Want to get the best value Lanzarote holiday villa deals? Then from the end of May onwards avoid booking your accommodation on two of the UK’s most popular rental websites – HomeAway and Owners Direct. As both will soon be levying a new service fee of at least 6% on top of owners weekly rental rates, payable by you, the traveler.

HomeAway and sister site Owners Direct were bought by travel giant Expedia at the tail end of last year. And the new owners are now pushing through profound changes to their business model in order to further drive profits.

Previously, owners paid an annual subscription to list their property on either site. But now travelers will also be asked to pay an additional service fee too, in a move which brings the Expedia owned portals more into line with the business models employed by other rental sites such as Holiday Lettings, Trip Advisor and AirBnB.

As a result, these larger corporate sites are pushing up the real cost of self catering breaks to the consumer, so it now really does pay for tourists to start shopping around before making a booking.

How can you save money on your next villa break?

• Use local, fee free listing sites such as Lanzarote Guidebook

• Book direct with owners via their own websites

• Book with locally based villa rental agencies