Katie

13th September 2022

Katie has owned and operated her self catering property in the Highlands for 7 years.

we really don't know which way to turn

We bought the studio flat opposite our flat 8 years ago, it had been an office for many years and with a few bits of redecorating, a new bathroom, a new kitchen, we opened up as a self catering.

This is our pension. In our day job we are self employed and are rapidly approaching retirement age and are now worried that our pension pot will be no more.For the past 7 years we've hosted walkers, fishers, people exploring Scotland for the first time, young, old and met so many lovely people that we now consider friends. We employ a local cleaning company, we use local products for our welcome hamper, we encourage guests to use our high street and eat and shop in the local area.

We adhere to health and safety standards, we weathered the covid storm (just), and turning it into a longer term rental is not financially viable as we still have a mortgage to pay on it which is currently going up each month. Because of the area we are in we will also be subject to the control zone planning implications.

Whether we continue as self catering or we go for long term rental, we will lose money, in fact we will be in debt. This is such a stressful situation we find ourselves in and we really don't know which way to turn at all. Feeling very vilified and unhappy about being lumped in with large booking platforms and party houses when we are not part of either of them.