Our Story

 

For the company Founder & Managing Director the journey into the holiday business started a number of years ago when Sara, her husband & her mother saw an overseas property investment opportunity. They purchased three super little apartments off plan in a range of complexes (small to large) in varying locations on an Island in the Med! The strategies for each were decided upon & one of the properties on a secluded coastline on the outskirts of a friendly local fishing village was selected as a holiday let. Sara was assigned the task of managing the properties and went on to rent the holiday home for a number of years through online portals attracting guests from around the world and also struck up an important referral relationship with a local private hospital. Who provided a stream of bookings by recommending the property to their patients as an ideal respite location while undergoing their treatment. Due to the great distance between Sara & the property the support of local people & businesses was essential & had to be relied upon entirely. Over time this proved to be highly tasking so due to this & a number of reasons it was decided that the properties should be liquidated in favour of UK based investment properties.
 

At the same time Sara was busy building a portfolio of luxury professional house-shares in England which are essentially serviced houses in which tenants benefit from an all inclusive rent, including cleaning, gardening, internet, SKY TV etc. The house-share business has many similarities to holiday accommodation (aka serviced accommodation) and so both strategies run well together within the property investment business.

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In order to be successful in any business you need to 'learn the ropes' - gain experience, implement systems and have a strong business plan. Sara invested a great deal of time attending seminars, reading & listening to as much as she could about the industry and together with her husband took on the task of building an annexe on the side of their home which became the first UK holiday let. The Annex at Birch House, a one bedroom cottage, became a great success and after two years the decision was clear that the time had come to scale the business and add more holiday homes to the portfolio. In 2018 the family home was converted into a holiday home - Birch House, the new brand was launched 'York Unique Holiday Homes' and the search for more properties in and around York has commenced.

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At York Unique Holiday Homes our vision is to build a brand that our guests can rely on for consistent high standards so they will come back to stay at our properties time and time again. We want to offer something different to the traditional hotel stay providing facilities to make family breaks less hassle and more relaxing, and individual properties for a unique experience.

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We are really looking forward to the journey ahead, welcoming new and past guests to the stunning City of York & the breathtaking surrounding countryside. We are a small independent company and would love for you to follow us on our journey, please follow us on social media for regular updates, reviews of local places and insights into what there is to see and do on a break here!