Sheep shearing, sausage making and skateparks – the quirky extras owners are offering to boost holiday let profits

Learning how to make sausages and cure bacon is not everyone’s idea of a fun vacation. 

But for one holiday rental in Shropshire, offering butchery classes is helping to boost occupancy rates, and therefore profits, by thousands of pounds every year.

Holiday let owners are increasingly offering their guests extra experiences such as this to help them stand out from the competition.

Holiday rental agent Sykes Holiday Cottages reports a 26 per cent increase in such offerings in the last year alone.

As living costs rise and the jobs market is squeezed, households are looking to that spare room, annexe in the garden or barn that could be converted for a useful source of income from holidaymakers.

The number of guest nights spent in short-term lets in the UK rose by 10 per cent in the year to June 2025 compared to the previous period.

But making a profit can be hard going as holiday rentals are hit by rising energy bills and taxes. 

A special, more generous tax treatment for furnished holiday lets was abolished in April 2025, which means all income and gains are now taxed in the same way as other rental properties.

For example, holiday let owners can no longer claim tax relief against the purchase of items such as furniture and fixtures for their property and can now only claim for the cost of replacing items.

Taxes will rise further from April next year, when an additional two percentage points of income tax will be added to profits made from property. 

That will mean that basic-rate taxpayers will pay 22 per cent – up from 20 per cent – and higher-rate taxpayers will see theirs rise from 40 per cent to 42 per cent.

So it’s unsurprising that holiday let owners are offering guests a new experience – everything from stargazing to sheep-shearing – to help boost the bottom line.

Rob and Fiona Cunningham offer two holiday let cottages on Maynard’s Farm in Weston-under-Redcastle, 14 miles north of Shrewsbury. 

They have renovated an old tractor shed into two-bedroom glass-fronted luxury retreats and a one-bedroom hideaway. 

They rent these out for between £400 and £800 for five nights in peak summer season and bring in around £50,000 a year.

But to maintain demand all year round, they offer a butchery course for £150 per person where guests are shown how to make sausages and cure meats – and they provide locally sourced food at their farm shop. This helps increase occupancy by around a quarter and profits by up to £10,000.

Rob, 65, says: ‘Locally sourced food is our passion and we started with the shop. After being chosen by the chef Rick Stein to supply Maynard’s bacon we realised it would be great to share what we learn with our courses. 

Producing meat to sell and offering courses works well with the holiday accommodation as it not only attracts people wanting a break but those who are enthusiastic about the meat side of what we do. 

We start with each having a side of a pig, chopping off its head and learning how to butcher it. Later we learn how to make sausages and look at skills for dry curing bacon.’

The popularity of farm stays is up 16 per cent year on year, according to Sykes Holiday Cottages. 

Pam Brown ensures stays on her farm stand out from the competition by promoting stargazing for guests. 

That way they attract both guests looking for a farm break as well as astronomy fans. They offer guidance and binoculars, and plan to install a small observatory.

Ilderton Dod Barns sits in Northumberland National Park at the end of a mile-and-a-half private farm track, and is part of the International Dark Sky Park – making it one of the darkest places in Britain and ideal for stargazing.

The barn sleeps up to six and can cost about £1,000 a week in peak season and £500 off-peak. The snug one-bedroom Cuckoo Cottage can be £600 a week.

Both come with fully kitted kitchens, bathrooms and wood-burners – but guests do not come for luxury, rather the idyllic rural location far removed from the modern world. It is on a 2,800-acre working farm that has 1,600 Scottish Blackface sheep as well as 100 Aberdeen Angus cattle.

Pam, who manages the holiday lets, says: ‘Stargazing offers something extra that appeals to many visitors. Although we supply binoculars, people usually bring their own telescope.

‘The farm also offers accommodation if people want to bring their dogs or even horses – with a six-acre field reserved solely for their use. There is also an opportunity for guests to enjoy life on the farm and come to watch when we are shearing sheep.’

Pam believes they have roughly a 40 per cent occupancy with the cottages bringing in £30,000 a year, and estimates extras on offer increase bookings by as much as a third, which boosts income by about £10,000.

Lee Merlin-George is growing the number of guests at her Little Nollie log cabin in Nollie Woods, near Beckley in Norfolk, by offering them access to their own private skateboard park. Guests have exclusive access to it for the duration of their stay.

The one-bedroom hideaway that sleeps three was only opened for rental last year, but Lee believes the park may have doubled the number of bookings it would otherwise have received.

It charges £118 to £130 a night and is expecting to get perhaps £20,000 worth of bookings this year. 

Lee says: ‘The cabin used to be a home office for home lessons but we turned it into a holiday rental property after our daughters, aged 11 and 12, started secondary school.’

The skateboard park is 24ft by 16ft with a 3ft drop. It was installed five years ago and costs were minimal as Lee’s husband Terry is a professional carpenter and did the work himself.

‘Skateboarding is fun as well as great for mental health,’ says Lee. ‘We attract a range of guests, from people who want to learn to experienced skateboarders who want to practise in their own space.’

toby.walne@dailymail.co.uk

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