Many clergy and other church staff who live in church based accommodation see the need to get into the housing market during their ministry, often to prepare for housing needs in retirement. An attractive option for some is the purchase of holiday accommodation that can benefit themselves and others. Buying such property, with mortgage implications, can become feasible by offering holiday lettings, however many prefer to limit such lettings to Christian families, often with discounts offered to clergy and church staff.
Holiday Provision by Christians for Christians
In 2017 Sue Barley and Gordon Dey became keen to establish a service that would enable a ‘Christians for Christians’ holiday letting facility to operate. The ‘HolyHols’ website, launched at Easter 2018, was the result. HolyHols is advertised through the church press, diocesan channels and other appropriate means, so Christian holiday makers can be made aware of the properties it promotes.
Sue comments:
“We’ve been delighted to see our holiday property in Spain largely used by Christians, particularly clergy families. It’s been good to have got together to create something that benefits those with holiday properties to let, and church members who would like to use them.”
Gordon says:
“We bought our holiday flat in Pembrokeshire 35 years ago, and we were able to cope with mortgage payments by offering it as a holiday let. Nearly all of our tenants have been Christians, and over the years many have become personal friends. We’ve been delighted by the way in which our flat has been treated, and remain keen to mostly limit our letting of it to Christian families.”
HolyHols is a ‘not for profit’ joint venture that benefits those who have properties to let and those who would like to make use them.