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A winter let is a furnished home let for a month or more in the quiet season, usually from about November to March, normally with the bills included. On the Dorset coast it is how holiday homes and serviced apartments stay occupied between the October half term and Easter, and how people who need somewhere for a few months find a home that is ready to live in. For a guest it means one price and a suitcase; for an owner it means income in the months a holiday let would otherwise sit empty.
This guide is general information at the time of writing, 1 October 2026. It is not legal or tax advice.
The rhythm of the coast
Bournemouth's year has two halves. From Easter to September the beaches, the piers and the school holidays fill holiday lets by the week and the weekend. Then the deckchairs come in. RNLI lifeguards finish at the end of September, beach huts close for day hire, and short-break demand thins to weekends, Christmas markets and events.
The town itself does not empty. Students arrive as holidaymakers leave. Contractors keep working on hospital, housing and infrastructure projects. People still relocate for jobs, and homes still flood or need rebuilding. That is the demand a winter let meets: people who need a furnished home for a month or several, and who are glad to have a sea view at an off-season price.
Who takes a winter let
- Contractors and project workers on jobs of three to twelve months, often booked by their employer.
- People relocating who want to live in an area before renting or buying there.
- Households placed by an insurer while their own home is repaired after a flood, fire or escape of water.
- Homeowners renovating who cannot live on site.
- Remote workers who want a season by the sea.
- NHS and agency staff on placements at the Royal Bournemouth and Poole hospitals.
- Families visiting someone in hospital or at university.
Most stay between one and five months. Many extend.
What is included
A winter let is priced as a package, so ask exactly what the package holds. A Flexiestays long stay, for example, includes electricity, gas, water, fibre Wi-Fi, council tax, the TV licence, parking and use of the gym, in a furnished apartment with bed linen, towels, a full kitchen, a washing machine and a dishwasher. Other winter lets may cap energy use, charge for cleaning or exclude parking.
Before you book, check:
- Heating. What it is, how it is controlled and whether energy is capped. A clifftop flat in January needs to be warm.
- Cleaning and linen. How often, and at what cost.
- The end date. Whether you can extend, and whether the home is already booked for Easter.
- Deposit and cancellation. How much, how and when it is returned.
- Repairs. Who you call and how fast they come.
- Parking. A space, a permit, or neither.
How an owner lets a property this way
If you own a holiday let, a second home or a furnished flat, a winter let fills the months your calendar is thinnest. There are three common ways to do it.
Through a long-stay platform. Flexiestays is Bournemouth's number one platform for winter and long stays and charges only 8% on the bookings it brings to managed properties. Your flat sits alongside the group's 130 apartments in front of people searching for a month or more.
With full management. Sea Breeze Property Services, the group's holiday let management arm, runs short lets in summer and hands the calendar to long stays in winter, for 16% commission with no retainer. See our holiday let management page.
On a tenancy. Some owners prefer a tenancy over winter. Since 1 May 2026 assured tenancies have no fixed term, so a tenant who makes the flat their home cannot be required to leave at Easter without a legal ground. A tenancy does not fit a property you need back for the summer. Our comparison of a long let against a winter let works through the choice.
The 28-night and 140/70-night rules
Two lines matter, and they are easy to confuse.
28 nights. Flexiestays long and winter stays start at 28 nights. Separately, BCP Council's second homes premium applies to a furnished property that is no one's main home, unless planning rules prevent it being occupied for 28 or more consecutive days a year. Since 1 April 2025 that premium is 100%, so an empty furnished second home pays double council tax.
140 and 70 nights. At the time of writing, a self-catering property in England is assessed for business rates instead of council tax only if, over the last 12 months, it was available to let commercially in short lets for at least 140 nights and was actually let for at least 70, and you intend to make it available for 140 nights in the next 12. A guest staying for months is not a short let, so long winter bookings do not count towards the 70. An owner who wants to stay on business rates must still meet the test with the summer's short lets.
A winter let can therefore be worth more than its rent: a property that is someone's home for the winter, or rated for business rates, avoids the empty second homes charge. Our guide to council tax and second homes in BCP explains how each case is billed.
On tax: the furnished holiday lettings regime was abolished from 6 April 2025, so short and winter lets are now taxed as ordinary property income. Ask an accountant how your mix of lets is treated.
What an owner should check first
- Mortgage. Holiday let and buy-to-let mortgages have different conditions on who may stay and for how long.
- Lease. A leasehold flat may restrict short or business lets.
- Insurance. Tell the insurer the property will be occupied by long-stay guests. It also helps with unoccupancy conditions in winter.
- Agreement. Use a licence or holiday let agreement for a guest with a main home elsewhere, and a tenancy for someone making it their home. The Housing Act 1988 excludes holiday lettings from assured tenancies, but the courts look at the facts.
- Safety. Gas safety, electrical safety, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and a fire risk assessment apply to paid guests as much as to tenants.
To find a furnished home for the winter, see our winter lets page. To compare a winter stay with a tenancy as a guest, read long stay or tenancy?.
