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Holiday Home Regulations: Protecting Our Guests and Owners
Making sure that our guests are going to have an enjoyable, but more importantly, safe getaway in one of our holiday homes is something that we take incredibly seriously. We don’t want anything to go wrong for either our guests or our owners, so there are lots of little details that make sure we are accountable for. And in the very unfortunate event that things don’t go as they should, you can be assured we have an action plan in place.
All self-catering holiday homes are subject to holiday let rules and regulations. As an owner, it’s imperative to know and understand the legal requirements for letting your holiday property. As a Furnished Holiday Let owner, there are rules and regulations affecting holiday rental properties that must be adhered to. These rules and regulations are established and in place not only to protect your guests, but you, your holiday let business and property. While at first, they may seem challenging and complicated, once you understand and put them into effect, making a success of your holiday let can be straightforward and rewarding.
Something we are passionate about here at ECH and which has also been in the press lots recently, is Food Safety, and more importantly Natasha’s law. Between us we have several little ones with allergies, and with allergies come complications, albeit non life threatening, but they still had us in and out of hospital lots. As Karen knows first hand due to having a daughter who had a severe dairy allergy for the first 3 years of her life. An allergy involves so much more than reading the odd label. We’re talking prescription formulas, a dairy free diet for Mum, school forms and special lunches, checking every label on every food item before they’re consumed, Dr visits, hospital admissions, hours of screaming in pain if Mum messed up, all over body rashes and so much more.
Food allergies, the newer and less understood enemy, have been until now largely dismissed or ignored. This was clearly evident in Pret a Manger’s failure to respond to repeated warnings about the dangers of allergens – and sesame seeds in particular – in the months before Natasha’s death. And there are now 1 in 4 people living with allergies in the UK.
Food Safety
So how does this affect the holiday maker? Well as you know, we’re very pleased to provide luxurious and indulgent hampers for our guests upon request, and some of our owners provide tasty thank you treats on arrival too. Following the recent introduction of Natasha’s Law, we make sure that we keep your food safe for you by following the guidelines and asking our owners to do the same.
It’s only a hamper! You’re right. But food packed by one business and supplied to another business is prepacked food and must have full labelling, including the name of the food and a full ingredients list, with allergenic ingredients emphasised within it.
So what steps have you taken to keep us safe? We’ve spoken to all of our hamper providers and asked for the labelling and allergy info to be provided, and this has now been placed into all of our welcome packs.
And the owners? Have you ever seen an agency showcase their owners who have cooked and baked for their guests? Right, us too, we see it a lot. And whilst it’s a truly lovely idea, we just hope those owners have obtained a food hygiene certificate to display in their welcome pack, as if not that Victoria Sponge could land them in a whole lot of bother. No matter how clean they may keep their kitchen, and no matter how delicious we know their baking might be!
Why do you care? We want to confidently say that any food we or an owner may provide for you, has been prepared in line with health and safety protocols. It’s that simple.
I’m an owner, break it down for me… Ok. The easiest way to look at this is that once you provide food or drink that is not bought from a recognised supplier – supermarket, farm shop, local producer – then you become in essence a food business and the rules that apply to bed and breakfasts, hotels and restaurants now apply, proportionately, to you.
It doesn’t matter if I only provide one cake a week! Yes it does. You need to have due regard to the legislation. Boring we know, but the act of making food in your own kitchen to provide to others as part of your business, you become a food business. And as a minimum, you need to have your level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate. You also need to have due regard as to where you prepare the food as well as where and how you store it.
Isn’t this overkill for a dozen scones and a bit of home-made jam? Not really. The law is there to protect not only your guests but also you and your business. Follow it, do the right thing and even if something does happen or you are accused of something, you at least have a defence.
Do I have to do this if the food is free and they know about it before they book? Yes, you do. You are providing members of the public with food and/or drink that you have made and they have a right to assume that it is safe.
