What's the average gross income for a Cornwall holiday let in 2026?

AIRDNA data suggests Padstow averages around £31,200/year gross; Cornwall-wide the average is around £20,000 gross but with enormous variation by area. Coastal Padstow/Rock/Daymer 3-bed cottages routinely gross £28,000–£45,000; rural Bodmin 2-bed cottages are £10,000–£16,000. Occupancy averages 61% year-round, 83% in peak summer (June-August).

What's a realistic net yield after costs?

Net is typically 50–65% of gross under professional full management. For a 3-bed Padstow property grossing £35,000 with full management at 20% commission, expect net pre-tax around £14,700. Self-managing the same property pushes net to £21,000+ but adds the time and stress of running it yourself. Marginal rural properties failing the business-rates threshold can net under 40% of gross after the 100% Council Tax premium kicks in.

How has the FHL abolition affected Cornwall holiday let returns?

The Furnished Holiday Lettings regime was abolished from 6 April 2025. For leveraged owners (with a mortgage), the loss of full mortgage-interest deduction (now restricted to a 20% tax credit) is the biggest hit — typically £2,000–£6,000/year worse off depending on mortgage size and tax band. Capital allowances and pension contributions from FHL profits are also no longer available. For mortgage-free owners the impact is smaller but still meaningful at CGT on eventual sale.

What occupancy rate should I expect in Cornwall?

Cornwall averages 61% year-round and 83% in peak summer. Newquay family-lets typically hit 70%+ year-round. Padstow/Rock 65–75%. St Ives 65–75%. Mid-Cornwall (Truro, Falmouth) 55–65%. Rural Cornwall 45–60%. Professional dynamic pricing and multi-channel listings (Airbnb + Booking.com + Vrbo + direct site) typically beat single-channel DIY by 8–15 percentage points on the same property.

Which Cornwall areas have the highest yields?

Padstow / Rock / Daymer Bay top the gross-revenue table — 4-bed cottages comfortably £40,000-£60,000+ gross. St Ives is comparable but with brutal access logistics for changeovers. Newquay has the highest occupancy (70%+ year-round) on slightly lower per-night rates. Coastal Mousehole, Padstow harbour-front and similar premium-postcode properties are the highest yielding by sale-price-to-gross ratio.

Will the 2025 council tax changes affect my Cornwall holiday let?

Yes if you fall short of the business-rates threshold (252 days available, 105 days let — from April 2025). If you fail, you pay Council Tax — and Cornwall Council has applied a 100% second-home premium since 1 April 2025, doubling your bill. For a Band C Cornwall property, that's roughly £3,600/year extra. Most owners can hit the threshold, but it requires intent to let throughout the year, not just the summer.

What Cornwall Holiday Let Owners Are Actually Earning in 2026

The question every Cornwall holiday-let owner asks — and the one new buyers Google before they exchange — is also one of the hardest to answer cleanly: what does a typical Cornwall holiday let actually earn? The figures float around — Airbnb's own averages, agency marketing materials, AirDNA reports, optimistic estate-agent particulars. Here's an honest version, broken out by area, bedroom count and the realistic post-2025 tax landscape.

The headline numbers

According to AIRDNA 2025 data, Padstow properties average around £31,200 gross revenue per year. Cornwall as a whole averages around 61% year-round occupancy, rising to 83% in peak summer (June-August). But the spread across Cornwall is enormous — coastal Padstow / Rock / Daymer comfortably out-grosses inland Bodmin by 2× to 3× for the same bed count.

That's gross. Net is roughly 50–65% of gross after the eight standard cost lines (more on those below). And the recent FHL tax abolition has worsened the after-tax position for most owners — not catastrophically, but meaningfully.

Gross yields by Cornwall area (2026)

Rough 2026 numbers for properties trading 50+ weeks a year with professional management and pricing:

The premium belt: Padstow / Rock / Daymer Bay / Polzeath

2-bed cottage: £22,000–£32,000 gross
3-bed cottage: £28,000–£45,000 gross
4-bed cottage: £40,000–£60,000 gross
5+ bed luxury / sea-view: £55,000–£90,000+ gross

This is Cornwall's premium tier. Strong year-round demand, foodie reputation (Stein, Outlaw), excellent walking and surfing. Property purchase prices are eye-watering (the 2024 Rightmove average sale price for Padstow was approaching £900k) but the gross-yield-to-purchase-price ratio still works for properties under £600k.

