Effective 15 February 2023. If you were booked prior to this and want to see the previous Terms & Conditions, please email us at

hello@whitehousecottages.co.uk

1.THE CONTRACT

The Contract for a short-term holiday rental will be between White House Cottages (referred to as “White House Cottages” or “We”) and the person making the booking and all members of the party who are part of the booking (referred to as “the Customer”, or “Your”or “You”) in the following booking conditions. UK Law will govern the Contract.

When you submit a booking via our online reservation system you will receive an automatically generated booking summary by email to the email address you provide in the booking form. This does not form a contract between us. A contract shall only arise when your booking is subsequently confirmed in writing via a letter of confirmation sent to you by post or email.The contract of hire is not effective until We have processed the deposit.

The contract will be subject to these booking conditions, and must be complied with. The party leader must be at least 18 years of age at the time of booking and prior to arrival. 

2. PAYMENT

Bookings are CONFIRMED on receipt of a non-refundable deposit of 25% of the booking cost. The deposit must be paid within 3 days of booking being placed. The balance of the booking will be due for payment sixty days prior to the booking commencement date.

3. CANCELLATIONS

a) If your booking has to be cancelled because White House Cottages is put under Government Restrictions and has to close and the period of closure covers Your booking You will be refunded in full minus any credit card processing fees, where applicable.

b) In the event that Your given address is put into Local/Regional Lockdown, rendering You unable to travel, and the period of restriction covers your booking You will be refunded in full minus any credit card processing fees, where applicable.

c) If your booking has to be cancelled because White House Cottages has to close through Force Majeure, meaning any of the following circumstances which may hinder or prevent the performance by us of the Contract, including but not limited to: (a) acts of God, flood, drought, earthquake or other natural disaster; (b) epidemic or pandemic; (c) terrorist attack, civil war, civil commotion or riots, war, threat of or preparation for war, armed conflict, imposition of sanctions, embargo, or breaking off of diplomatic relations; (d) nuclear, chemical or biological contamination or sonic boom; (e) any law or any action taken by a government or public authority, including without limitation imposing a restriction, prohibition, or failing to grant a necessary licence or consent; (f) collapse of buildings, fire, explosion or accident; (g) non-performance by our suppliers or contractors; and (i) failure of utility service, and the period of closure covers your booking. You will be refunded in full minus any credit card processing fees, where applicable.

d) Customer inability (or the inability of any, some or all of Your intended party) or disinclination to travel to and stay at White House Cottages for any reason.  

This includes – but is not limited to – illness (including Covid), a requirement or recommendation to self-isolate or quarantine, shielding, a call to jury duty, military service, incarceration, change in personal or work circumstances, family emergencies, travel delays, vehicle breakdown, and delays with public transport.  These remain at Your risk and do not give rise to a right to cancel or to receive a refund unless We re-let the property, other than according to the sliding scale below. You are strongly recommended to take out UK travel insurance to cover these eventualities.

If you choose not to take out UK travel insurance, then you accept responsibility for any loss that you may incur due to your cancellation.

e) Cancellations must be notified to White House Cottages by phone and email and once received in writing we will confirm the cancellation request. 

f) White House Cottages will apply the scale shown in the table below to bookings to determine the amount of the charge, which shall be a percentage of the total cost of the booking. 

Number of days before start of the booking that notification of cancellation is received* The percentage of total booking value payable by the Customer

More than 60 days 25% of the booking cost

45 to 59 days 40% of the booking cost

30 – 44 days 50% of the booking cost

15 – 29 days 75% of the booking cost

3 – 14 days 90% of the booking cost

0 – 2 days 100% of the booking cost

*White House Cottages recommends that the Customer sends written notification of cancellation by email requesting confirmation of receipt of cancellation. The effective date of cancellation is when written notification is received by White House Cottages. Any amounts due for refunding will be made within 14 Days. 

g) On receipt of the cancellation, the above Charts state the amount that the Customer remains liable for at that point in time. White House Cottages will then use reasonable endeavours to obtain a replacement booking. In the event that White House Cottages is successful in obtaining a replacement booking, White House Cottages will refund to the Customer the total amount paid by the Customer for the booking less the 25% non-refundable deposit, and less the difference in price between the Customers’ booking and the replacement booking if one is made.

