13/08/2023
Well it looks like our last guests left this week. Birchbrae is now closing at the end of Sept after 19 years. Thank you to everyone who has stayed over the years.
The new rules on short term lets and business rates are just too much financially to continue. People think because you have a small business you are rolling in the money as a friend said the other day. In our case and many others it's exactly what it is a SMALL business. We broke even each year and Birchbrae paid for itself but in the last few years made a small loss. I'm all for making improvements to the sector and making sure properties are safe but we, as have many others, have done that since day one.
Just so folk understand to continue we were told we needed to apply for planning permission as a condition of applying for the new Licence. The fees for these two applications alone add up to over £1200. Changes to the business rates this year added on another £1800.
That doesnt include our typical annual cost which many self caterers have to cover including :-
Trade waste
Water Supply
Insurance
Heating Oil ( Average fill over £ 800 at least 3 times a year)
Electricity (£6000) per year if you want a hot tub which all guests do.
WiFi & Internet
Advertising & website fees.
Travel costs to clean the property weekly (a full tank of fuel each time)
Annual Safety certificates for electricity, oil boilers.
Garden maintenance & equipment
House maintenance
Servicing
Supplies ( Cleaning materials & chemicals, linen, replacement of damaged equipment ).
Annual tax returns
Annual reports to the Scottish Assessors.
Annual Tourism Levy
Mortgage
etc, etc etc.
The weekly Hire fee to cover these costs now was becoming ridiculous and no one in their right mind would have paid. Even this year we haven't been busy over the summer before we increase our costs.
This isn't a moan it's a reality check. And these are the costs to many small businesses. So when you see a small business increase their costs please consider why they might be doing it.
