Letting a property can be risky business, bearing in mind the house or home you invested in could well become damaged or you might end up out of pocket if the people renting it from you decided one day to stop paying you. Even worse is the scenario every landlord dreads: being tied in with a tenant who you simply cannot get rid of, perhaps they miss their payments, make lots of noise or are generally anti-social.

There are methods to reduce exposure to toxic tenants, thus reducing your overall risk and allowing you to rent a property and providing a sustainable income. Why not consider using the property as a holiday let? It's a less risky and by any standard more flexible than longer term letting options. Holiday apartments don't just exist in Cornwall or next to the seaside - they are everywhere, a simple Google of 'self-catering apartments in Manchester' will revile this to be the case.

Next you might ask what the differences between each of the rental models? Letting a property for smaller periods - typically a week but it could be weekends, three days or fortnights gives you control over when it is rented out to holiday makers or tenants.

There is no need for a lease; rather a short document is completed with several terms and conditions. What this means is that a holiday maker letting the property has different rights to that of a tenant renting.

You continue to manage the utilities; council taxes et cetera and are responsible for the general property bills. Generally it is expected that the property is cleaned, laundered and prepared in time for the new arrivals. In the midst of preparation the house is checked over for possible maintenance such as new cutlery, fixing of taps or any other kind of issue which might adversely affect the next holiday makers stay. This would resolve any smaller problems before they get out of hand.

Guests staying for shorter terms don't tend to have parties, especially when their parties are family or mixed old and young - don't tend to cook big meals or for that matter when they are on holiday spend much time in the property at all. They didn't come to see the holiday home, they came for a holiday, a break.

Payment from people looking to rent your property for a short break tends to be taken up front, before the guest actually arrives. This means traditional rental worries are averted as payment is in your bank long before the guest and their family turn up. Most property owners will take a deposit to cover any sort of damage caused by either type of potential renter, which gets paid back to them upon successful completion of the contract and inspection.