This is your last chance to get out of town

If the recent tropical weather has tempted you to stay on home soil for the August bank holiday, the good news is that not every rustic retreat between St Ives and the Isle of Skye has been booked up. The bad news is that a good majority of them have. UK cottage rental companies are reporting near sell-outs for the August break, with beach properties or properties with a pool in the south of England (namely Cornwall) being the most popular. Choices are better if you look for rural cottages inland or go for beach properties further north. Across the board couples will have better pickings, with the bigger family properties having long been booked up. In fact, for large swanky cottages in prime locations, now is the perfect time to book – but for next year.

Starting in England's summer-cottage honey pot, the Devon specialist Toad Hall Cottages (08700 777345; www.toadhallcottages.com) reports a "very busy" summer with a virtual sell-out of properties throughout August. Most seaside properties have been snapped up, but Dartmoor has good availability, despite being only half an hour from the coast and well located for activities such as walking and riding. Still available is Higher Eggbeer Farm, a thatched medieval farmhouse sleeping up to six, within Dartmoor National Park. It has oak beams, inglenook fireplaces and is a small family-friendly farm. Seven nights (from Saturday 24 August) cost £760.

In the same area, West Country specialist Classic Cottages (01326 555555; www.classic.co.uk) has a small number of properties with a week's availability over the August bank holiday. Kellywyk is a semi-detached, single-storey barn conversion (sleeps two) near Looe in southeast Cornwall. Guests staying at this property can use facilities at the neighbouring St Mellion Golf and Country Club, free of charge, including two 18-hole golf courses, swimming pools, gym, sauna, steam room and beauty salon. The price of a week's stay, commencing 24 August, is £466. A little further south, exceptional value for a big family or large group, a five-bedroom Round House property (sleeps 10) set within several acres of private farmlands, near Padstow, Cornwall costs £1,231 for one week commencing 25 August.

UK One Call (01227 454563; www.ukonecall.com) has up-to-date listings of more than 800 privately owned self-catering properties on its database and currently reports good availability for inland properties, particularly in rural Wales. In Wales, one week in a five-star, four-bedroom barn conversion eight miles from Builth Wells, Brecon Beacons, costs £650. Cwmpiban sleeps eight and is set in farmland and moorland with canoes supplied for use in the local river. Further south, also still available is a luxurious barn conversion with sea views in north Devon, sleeping four and costing £740.

Specialising in the conservation and letting of unique historic buildings (converted lighthouses, castles, monasteries, etc), The Landmark Trust (01628 825925; www.landmarktrust.co.uk) reports that bookings for the bank holiday have come later than usual this year and, aside from the West Country, the company still has a reasonable number of properties available throughout the UK. Located outside the village of Old Warden, Bedfordshire, Warden Abbey (sleeps five) is a restored 12th-century farmhouse. The double bedroom has a Tudor fireplace, oriel window and moulded oak ceiling and occupies the entire first floor; the attic above has three beds with views over the parapet. A week from 24 August costs £754.

After many closures last year, owing to foot and mouth, the National Trust (0870 458 4422; www.nationaltrust cottages.co.uk) reports that demand has returned this year for Trust holiday cottages in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The best sellers have been, as ever, the quirky cottages (water towers, castellated follies, former coastguard cottages) and although there are few places left for the August bank holiday there are late-availability discounts of 20 per cent for bookings online. Wicket Nook Cottage is a freshly renovated cottage, located above the woods of the Calke Abbey estate in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire. It sleeps four, and the cost of a week's rental over the bank holiday is £623.

Specialising in cottages, manor house and castle accommodation throughout the British Isles, English Country Cottages (0870 442 2515; www.english-country-cottages.co.uk) still has good availability in the Peak District and the Cotswolds. The Lucarne (sleeps four/five) is a converted grain mill, set within two acres of gardens half a mile from the market town of Pocklington, near York, and the cost for a week starting 24 August is £467.

With more than 3,000 properties, Country Holidays (08700 723723; www.country-holidays.co.uk) is a good bet for last-minute availability. It currently has seven nights, commencing 24 August, at Gardener's Cottage (property reference 15572) in Brampton, Cumbria. Sleeping up to five, this 18th-century traditional stone cottage is set in a private courtyard, is well suited for babies and small children and costs £413.

Finally, back in the south-east Rural Retreats (01386 701177; www.ruralretreats.co.uk) has discounts of 10 per cent for bookings made within seven days of the rental date (valid for bookings made up to 5 September, including bank holiday). Bearwood Cottage (sleeps four) is an oak-frame barn conversion set in private gardens in Herefordshire and costs a total of £641 (including discount).

And for larger families or groups still hoping to take a week's break in the West Country, Helpful Holidays (01647 433593; www.helpfulholidays.com) is discounting all properties by 10 per cent during August, up to and including the bank holiday week. Commencing 24 August, a week in a penthouse sleeping 10, near Teignmouth, south Devon (ref B99f) costs £1,618 after discount (previously £1,798). The property has a large private balcony with sea views, four bedrooms and four bath/shower rooms (cot and highchair available) and guests have the use of an indoor heated pool, sauna, gym and steam room and receive a 25 per cent concession at Dartmouth Golf and Country Club. All Helpful Holidays properties come with the option of a food hamper delivery service: West Country specialities such as Dartmouth smoked salmon are delivered to your door.