What is farm diversification?
Farm Diversification is the process of adding new business activities to traditional farming methods.
Often, farmers look into diversifying their farming land to provide an additional source of income or secure their farms future. There are a variety of ways this can be achieved, from diversifying the products you produce to converting disused buildings into shops or holiday cottages.
How a Holiday let may be right for you
With farms often having unused buildings, it makes perfect sense to convert these into something that could generate an additional income. Providing holiday cottages has been a popular choice for farm diversification for some time, many holiday lets at Sykes Cottages have been converted from unused farm buildings (you can see some of them here).
A perfect example of this is Shepherd’s Cottage in the Lake District. The cottage was originally an old barn used to lamb sheep and was converted back in 2000 as part of the Tenants Improvement Scheme. On the conversion process, the owner, Mrs Woodhouse said: “Converting the barn was actually quite easy. It already had a good roof and the window openings were already there so we just added one wall to form the two bedrooms.”
The barn was converted to secure the farm’s future as the farm had been with the family for many years, and they wished it to continue to do so for generations to come.
How to manage your holiday let
Holiday properties can be a rewarding investment of your time and resources. However, similar to other businesses, time will be required for it to be successful. A holiday let requires effort throughout the year to ensure your guests have the best holiday possible.
Managing a holiday cottage on your farm makes perfect sense. One challenge many owners face is organising time to visit the property and undertake any maintenance that is required. Since your holiday let is nearby, you won’t have to spend unnecessary time travelling to and from the property.
Additionally, you’ll also be able to easily react to any repairs or maintenance that crop up.
Since joining Sykes Cottages, Shepherd’s Cottage has been extremely popular, last year gaining a total of 43 bookings. In addition to the financial income, running the property proved to be extremely enjoyable for the owners.
Find out how we can work together
With over 25 years’ experience, our local expertise will give you peace of mind and bring you the bookings you deserve. Click here to find out more.
Promote your business with the GWCT
A GWCT Trade Membership entitles you to a FREE guest blog spot which will be promoted directly to over 30,000 GWCT members and non-members alike.
GWCT Trade Membership benefits >