030.
The honest downsides
- A lender may say no, or add a fee or a time limit
- A holiday-let mortgage or specialist insurance can cost more than what you have now
- A limit on stay length can rule out some longer bookings
- The paperwork comes before your first booking, so allow time for it
Most of this is done once, before you go live, and the policy then renews each year.
How we help
- We tell you what to ask your lender and insurer
- We check the planning position for your address and flag anything in your lease or deeds
- We screen every guest and handle the bookings, messages and cleaning
- We show you what your home could earn, so you can weigh any extra cost properly
Like a letting agent, but for short lets
HOMEHOSTS isn't guaranteed rent or rent-to-rent. We manage your home for you, and our fee is a share of what it earns.
The bottom line
A short let needs the right permission and the right cover, and both are easiest to settle at the start. With those in place, a well-managed short let keeps you in control of your home and your dates, and with the right manager it can earn more than a standard rental (AST).
Ask for a free valuation: we'll show you what your home could earn as a short let, set against a standard rental, and tell you what to ask your lender and insurer.
Find out what your property could earn
Send us the postcode and a few details. We’ll call you with figures we can stand behind, and no pressure either way.