St Ives

2-bed cottage: £20,000–£32,000 gross
3-bed cottage: £28,000–£45,000 gross
4-bed cliff-top: £42,000–£65,000 gross

Comparable to Padstow but with brutal access logistics (the Down-along and Up-along streets need foot-shuttling for changeovers) and the worst exposure to the Council Tax second-home premium — many St Ives parishes have been hit hard by the 100% premium for properties that fail the business-rates threshold.

Newquay (family let + surf let)

2-bed apartment: £15,000–£24,000 gross
3-bed family let: £22,000–£35,000 gross
4-bed family-let with hot tub: £30,000–£48,000 gross

Highest occupancy rates in Cornwall — Newquay's family-let market routinely hits 70%+ year-round occupancy, with peak summer running near-100% on Saturdays. Hot tubs are now baseline (not premium) for 3-bed+ family lets.

Falmouth / Helford / Mawnan Smith

2-bed cottage: £14,000–£24,000 gross
3-bed cottage: £20,000–£32,000 gross
4-bed: £30,000–£42,000 gross

Event-driven boosts (Tall Ships, Sea Shanty, Falmouth Week) push occupancy to 90%+ for those weekends at premium rates. Helford-side cottages trade more like rural Cornwall — longer stays, higher week-rates, lower turnover.

Penzance / Mousehole / Marazion / far-west

2-bed cottage: £14,000–£24,000 gross
3-bed cottage: £22,000–£35,000 gross
4-bed: £30,000–£45,000 gross

Strong shoulder-season demand from St Michael's Mount, Minack Theatre, and Land's End walking. Far-west drive times (35-45 minutes from Penzance to Sennen) limit which agencies can practically handle Saturday changeovers.

Mid-Cornwall: Truro / Falmouth fringe / Helston

2-bed cottage: £12,000–£20,000 gross
3-bed cottage: £18,000–£28,000 gross

City-break demand keeps Truro's calendar more even than the coast — typically 55–65% annual occupancy, but lower nightly rates. Solid for buy-and-hold investors rather than capital-appreciation plays.

Rural Cornwall: Bodmin Moor / Launceston / inland Liskeard

2-bed cottage: £10,000–£16,000 gross
3-bed cottage: £14,000–£24,000 gross
4-bed converted barn with hot tub: £22,000–£35,000 gross

Lower per-night rates but lower entry prices and better business-rates position. Best suited to owners targeting walkers, cyclists (Camel Trail), and quiet-Cornwall holidaymakers. Hot tubs and good Wi-Fi (rural broadband is the #1 complaint in this area) help significantly.

The 2024–2026 occupancy picture

Cornwall's overall occupancy data tells a clear story:

2024 summer (June-August): ~83% across the county
2024 full year: ~61% across the county
2025 first half: shoulder-season demand softened slightly versus 2024 — driven by general UK domestic-tourism weakness, not Cornwall-specific factors
2026 outlook: agencies are predicting flat-to-slightly-down on 2024, with the better-positioned properties (sea-view, hot tub, near-village) holding occupancy and the marginal ones losing 5–10 percentage points

Occupancy alone doesn't tell the full story. Better pricing strategy (dynamic pricing software, gap-filler logic, last-minute discounts) routinely beats fixed-rate pricing by 10–25% on annual revenue, on the same property and same occupancy.

Realistic expense lines for 2026

The eight standard cost lines a Cornwall holiday let owner faces, with rough percentages of gross:

Changeover cleaning + linen (10–15% of gross) — typically £60–£200 per turn depending on property size, plus linen hire £4–£8/bed/change. More on changeover cleaning.
Management agency commission (15–25% of gross if using full management; 0% if self-managing; 5–10% if letting-only)
OTA fees (3–18%): Airbnb 3-15% (now mostly host-only), Booking.com 15% gross, Vrbo 5% commission + 8% service fee. Direct-booking website bookings are commission-free.
Insurance (£350–£900/year): specialist holiday-let policy — not a standard landlord policy. Insurance guide.
Council Tax or business rates: if you hit the let-day threshold and qualify for business rates plus Small Business Rate Relief, this can be near-zero. If you fall back to Council Tax, Cornwall's 100% second-home premium makes this a serious cost. Rates guide.
Utilities (£1,500–£3,500/year): heating, electricity, broadband, water/sewerage. Generally borne by the owner not the guest.
Maintenance + furnishings amortisation (5–10% of gross): realistic budget for ongoing wear-and-tear, breakages, occasional refurb.
Mortgage interest (variable): with FHL abolition (April 2025), this is now restricted to a 20% tax credit at higher rates rather than a full deduction. Hits leveraged owners hardest.

