villa management companies

[keithpovah]

hello again,

I have had quite a few people contact me wanting to discuss villa management companies and various issues they have had. It seems reliability and attention to detail are recurring themes. However I have had a recent problem with Algarve holiday lets and these were not the issue. Algarve Holiday Lets are part of Algarve Home Sales (estate agents), which is their main business and probably their priority.

In future correspondence, I WILL NOT BE RECOMMENDING ALGARVE HOLIDAY LETS, because....

after I had cancelled their contract to look after my villa, they immediately stopped cooperating, by not returning phone calls and making themselves unavailable to meet up. I paid them in full in good faith, so that I could get my keys back from their office (with the benefit of hindsight, this was a mistake !) and when I went back in to my villa (alone), I found some damaged items and some other items missing. I had been the last person to use the villa 4 weeks previous and the only people who had had access to the villa in the intervening time were the staff of Algarve Holiday Lets.

Of course they are not accepting any liability and say that my claim is unfounded. But how else could these items have been damaged or gone missing ?
I certainly wouldn't have done this myself and given myself all this hassle ! I have estimated that they owe me in excess of € 400 and I doubt I will ever see any of that. These are the facts ! Such a shame and it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Please be warned !

[DaveF]

Just for some perspective...

We have been using AlgarveHolidayLets for some time now and have always found them easy to work with and very helpful. Of course, how you deal with customers/clients at the end of a contract is never an easy process and will vary from company to company and we have not had to go through this process. However, in terms of dealing with the administration of our property and the guests staying there, AlgarveHolidayLets do a very good job for us.

DF

[keithpovah]

hello Dave,

totally agree with you. Initially I thought they were going to do a good job for me, but I was very disappointed with their reaction and behaviour after I had decided to cancel the contract. If you are ever in this position, make sure you do the hand-over of keys on site with them and check your inventory, to avoid any arguments. By the way, I cancelled the contract with them as they are the only villa management company I have used who add IVA on to their wage bill.....they use an agency and not their own staff. This was pushing my cleaning costs up by 23% - at least an extra € 1000 per year !
Good luck. Keith Povah.

[RichardHenshall]

... they are the only villa management company I have used who add IVA on to their wage bill.....they use an agency and not their own staff. This was pushing my cleaning costs up by 23% - at least an extra € 1000 per year ! ...

If your cleaning costs run to €5,000-ish (inc. IVA) surely you have passed the turnover limit of €10,000 at which all properly registered AL operators are required to register for IVA? Once registered, you would be able to deduct the IVA paid for this plus many other expenses, while only having to account for IVA at 6% on your income.

[widge]

Hi Richard,

Do you have any experience of completing your own IVA return or is this only possible through a licensed accountant?

I have been registered as a business since 2014 and my accountant has only claimed a refund once despite breaching the €3000 threshold and obviously the elapsed time rule between claims.

[RichardHenshall]

... Do you have any experience of completing your own IVA return or is this only possible through a licensed accountant? ...

I submit my own returns, so it's possible to DIY. I've sent you a PM.