There is much that appeals about turning a home into a bed and breakfast business. However, there are certain areas that need to be covered before you can throw open the doors of your home to paying guests. It’s important to look into these before you do anything else.
Getting the Paperwork Straight
Anyone considering turning their home into a guest house must first approach their local authority. The council can advise as to whether any planning permission needs to be in place with regards to a change of use. You need to be clear about the ratio split between what is retained as a personal home and what will become a public business and whether any major structural alterations are required.
In addition to the council, it is important that you inform your mortgage provider, as opening a B&B may impact on the terms of your loan. Once you have established whether this is necessary, you must also check if insurance policies need to be changed. Even the smallest establishments will want to ensure they are covered in the event of any accidents in or around the house.
Long Term Letting
One consideration when running a b&b is trying to get local trade accounts going. These offer longer term “tenant” style occupancy. Equally if you are a local business looking to rent a house in Gloucester from agencies such as TG SALES AND LETTINGS or anywhere else in the Country perhaps it would be more cost effective to contact a few local b&b’s to see what you can negotiate, after all nobody wants a spare bed!
Meeting Standards
A huge part of ensuring the health and safety of both you and your guests is adhering to both fire regulations and food hygiene standards. There is plenty of information available on the former, and the changes required may be something as simple as displaying escape routes or something more complicated such as the installation of fire doors.
When it comes to the latter, demands will vary based on the size of the business. Small businesses that will be offering breakfasts only may not require commercial refrigeration on the scale of a larger operation. However, if you are planning to provide evening catering in addition to morning meals, it may be worth investing in equipment such as that available from FridgeFreezerDirect commercial refrigeration suppliers. But whichever option you are considering, you must take food hygiene training in order to comply with local authority standards.
Of course, before you explore any of these things, you must really decide whether being a guest house proprietor is the life for you. But if piles of ironing, bathroom cleaning and the smell of sausages don’t put you off, it really can be a richly rewarding change of lifestyle.
