Increase in staycations drives growth in property management company M&A activity

The pandemic boom in domestic lettings of cottages and holiday homes for families in European markets is driving mergers and acquisitions activity by property management companies.

In the UK the success of the UK’s vaccination programme and the high demand for a holiday without the risk of cancellations due to changing lockdown status led to a surge in staycations. The flexibility and choice offered by holiday cottages and self catering apartments proved to be a key draw for holidaymakers.

As a result, domestic holiday letting businesses have benefitted from this increased demand which, in turn, has led to a buoyant market for industry players looking to increase their portfolio of properties.

At PKF Francis Clark we have advised a number of holiday letting businesses on their succession plans and helped to position these businesses to ensure they achieve the maximum value from acquirers. We have also been engaged by Awaze, which has the most properties under professional management in the UK and Europe, in undertaking due diligence on a number of recent acquisitions. As such we have an in-depth understanding of what acquirers look for when considering to buy a holiday letting business.

What remains clear is that there will continue to be a focus on adding more inventory in the most popular destinations and on properties that families reach by driving.

If you own a holiday letting business and would be interested in understanding the process, please join us on 6^th October at our virtual workshop on “Selling your business”.