Holiday Let Management Nationwide
Let Stayful Manage your Holiday Let Property at 15% + VAT
Stayful provides new and existing Landlords across the UK with comprehensive Holiday Let & Serviced Accommodation Management to reduce stress and maximise returns.
Click the button below to find out how much you could earn and get your FREE Holiday Let valuation today!.
What a managed holiday let pays compared to a long let
Based on an illustrative 2-bedroom property at Stayful's average 67% occupancy and a £95 average nightly rate. Your property's figures will vary — use the income calculator below for a location-specific estimate.
Standard long let
on an assured shorthold tenancy
£12,600 per year
- Fixed monthly rent — predictable but capped
- Tenant responsible for day-to-day issues
- No flexibility to use the property yourself
- Void periods between tenancies unpaid
- Rent reviews typically annual, rarely above inflation
Fully managed holiday let
with Stayful at 15% + VAT
£17,904 per year — net after management fee
- Income varies month to month — higher in peak periods
- Cleaning fee charged to guests, not deducted from your income
- Owner blocks available — use the property when you need it
- Dynamic pricing optimised daily across 5 platforms
- Full management — no day-to-day involvement required
Figures are illustrative and based on a 2-bedroom property at 67% occupancy with a £95 average nightly rate. Management fee of 15% + VAT (18% total) applied to accommodation revenue only — cleaning fees are passed to guests at cost. Net income will vary by location, property type, bedroom count and season. Slower months typically run at 40–50% occupancy — see the holiday let income calculator for a full monthly breakdown, or read our honest account of what holiday let management costs before you decide.
Estimate your Holiday let income
Our process in estimating your Airbnb income is simple and effective.
Analyse Holiday property competition
The Airbnb estimator analysis will take 12 long term rental properties nearby of a similar size using Airbnb data and create an average of those 12.
You will also be able to see total revenue of those close by properties as well as:
Occupancy rate.
Nightly rate.
Available nights.
Monthly & annual forecast
Now Airbnb is a seasonal business and income is always going to change month by month.
This analysis data is going to help us find the good and bad months so we can best prepare for what lyes ahead in the Airbnb market as it changes.
Property or cottages rental Breakdown
Then we go a step further.
Now we have the Airbnb income analysis data, we can enter our costs data and expenses to get an idea of the profit required.
If you are unsure of what costs or data to add here is a guide:
Booking fee = 15%.
Management fee = 18%.
Cleaning costs = 18% of the revenue.
These are standard costs to pay for any guest staying and covers everything you need from supplies & linen all the way through to guest communication, maintenance and pricing.
Now you can take the estimated revenue then deduct some costs to see the Airbnb profit calculator come to life using as much data as you can inputted into it.
What you'd actually keep in January — and why the annual total still adds up
Every owner we speak to asks the same question: what happens in the slow months? It is the right question to ask, and we'd rather you ask it here than find out later. Holiday let income is not flat across the year — it rises in summer, softens in winter, and spikes around bank holidays and local events. The chart below shows the honest picture across a blended portfolio of properties Stayful manages across England and Wales. January and February are the quietest months. They are also still generating income — something a void period in a long let does not.
The two quietest months — January and February — sit at 40–47% demand. On the illustrative 2-bedroom example from the section above, that translates to roughly £690–£810 net in each of those months after the management fee. That is lower than a flat £1,050 long-let payment, and we won't pretend otherwise. But those two months are not the whole picture. The ten months that follow them recover the gap comfortably, and the annual net total sits around £5,300 ahead of what the same property would generate on a standard tenancy. The right number to compare is always the annual figure — not the worst month in isolation.
It is also worth noting that December, which many owners assume will be slow, tends to perform better than expected — particularly for properties near cities or market towns, where Christmas visits, family gatherings and corporate Christmas parties generate meaningful late-year bookings. And properties that might look seasonal on paper — a coastal flat, a countryside cottage — often have corporate or contractor demand in their area that is invisible to owners who've only thought about tourist guests. Our income calculator shows the monthly breakdown for your specific location, not a national average, so you can see the realistic slow-month figures for your postcode before you decide anything.
Our Holiday lettings Case Studies
At Stayful we always provide a detailed analysis of the property you are using to explore the potential of Airbnb, using this software we will benchmark your property vs the average market rental and see if you could make more profit using Airbnb and our management services.
See our case studies below where we have not just met our market predictions, but exceeded them.
The Benefits of Holiday let property Management
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Managing an Airbnb property requires a lot of time, effort, energy and not to mention experience, with Airbnb being as competitive as it is today it pays dividends to have an experienced helping hand in your Airbnb investments.
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Having all of your support and systems managed for you for a % of gross profit allows you to scale your business much easier.
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We are experienced Airbnb hosts, if you want to work with someone to help you turn your Airbnb investments into a passive business for you or advise on investing in new areas, partnering with us for management can give you that.
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We have been in the Airbnb industry for 5 years as of 2024 and the market changes very fast, partnering with us you can always stay ahead of the curve when it comes to regulation in Airbnb or other news that could impact your investment.
