Nearly half of holiday let owners say their profitability has increased since the abolition of Furnished Holiday Let tax advantages, according to research from Cumberland Building Society.

The lender’s inaugural Holiday Let Index found that 48% of owners surveyed had seen profits rise following the tax changes, while a further 19% said profitability had remained broadly unchanged.

The findings suggest operators have responded by adjusting pricing and trying to make greater use of their properties. Some 47% of respondents said they had increased nightly rental rates, while 46% had focused on improving occupancy.

Owners are also seeing changes in booking patterns. Half reported an increase in last-minute bookings, while 39% had experienced shorter stays. The same proportion said guests had become more sensitive to price.

Despite the removal of the previous tax treatment, 86% of owners surveyed said they were achieving gross rental yields of at least 5%.

Some 44% reported yields of between 5% and 6%, with 34% achieving between 7% and 8%. A further 8% said their gross yields were between 9% and 10%.

The research also points to continuing appetite for investment in the sector. Some 61% of owners said they were positive about future yields, while 30% intend to buy another holiday let within the next 12 months and 25% plan to expand their portfolios.

For the purposes of the research, holiday let owners included private landlords with at least one mortgaged holiday let, as well as homeowners who own their main residence alongside at least one mortgaged holiday let.

The Holiday Let Index was coordinated by Pegasus Insight and based on an online survey of 125 respondents across the UK in May 2026. The sample comprised 25 mortgage brokers, 50 private landlords and 50 homeowners.

Grant Seaton, head of intermediary lending at Cumberland Building Society, said: “What I take from these findings is that resilience in the holiday let market is not passive. Owners are having to work for their returns.

“They are looking much more closely at pricing, occupancy, finance costs and how each property is run, rather than assuming demand alone will produce a good result.

“That is an important distinction because a strong gross yield does not automatically mean a strong business. Two properties producing the same rental yield can have very different outcomes once seasonality, management fees, maintenance, borrowing costs and periods without bookings are taken into account.

“The owners who perform well over the longer term are therefore likely to be those who understand the numbers behind their property and are prepared to adjust when conditions change.

“For brokers, that makes the conversation much broader than simply asking what rent a property might achieve.

“It means understanding how sustainable that income is, what costs sit behind it and whether the borrower has enough room in their plans for periods when performance is weaker.”

The full Holiday Let Index is available here.