Thinking of Starting a Glamping Business?

14 Mar

To glamp or not to glamp, that is the question?

Tiny houses and cabins are becoming increasingly popular as a new form of glamping accomodation due to their compact size and unique style.

For many, the very thought of setting up a glamping site sounds like a headache and to others its an easy money maker. As the UK holiday market continues to grow and with more people jumping onto the holiday letting band waggaon, there’s always a search for the next best thing to stand out from the plethora of shepherds huts and log cabins, and in this case, it is a tiny house or tiny house cabin.

Tiny house what? You may be thinking. Whether you’ve heard of a tiny house or not, a tiny house is a dreamy compact home that is niche in design, very instagrammable and popular across the globe! With very few in the UK, it is a great time to strike whilst the iron is hot!

What is a tiny house or tiny house cabin?

It is exactly what it says on the tin. A tiny home has a kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom and dining space all compacted into a wonderfully designed box that can be placed on a trailer for towing around your land or on ground pads should you want to reduce its size. The average tiny house is approximately 7-8m L x 2.5-3m W and 3.4-3.8m H (not including its trailer). They offer the customer both long week breaks and weekend stays as the home has everything you need and more.

For tiny house cabins, they are more compact than a tiny house with less usable space (usually minimal dining space) but equally just as inticing to a customer seeking a luxury weekend break. Both designs are ideal for luxury locations or those looking to offer a more upmarket are very rustic looking and are very popular with todays’ switch off world. They would benefit from decking, hot tubs and possibly fire pits for evening cooking and longer time outside during the summer evenings.

Why Choose a Tiny House Cabin?

Our tiny homes and cabins are designed for wear and tear with office grade flooring as well as bespoke fitted kitchens and bathrooms with an array of colours to choose from. They are plug in and play arriving with complete fixtures and fittings with water inlets and wastewater pipes at the ready and a 32AMP hookup for the homes electricity needs.

They are constructed with off grid abilities, but do be aware that an off-grid system has its own complications. Still, should you choose our upgraded system, you can save £1000s annually on bills from both water and electricity!

Tiny house cabins are like no other cabins. They allow the user to live in them for longer as there are more home comforts increasing longer stays inlcuding the use over the winter months increasing your profits even more. With the average holiday let gaining 60% occupancy at a minimum, we expect our homes to gain a 75% occupancy with the added days over the winter season - unlike log cabins and shepherds huts that are limited to three seasons.

What Profits could I see?

In the UK, the average price for a cabin is approximately £100 per night. Sometimes more for a well designed model such as our designs. We have been in touch with Glampitect, a well respected planning consultancy who suggest our models to be around £140-180 depending on your location.

£140-£180 per night at 60% occupancy (219 days) = £30,660-£39,420 annually

Cost of setting up your glamping site

It is hard to say when each plot of land will have its own circumstances and we can only comment on a predicton of our own models as we use an array of water and energy saving methods to reduce the outgoing annual costs of your investment. To give a very broad idea of what you can expect, here is an example.

Setup Costs

-Water & Electric setup = £3500-6500

-Tiny House £57,000

-Finishing costs (decking, seating, fire pits) £3000-£5000

Total setup 63500 - 68500

General Maintainence Costs

Marketing (ads, booking system & letting platforms) £2000 annually

Other costs (cleaning, washing, breakfasts etc) = £10,000 annually

Electric & Water bills = £1200

Potential costs annually = £13,200

Potential Profits

Rental income (60% occupancy) = £30,660 - in two years, you could have paid off your initial investment

Rental income over 10 years (60% Occupancy)= £306,600-£394,200

Total upfront investment = £68,500

Total invested annually =£158,400

Total investment = £226,900

+£79700-£167,300 return in 10 years!

This doesn’t include the increased capacity which you would see due to the models usage is available for all four seasons!

How Long Does it Take to Set Up a Glamping Site?

Sadly, this is another ‘ how long is a piece of string’ answers as it depends on your current planning and state of your land. If you are starting from the very beginning with a brand new application, then we would recommend getting in touch with Glampitect who can help you with this process. This can take 3-6 months, sometimes longer depending on your plot of land and location. Once you have confirmed your planning has been accepted, you will need 4-8 weeks to set up your groundworks for electricity, clean water and wastewater connections. The easy part is the booking of your chosen models as it can take as little as 4 weeks to construct and deliver your home. We usually require a 3 month lead time. However, should we have the space available, we are happy to begin sooner.

Delivery and set up is on the same day. To complete your beautiful holiday let, you can add your furnishings, exterior decking and any features that will make your model stand out!

Based on a true start to finish timeline, you could be ready in as little as three months with the potential set up running up to 1 year. We do offer consultations for those wanting to learn more about their time frame based on their land and location - To arrange your free consultation, please email leanne@thetinyhousing.co

Benefits of Choosing Tiny Houses & Tiny House Cabins

We could go on forever about these beauties, but we’ll just name a few reasons as to why choosing a tiny house cabin is better than the orginals:

Unique Spaces: Tiny houses are unique spaces that offer a different kind of living experience compared to traditional pods, cabins or Shepherd's huts.
Tiny Cabins have low embedded carbon, are easy to maintain, and eco-friendly cabins for the modern-day adventurer!
They allow the user to stay longer with more amenities in their cabin.
They are comfortable for winter stays. Pair these homes with a log burner and you’ll have yourself a cosy winter break retreat!
They can generate a higher ROI, with the average price for a Tiny House Stay from £140-180 per night in the U.K.
Tiny cabins are the most fun way to invest!
We have a variety of designs offering you something to match your current campsite or glamping resort.
We can build your Tiny Home Cabin in just 5 weeks, and install it with just a 2-man crew in as little as 1 day
Be ahead of the curb by investing in sustainable living now.