Holiday lets and HMRC rules?

I am not a legal expert
But if a let is longer than 31days you risk creating a residential tenancy, and can invalidate any holiday let insurance.
Picked this information up from an insurance site as it's included in Thier holiday let terms

All sounds complex and typical of guidelines/legislation! Not sure if this helps but a friend of mine uses this technique under a holiday let ruling: a person requests to 'stay' in the home for 3 months (this could be for several reasons). An agreement is reached on price but potentially that person on say day 28 has to book for another month (even tho they already paid) and so on until the person moves out on the agreed date. I now see thru your explanation this works within the 31 day ruling hence why she does it that way (which all sounded rather a faff to me at the time).
The guest has to pay in advance for the stay time agreed and the house is fully managed in line with holiday letting legislation ie all utility bills included, cleaner once a week/garden maintenance/bed linen and towels laundered.
I've even used it myself while my property was being renovated...at mates rates of course!

The core bits are it must be a commercial
- let for at least 105 days
- available for at least 210 days

subject to
- stays of over 31 days non qualifying (subject to unforeseen events exemption)

The 155 nights of stays of over 31 days to prevent 6 month tenancy in non-peak period

The 155 night condition is the sum of any stays of over 31 days, so, for example 60 + 32 + 45 +32 = 169 so you would not be able to claim FHL as you have breached the threshold.

Days is an imprecise measure - is it a calandar day, ie 15 June, or is it any period of less than 24 hours, ie check-in after 12:00 15 June and check-out before 12:00 the next day, 16 June? Safer (and easier) to count nights.

Your personal use is unlikely to qualify on two grounds - personal use and non-commercial rate.

This is not tax advice and you should check with your accountant. You write:
"My managing agent thinks that we are safe to let the property to one guest for more than 31 days, but I’m not convinced."

I think he is correct. You can let to one guest for up to 155 continuous days and still qualify. However if the aggregate of all lettings exceeding 31 continuous days exceeds 155 it will not be a FHL.

You must let to the public for at least 105 days in a year. Do not count any days when you let the property to friends or relatives at zero or reduced rates as this is not a commercial let.

Lettings of more than 31 continuous days do not count towards the required total of 105 days.

(A) You could in theory have 5 lets of exactly 31 days each and 7 lets of exactly 30 days each and still qualify as FHL.

(B) You could let for 155 days to one guest but would then need to have sub-32 days lets totalling 105 days or more in addition to qualify.

(I am ignoring averaging and grace periods).

Reply to the comment left by Ian Narbeth at 28/04/2023 - 14:37
Thanks for your reply Ian, but it's 'the pattern of occupation' that's not clear from HMRC.

I don't understand how its deemed to be permissible to let to one guest for up to 155 days, when it clearly states:
Do not count longer-term lets of more than 31 days, unless the 31 days is exceeded because something unforeseen happens.

It's all very ambiguous.

Thanks for everyone's replies.

My query was not so much the number of days that the property is let for, but the 'pattern of occupation' as HMRC define it.
The lack of clarity within the HMRC rules provides opportunity for differing interpretations.

Since writing my initial post on here, I've had contact with three highly regarded property tax advisors/accountants. As I am not a client of any of them, their replies were understandably fairly short, but interestingly I gained three different answers! One admitted that they didn't actually know the answer to my specific query here, a second simply quoted me the Gov website (again) and wouldn't be drawn into any further detail and the third said categorically 'No, you must not let a property to the same guest for more than 31 days, as this would breach the HMRC rules. The same guest could return at a different time of the same year to book another 31 days if they wished (assuming adherence to yearly allocation), but continuous occupation by one guest would not be considered permissible.'
So.... it seems to be anyone's guess, but I'm going to err on the side of caution and stick with one guest for no more than 31 days/calendar month per booking.

You need to check what your insurance covers. If I remember rightly my insurer was ok to cover stays of up to 42 days.

HMRC is a completely different thing. FHL is some kind of tax allowance so if you want to qualify you have to do that 31 day, 155 days thing. You can have the guest leave and take all their belongings with them for a day or two and then host them again when they come back.

If you are not bothered by the FHL allowance then you can let up to the number of days your insurer allows.

In order not to be creating a tenancy the guest MUST HAVE A PERMANENT HOME ELSEWHERE. so to ensure you are not creating a tenancy with any other class of guest you need a contract which they will sign in advance that will state this incontrovertibly.

I am not a legal or tax expert so thoroughly check everything I have stated before you take any action. This is just my opinion.

Reply to the comment left by Rennie at 29/04/2023 - 17:03
Thanks Rennie, I have no restrictions on my insurance, so can let for as many days as I wish.
I am aware of the tenancy issue and my agent has that covered with a good contract that all guests sign. We also ensure that FHL conditions continue to be provided, such as cleaning and laundry.
Guests leaving after 31 days and then returning a day or two later, was not acceptable by some of the advisors I spoke to either. 'Red rag to a bull' if HMRC were to carry out an investigation, I was told.

Reply to the comment left by RoseD at 28/04/2023 - 11:08
Your friend is attempting to circumvent the rules - a new booking is not a new stay. She can do it but it won't count towards the tax allowance.

@Ian, "Do not count longer-term lets of more than 31 days" means the 155 day scenario for one let would not count either

Reply to the comment left by Helen Charlesworth at 29/04/2023 - 10:38
Sorry for the delay in replying. The starting point is that lettings of more than 31 days do not count towards the 105 day total. However, there are exceptions as the guidance states, e.g. where a guest has booked for say 28 days but has an accident or illness which means they stay for more than 31 days. In those circumstances that guest's stay would count towards the 105 day minimum requirement.