For example:  A £1000 booking, fully paid, cancelled and relet for £900, means that the original Customer will be refunded as follows, £1000 – 25% booking fee equals £750, – £100 rebooking shortfall, = Refund of £650.

h) It is the responsibility of the Customer to acquire suitable travel insurance for themselves and their party to cover the booking. White House Cottages strongly recommends that the Customer acquires suitable insurance to cover circumstances beyond the Customers’ control such as, but not limited to, jury duty, incarceration, change in personal or work circumstances, military service, illness – including Covid and shielding, family emergencies and travel delays.

Covid is also now a known risk and it is possible for you to insure your holiday against it. This can include the customer or any of the party having Covid, the customer or any of the party having to isolate or quarantine, or you wishing to shield any Members of the party.

4. THIRD-PARTY SUPPLIERS

a) If you want to use the services of a third-party supplier whilst staying at White House Cottages you must ask and receive written permission to do so. 

b) White House Cottages would need to see the third-party supplier’s public liability insurance, and any other related/required certification. White House Cottages will then seek approval from White House Cottages’ insurers to allow the third-party activity to take place. 

c) If all insurances and certification are satisfactory to White House Cottages and our insurers, permission to invite these suppliers to White House Cottages will not be unreasonably withheld.

d) White House Cottages does not accept liability for the activities of these third-party suppliers. If you bring a third-party supplier to White House Cottages without consent, we reserve the right to ask them to leave. 

5. PERIOD OF HIRE

You should not arrive before 4pm on the commencement date, and leave by 10am on the day of departure. Failure to do so may result in you being charged a further day’s rental. You must not use the property except for the purpose of a holiday during the holiday period, and not for any other purpose or longer period. The agreement to stay in the property for the holiday period, does not create the relationship of Landlord and Tenant between the parties. You shall not be entitled to a new tenancy, or to any assured short hold or assured tenancy or any statutory protection under the Housing Act 1988 or other statutory security of tenure now or at the end of the Holiday Period.

6. NUMBER OF PERSONS USING THE PROPERTY

Under no circumstances may more than the maximum number of persons stated on the website occupy the property. We reserve the right to refuse admittance if this condition is not observed. Any persons other than members of your party must not use the facilities at White House Cottages unless explicit permission is given. If you wish to invite additional visitors to visit you in your cottage during your Stay, please ask us. We will try to accommodate this, but we need to comply with the maximum site occupancy limits in our insurance cover and consider our other guests.

7. SUPERVISION 

There must be at least one capable and responsible adult over the age of 18 in every Cottage.

You are responsible for the full active physical supervision of all members or your party under the age of 18 at all times. This is particularly important in the surrounding fields which have streams, fences and livestock. Regardless of supervision, for safety reasons scooting or cycling on the driveways is not permitted. Although White House Cottages is a peaceful site, we sometimes have large vehicles visiting and working on the site (such as bin lorries and delivery trucks). Bicycles, scooters and ride-ons must not be stored or used inside the cottages in any circumstances. Parties not supervising their children responsibly may be asked to put appropriate arrangements in place or to leave the relevant facility.

8. CHARGING ELECTRIC VEHICLE 

The charging of electric vehicles from our supply is not classed as reasonable usage and our properties’ electrical supplies are not suitable for plugging electric vehicles into. Plugging in of electric vehicles into any of our properties’ domestic supplies is therefore forbidden. We reserve the right to levy a £75 fee if you do so without our express permission.

9. CARE OF THE PROPERTY

You are responsible for the property and are expected to take all reasonable care of its furniture, pictures, fittings and effects, in or on the property. You must leave them in the same state of repair, and in a reasonable clean and tidy condition at the end of the rental period. You must not use the properties for any dangerous, offensive, noxious, noisy, illegal or immoral activities or carry on there any act that may be a nuisance or annoyance to the owner or other neighbouring properties. Smoking is not allowed in any of the properties or in the grounds. Any damages will have to be paid for in full within 7 days of notification. We recommend that you have insurance in place to cover this. 

10. DAMAGES & BREAKAGES

You are legally bound to reimburse us for replacement, repair or extra cleaning costs on demand. If damage occurs to the Property as a result of the actions of Guests during the stay, where the extent of that damage is so severe that the Owner must (in their sole opinion) cancel and/or refund subsequent bookings, the Owner may bring a claim against you for any loss arising as a result, including the cost of refunding other guests affected by cancelled Bookings and any additional administrative fees incurred in respect of the same. 

