Holiday let agreement template (free Word and PDF)
A free holiday let agreement template in Word and PDF: do you need one with Airbnb, what goes in it, deposits, cancellation and what UK law says.
A holiday let agreement fits on two pages: who lets to whom, which nights, at what price, with what deposit and what happens if someone cancels. Change the sand-coloured fields in Word and it is ready for a direct booking.
Do you need a holiday let agreement with Airbnb or Booking.com?
Usually not. The booking already is the contract. On Airbnb it is made directly between you and the guest, and Airbnb is not a party to it (Airbnb Terms of Service for European users, which also cover the UK, sections 1.2 and 4.2). What applies is what your listing says: price, cancellation policy, house rules. On Booking.com, guests accept the policies shown while they book, such as cancellation and damage deposits (Booking.com terms).
Airbnb does let you ask guests to sign your own agreement as well, but only in the open. The terms must be in your listing description and in full in the message thread. If a guest only learns about them after requesting to book, they can refuse to sign and ask you to cancel with a full refund. And Airbnb won't help you enforce special terms in your agreement (Airbnb Help Centre). Nothing in it may contradict Airbnb's terms or your listing.
Where your own agreement matters is direct bookings: returning guests, friends of friends, enquiries through your website. No platform is keeping a record of the payment, the cancellation terms or the deposit.
From our own experience, direct bookings are rare. The place is booked almost every night, and guests who'd like to come back without a platform often find no free dates. Returning guests we know, who have always left the place in good order, simply get an invoice from us. With a new guest booking direct, the agreement is your only record of what you both agreed.
What goes in a holiday let agreement?
- The parties: your name and the lead guest's, with address, phone and email.
- The property: address, description, inventory, and the maximum number of guests.
- Dates: arrival from, departure by.
- Price and payment: total, what's included (cleaning, linen), any visitor levy, booking payment, balance, bank details.
- Damage deposit: how much, when you return it, what you can deduct.
- Cancellation: what it costs the guest to cancel, and what happens if you cancel.
- House rules as part of the agreement; there's a template in our Airbnb house rules.
- Damage, then signatures and the date.
Add your licence or registration number if your nation requires one (licences and registration across the UK). The agreement doesn't replace the guest register: guests aged 16 and over still give their details on arrival.
What does UK law say about holiday lets?
- A holiday let is not an assured tenancy. In England and Wales, a tenancy whose purpose is to let someone occupy the home for a holiday is excluded (Housing Act 1988, Schedule 1, paragraph 9). In Scotland, a holiday let or a licensed short-term let cannot be a private residential tenancy (Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016, Schedule 1, paragraph 6). The template says the stay is for a holiday only. Both exclusions turn on the purpose of the stay, so use it only for real holidays.
- No 14-day cooling-off period. If you let as a business, consumers normally get 14 days to cancel a distance contract, but not for accommodation booked for specific dates (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 28(1)(h)). Whether a guest can cancel for free is down to your cancellation terms.
Deposits and cancellation: what's usual?
Booking payment. Part of the price when the guest books, the balance before arrival. The template uses 30 % as an example.
Damage deposit. It covers damage, not normal wear and tear, and you deduct only what you can back up with receipts. Write down when you'll return it. We only ask for a deposit on long stays, from 20 nights: in case hot and cold water use goes well beyond what we agreed. If it stays within the norm, the guest gets everything back. That's a separate line in the template.
Cancellation. On Airbnb and Booking.com our terms are flexible: free until five days before arrival, then 50 % back, and close to arrival sometimes nothing. When a guest writes later to say they've fallen ill, we often meet them halfway: we reopen the dates. If a new booking comes in, they get their money back; if not, they don't. Those guests often just move their dates and come later. That's why the template says: if you re-let the nights, you refund what you receive for them.
The agreement, the house rules and the welcome book
The agreement makes your house rules part of it, and guests should see them before they book. The easiest way is a link. With GuestQR, the rules sit in your digital welcome book together with arrival, departure, Wi-Fi and local tips. Send the link with the agreement; guests read it on their phone, in their own language (one of eight), with no app. In the property, the QR poster on the wall opens the same guide.