Worked example: 3-bed Padstow cottage at full management

Take a typical 3-bed Padstow cottage grossing £35,000/year with professional full management:

Gross: £35,000
Less management commission (20%): -£7,000
Less OTA fees (avg 10% of bookings via OTA): -£3,500
Less changeover + linen (12%): -£4,200
Less insurance: -£650
Less utilities: -£2,500
Less maintenance + amortisation (7%): -£2,450
Less business rates (assuming threshold hit + SBRR): £0
Net pre-tax: ~£14,700

That's about 42% net-to-gross — fairly typical for a property under professional management. Self-managing the same property (no commission, but you do all the work) shifts the net up to ~£21,700, but with significantly more time, stress and emergency call-outs.

Worked example: 2-bed rural Cornwall (DIY)

A self-managed 2-bed cottage near Bodmin grossing £14,000:

Gross: £14,000
Less OTA fees (12% blended): -£1,680
Less changeover (DIY by owner — opportunity cost): £0 cash
Less insurance: -£500
Less utilities (rural, oil heat): -£2,200
Less Council Tax (failing threshold, with 100% premium): -£3,600
Less maintenance: -£900
Net pre-tax: ~£5,120

The Council Tax line is the killer here. Properties that fall below the new 105-day let threshold are getting hit hard. Pre-2023 this same property might have netted close to £9,000 cash; the 2024-2025 council-tax-and-FHL changes have effectively squeezed marginal owners.

The FHL abolition impact (in cash terms)

The Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime was abolished from 6 April 2025 (1 April 2025 for corporation tax) — and the impact on net is meaningful:

Mortgage interest: previously a full deduction; now a 20% tax credit. For a higher-rate taxpayer with £8,000/year mortgage interest, this swings the after-tax position by around £3,200/year.
Capital allowances: previously claimable on fittings and furnishings; now restricted to replacement-style relief only. Hits owners refurbishing or starting up.
Pension relief: FHL profits no longer count as "relevant earnings" for pension contributions. Some owners used FHL profits to fund larger annual pension allowances; that route is closed.
CGT on sale: previously Business Asset Disposal Relief at 10% (now 14% for new disposals in 2026); now standard residential CGT (24% for higher-rate, 18% basic). For someone selling a £200k-gain property, this can be a £20,000+ difference.
Joint ownership: can no longer split profits flexibly between spouses by default — Form 17 with evidence of unequal beneficial ownership is now needed.

The combined net impact for a typical leveraged Cornwall owner: £2,000–£6,000 worse off per year, depending on mortgage size and tax band. See our full FHL changes guide for what (if anything) you can still do.

Should you self-manage or use an agency?

The maths usually breaks down like this:

Gross under £15,000 + you live within 30 minutes: DIY usually wins. Commission would eat too much margin.
Gross £15,000–£25,000 + within 30 minutes: letting-only service often wins (you get pro photography and listings, but keep operational margin).
Gross over £25,000 OR more than 30 minutes away: full management almost always wins on a quality-adjusted basis. Time savings + dynamic-pricing uplift + multi-channel exposure tend to outweigh the 15–25% commission.

For the borderline cases, see our DIY vs management company guide for the full decision framework.

Bottom line

The Cornwall holiday-let market is still profitable in 2026 — but the easy years (2021-2023 pent-up domestic-tourism boom, generous FHL tax treatment, low Council Tax premiums) are over. Owners now need to be sharper on three things: pricing strategy (dynamic + multi-channel), cost discipline (especially insurance, OTA fee mix, and hitting the business-rates threshold), and tax planning (a Cornwall-specialist accountant familiar with the post-FHL landscape is now worth their fee).

If you're weighing whether to take on a Cornwall holiday let in 2026, or assessing whether your current property is performing as it should — get a free proposal from a vetted local agency and benchmark your numbers against the market. Submit your postcode and we'll match you with an agency that can advise honestly.