11. WIFI

Wi-Fi is provided for guests reasonable use. The guest agrees to reasonable and lawful usage of this service.

12. RIGHT OF ENTRY

We shall be allowed the right of entry to the property at all reasonable times for purposes of inspection or to carry out any necessary repairs or maintenance.

13. DATA PRIVACY STATEMENT & COOKIE POLICY

See our Privacy Policy

14. COMPLAINTS

Every effort has been made to ensure that you have an enjoyable stay. However, if you have any problem or cause for complaint, it is essential that you contact us immediately to give us the chance to resolve it. We value your custom and want you to return.

15. WHAT’S NOT ALLOWED AT WHITE HOUSE COTTAGES

i. Electric Vehicle charging is not included in the price. 

ii. Under no circumstances are you to bring electrical appliances to White House Cottages, other than laptops and phone chargers, without explicit written permission. This includes air conditioning units. Guest appliances have not been PAT tested and could invalidate our insurance. We will levy a charge if we find they have been operating without consent.

iii. Fireworks, Chinese Lanterns, firepits and portable BBQ’s are explicitly forbidden at White House Cottages. 

iv. Whilst reasonable numbers of visiting guests are allowed, additional overnight guests are not. The cottage occupancy limits are clear on the website. This could invalidate our insurance.

v. Guests who invite visitors who have dogs, must check with us first. Any visiting dogs must abide by our Doggy Code of Conduct

vi. If you have booked more than one cottage, please don’t move items either internal or external from one cottage to another. If you would like to move something, a BBQ for example, we can arrange safely moving these and then re-installing them.

vii. Drones are not allowed to be flown at White House Cottages. Other guests may be present and we wish to protect their privacy.

16. LIABILITY

White House Cottages, its employees and representatives shall not be liable to you or your party for loss or damage to property howsoever arising. You must take all necessary steps to safeguard yourselves and your property.

17. PETS

We only allow dogs, no other kinds of pets. Dogs have to be booked in and paid for. (£20 per dog, per stay/per cottage entered). Two dogs are allowed in the Long Barn and Hop Pickers; and one in each of Welsh Cottage and Hopstore. We may allow more dogs to stay but this must be agreed in writing before arrival. In order to maintain our cottages for everyone to enjoy, it is necessary that guests bringing dog(s) agree to these conditions.

Additional Terms and Condition for guests bringing their dog(s).

On arrival, and at all other times, your dog(s) must be kept on the lead in and around the courtyard, this means keeping them on the lead when you first set out for your walk.

There are lots of dog walks from our doorstep and in the surrounding area. Once they’re out in the neighbouring fields or orchards, dogs can be off the lead as much as you like provided they are under your control. Please be aware there may be animals in our neighbouring fields, and only take dogs into fields with animal whilst on a lead. They must not chase any livestock or wildlife. You must obey the Countryside Code and keep your dog(s) under close control at all times for their own safety as well as for the benefit of other dog owners and livestock. Please also make sure you close any gates behind you. 

Poo patrol! When taking your dog(s) for a walk, please pick up after them around our premises, as these are open to all guests. We provide free poo bags in each cottage. 

When you bring a muddy dog back from a walk, please clean them off using the outside taps and the coloured canine towels provided.  On no account use the white towels provided for human use .

Your dog(s) must not be left alone with free run of the property. If you have a puppy please take extra care. They will chew the furniture or soft furnishings in our cottages! Maintaining our furnishings is key to our business and we can’t always repair things; these may have to be replaced, at your expense. If required, we can provide crates for you, with cage mats. 

Our Digital Welcome Packs and Digital Guest Books provide a list of dog friendly pubs and restaurants and places to visit so that your dog can be with you throughout your stay. 

Dogs are not allowed on the beds, but are allowed on the sofas provided you use the throws provided and keep the dog from contact with the soft furnishings. We can provide stair gates in the cottages which will help control where the dog(s) can wander in the cottages. 

We regret that dogs that bark continuously are not allowed in case they disturb other guests.

We have two friendly cats and two cavapoos. If your dog(s) have any problem with other dogs or cats, you must notify us prior to booking.

If properties require additional cleaning, we will charge a £50 fee to cover the cost.