For farm-stays and first-time rural hosts
Your garden, working: a holiday let installed in a day
The garden of the home you live in can hold a lettable suite, with its own bathroom and kitchen.
A corner of your property, bookable by the night
80 mm insulation, its own bathroom and kitchen, double tempered glazing — finished to a paying-guest standard.
Put in your own numbers
There is no honest single answer to how much it makes — it depends on your rate, your occupancy and your costs. So set your own assumptions and see a guide figure. Nothing here is a promise; it is a tool to sense-check with your own research.
How we calculate this
Illustrative only. Nightly rates and occupancy vary by location, season and how you manage the let; the figures use your inputs, not a NOOK projection. Confirm the numbers, and any tax, with your own research and an accountant.
The income story
An asset, not a business
A large garden or a spare paddock sits there earning nothing while costs rise. A single, well-made let turns that corner into income without a mortgage-scale build or a hospitality company to run — you list it, or an agency does, and the land starts paying its way. Grounded, not a get-rich promise: a good asset, honestly reckoned.
Single unit, not a fleet
A first let, at homeowner scale
An honest look at a single garden let against the alternatives.
| Criteria | A NOOK single let | A mortgage-scale build | Doing nothing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scale | One unit, self-manage or agency | A build project and a business | The land earns nothing |
| Time to ready | 8–12 weeks, a day's install | Months to years | — |
| Commitment | Reversible, relocatable | Permanent, financed | None |
| If it doesn't let | Becomes your guest suite, or resells | Hard to unwind | — |
The lettable suite, and the wellness draw
The Doble is the unit a guest books and rates. The Sauna is the wellness draw guests search for when they book. The Base is a compact, lower-entry let.
The lettable suite
NOOK Doble
The lettable suite — own bathroom and kitchen, a couple's retreat
- Area19.5 m² · 5.0 × 3.9 m
- Ideal forUp to 6 people
- Full ensuiteOptional · ready to use
- Fitted kitchenOptional · worktop + fittings
- InstallOne day · turnkey
NOOK Sauna
The wellness draw, booked by the session
- Area10 m² · integrated vestibule
- Capacity4–5 people comfortably
- HeaterHUUM 6 kW · app · 100°C
- InteriorCanadian hemlock
- InstallUnder 2 hours
NOOK Base
A compact let, on the same reversible foundation
- Area9.75 m² · 2.5 × 3.9 m
- Ideal for1–2 people
- Best usesOffice · studio · retreat
- InstallHalf-day · turnkey
- FoundationReversible helical piles
Wellness, without a spa team
A NOOK Sauna beside the Doble.
of new outdoor-stay spaces added outdoor bathing within two years — 85% among the top performers
Canopy & Starsfor a private outdoor sauna and cold plunge for two, per 90-minute session
Gleneagles, listed price 2025TRevPAR for stays with a wellness offer
RLA × HotStats, FY2024 · A market correlation, not a NOOK forecast.It runs without a dedicated spa team — self-serve, booked by the session, and housekeeping resets it like a room.
The reassurance
If it doesn't let, you haven't lost the room
Because the unit is reversible and self-contained, the downside is covered three ways: it can be relocated or removed with no lasting mark on the land, it keeps a resale value, and it can simply become your own guest suite, annexe or garden room.
Relocatable
On reversible screw piles — wind them out and move it, with no concrete left behind.
Resells
Because it sits on screw piles rather than concrete, the Doble can be demounted and relocated, subject to access and permissions.
Becomes yours
Turn it into your own guest suite, annexe or garden room — still a room worth having.
What it takes to be ready
Questions about garden lets
Can I put a holiday let in my garden?
Often, yes, but it depends on your council and how the unit is used. A garden building of this size frequently sits within permitted development, and because a NOOK rests on reversible screw piles rather than a concrete slab it can sometimes follow the mobility route rather than count as a permanent structure. Letting it out is a change of use that can bring planning, business-rates and tax considerations. We provide the full technical documentation, and you confirm the position with your council and an accountant. Treat this as guidance, not legal or tax advice.
How much does a garden holiday let make?
It comes down to your nightly rate multiplied by the nights you fill, minus running costs — no honest single figure exists. Model it with your own rate, occupancy and costs in the calculator on this page; treat the result as a guide, not a projection.
Do I have to run a business to let it?
No. This is a single-unit, first-let story, not a fleet operation. You can self-manage the listing and changeovers, or hand it to a local holiday-let agency. It is an income asset in your own garden, not a hospitality company.
What about tax and business rates?
Letting a unit can affect income tax, and in some cases business rates rather than council tax, depending on how much you let it and your local rules. We are not accountants, so we keep to that framing and provide the building documentation you will need — you confirm your own position with an accountant and your local authority.
What if it doesn't let as well as I hoped?
Because it stands on reversible helical screw piles rather than a poured slab, the unit is not a one-way commitment. It can be relocated or removed with no lasting mark on the land, it keeps a resale value, and it can simply become your own guest suite, annexe or garden room instead. The building earns its place either way.
More ways a NOOK earns
When your situation is a little different
Your land, working
Thinking in fields, not corners?
If you've a paddock or a few acres rather than a garden corner, the land-diversification story is written for you. See your land, working.
Already hosting?
Adding a room to a guesthouse?
If you already run a B&B, guesthouse or farm-stay, a self-contained guest suite adds a standout room without a building project. See guest suites.
Growing to an estate of units?
For three or more units
When you move from a single let to an estate of several units, the full landowner programme takes over. See land projects.
Want the let to offer something more?
Wellness the guest books separately
If you are already hosting and want to add a Sauna and a rest room to what you already run, access is sold by the session: spa buildings for hotels. Model it with your own numbers.
One PDF · free
The income dossier
The spec, the layouts and an honest guide to the numbers.
The specification, the layouts and an honest guide to the numbers, in one PDF. Tell us where to send it.
- Full technical sheet for the Doble
- Ensuite and kitchen layout options
- An honest guide to the numbers
- The Mobility & Demountability Certificate and planning documentation
- What happens if you never list it
Your dossier is on its way.
One email with the dossier attached. No sales calls unless you ask.