Properties on Northern Ireland’s north coast are currently costing over £7,000 a week to rent as people opt for ‘staycations’ this summer.
ith foreign destinations remaining out of reach for many due to Covid restrictions, it is boom time for those who have local property to hire out to holidaymakers near the coast.
And it seems that shelling out up to £1,000 a night — described by one local councillor as “extortionate” — at the height of the season is no impediment.
On one rental website seen by the Belfast Telegraph, a four-bedroom house in Coleraine is available for £7,367 — some £1,053 per night — for the week beginning July 19.
Other properties up for grabs that week include a two-bedroom Portrush flat for £4,502, a three-bedroom house in Portstewart for £5,797, and a static caravan in Coleraine for £2,456.
The Belfast Telegraph searched online for a one-week summer break, starting on July 19 until July 26, for a family of three in Portballintrae, on the north Antrim coast.
There were no properties available there, but the Airbnb website listed a series of possibilities nearby — if you are prepared to pay big money for them.
Causeway Coast and Glens councillor Philip Anderson, who represents the Coleraine area, said rental prices along the north coast are “extortionate”.
“Those are the sort of prices that were being bandied about at the time of the 2019 Open in Portrush,” he said.
“They pushed them up for the tournament when so many people wanted to come here to watch the golf, but that’s not the case this summer.
“It’s all down to supply and demand and we know there’s a big demand for holidays in Northern Ireland this year.
“Owners are clearly expecting to get something close to their asking prices.”
Mr Anderson continued: “It’s a balancing act. We want to encourage people to visit the north coast, but who’ll be able to afford it?”
Even allowing for the additional cost of Covid tests of up to £1,000 for a family of four, it would still be cheaper to get to Spain for a week than to risk the possibility of a wet week in Northern Ireland.
Mr Anderson said he wasn’t holidaying abroad this summer, adding that many others would have to stay at home too, if they are not prepared to meet the costs of getting away.
“The hike in prices is to be expected, but the question is: what level will it get to?” he asked.
“It’s up to people if they want to pay that much, given that most of the hotels are full.
“Mind you, a week in a hotel for a family of four wouldn’t be costing you anywhere near £4,000.
“But this is the way things are going, and unfortunately I foresee that it won’t just be for this summer.
“I expect to see these sort of prices for the next couple of years because some people will still be frightened to go abroad.”
Dr Peter Bolan, Director for International Travel and Tourism Management at Ulster University, who lives in the Portrush area, said the rental prices being sought were “crazy” — even for a last-minute booking for a week from July 19.
“There is still a reasonable ceiling for the prices we should be charging for places like these,” he said.
“If you were looking for a four-bedroom property in Portrush or Portstewart for a week, I would like to think that you wouldn’t be pushed beyond £2,500 or £3,000 all in.
“To hear, however, that it’s around £7,000 and over for a place in Coleraine — never mind Portrush or Portstewart — is staggering. I’d be looking to fly first class to the United States for that sort of money.”
Dr Bolan said local families are being pushed out of the “holiday at home market”.
“It’s a bit silly; your average family isn’t going to be able to afford that, or see it as value for money,” he said.
“The staycation market is important to the tourism economy here, and since we are not going to get that many international visitors this summer, maybe even next summer, it means we’re very domestic dependent on staycation tourism.
“But we have to be very careful not to get the tourists’ backs up by pricing ourselves out of the market.” Dr Bolan conceded, however, that some price increases are to be expected as “some places try to recoup their costs”.
“People will understand that they’ll be paying a little more than normal, so they expect prices to go up a bit,” he said.
“But the hikes we’re seeing are too high. They’ve gone too far. They’re trading too much off people who either can’t go abroad or are too scared to.”
Meanwhile, Danny Coyles, who owns the 20-room Anchorage Inn in Portstewart, said the price of some accommodation had “spiraled enormously”.
“We’re fully booked at weekends this summer but we’re not charging a premium,” he said.