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Being a larger host on most platforms we have a large collection of market data not accessible to most who are just starting out, meaning we can advise on which areas best to invest in based on occupancy and nightly rates of properties we have performing in the locations we operate in.
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Using our brand and other methods we can help maximise the revenue for your property as charging a % of gross bookings it is within our interest to maximise the revenue for each property we manage.
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We take away all the stress of dealing with Airbnb properties whilst maximising the yield of your investment property.
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Stayful provides a hands off service for Airbnb management making it ideal for hands off investment or overseas investors.
From enquiry to first booking: what the process looks like
A common reason owners hesitate is not knowing what "getting started" actually involves. Whether you have a buy-to-let that's between tenancies, a second home sitting underused, or a flat you've recently moved out of — the process is the same and takes less time than most owners expect. From your first conversation with us to your listing going live typically takes 7–14 days. Here is exactly what happens at each stage.
The first step is the income estimate — and it costs nothing and commits you to nothing. You enter your property details into the income calculator and we return an estimate based on live local comparables: what properties of a similar size and type in your area are actually earning right now, broken down by month. This is not a best-case projection. We show you the full-year picture including the quieter months, because we would rather you go in with accurate expectations than feel misled later.
If the numbers make sense for your situation, we move to a brief conversation about the property. If they don't — if the honest figures suggest short letting isn't the right move for your specific property — we'll tell you that too. That conversation is free either way.
Once you're happy with the estimate and want to explore further, we have a short call or visit to look at the property properly. This is not a hard sell — it is a practical assessment of what the property needs before it goes live and whether there is anything to address first.
Most properties need very little. A good standard of furnishing and functioning appliances is usually sufficient. Where there are things to address — a repair, a missing piece of furniture, a compliance check — we will be specific about what they are and what they cost, so you can make an informed decision. There is no pressure to proceed if the conversation changes your thinking.
This stage is also where we confirm the management agreement terms, explain the management contract in plain English, and answer any questions about what Stayful handles and what stays with you.
Once the agreement is signed, we move quickly. Onboarding covers everything needed to get your property live and performing well from day one.
- Professional photography — scheduled and completed, no charge for the first shoot
- Listing written and optimised for search visibility and conversion on each platform
- Pricing strategy set using live local market data — not a fixed rate applied to every property
- Property activated on Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO, Google and Stayful direct
- Key and access management arranged — your guests never need to contact you directly
- Cleaning team briefed and scheduled for the first turnover
- Property inspection completed and any last-minute items flagged before guests arrive
There is no setup fee at any point in this process. The 15% + VAT management fee applies only once bookings start generating accommodation revenue.
When the listing goes live across all platforms, the first booking requests typically arrive within 48–72 hours. New listings receive a boost in platform search rankings when they first go live — we time the launch to take advantage of this and ensure the pricing and listing quality are strong enough to convert that early visibility into actual bookings.
You do not need to do anything at this stage. Guest communication, booking confirmation and key handover are all managed by Stayful. You will receive a notification when your first booking is confirmed, and from that point you are simply watching income accumulate in your monthly reports.
Once your property is live and earning, Stayful handles the ongoing operation in full. You stay informed without being involved in the day-to-day. Every month you receive a clear report showing occupancy rate, average nightly rate, gross revenue, management fee deducted and net income paid to you. No surprises, no unexplained deductions.
You are only contacted when something genuinely requires your decision — a maintenance issue above a pre-agreed cost threshold, a question about an owner-use block, or a change to the property that needs your sign-off. Everything else — guest communication, pricing updates, cleaning schedules, review responses, minor maintenance coordination — runs without you needing to be involved.
You can read what existing owners say about the experience on the Stayful reviews page, or see the income and occupancy outcomes from specific properties on our case studies page. The 4.8★ Google rating comes from owners who have been through this process — not a curated selection.
“As a landlord i wanted to maximise my yields and diversify with the new property rules coming into the UK, Stayful has helped me to maximise the yield of my property whilst diversifying my portfolio with no extra stresses Airbnb comes with. ”
Juber
Our Holiday Letting Customers
“I have been with a few Airbnb management companies and found many to not be very impressive when it comes to returns or communication, Stayful have always delivered what they promised and always communicate with me.”
Kathryn
“I am a Dubai investor in UK property, Stayful has helped me manage my Airbnb property in the UK without having to deal with any day to day tasks.”
Donnalee
“I had a second home i wanted to make the most of whilst i was not living there, Stayful has helped me to make extra money from my property without having to do any additional work.”
Deborah
“I am from Scotland and so with the rules coming in for Airbnb i had to look to other countries to invest, Stayful has helped me to find my ideal investment and manage it making it completely passive whilst i invest from a far.”
Lucas
Our Holiday Letting Process Is Simple & Effective for our property owners
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1. Application / Property Approval
After completing the FREE Holiday Let Valuation form, we’ll assess your application and conduct some property research in Manchester to offer a prompt property estimate.
Subsequently, we’ll contact you with potential monthly Holiday Let earnings for your property and work to schedule a viewing as soon as possible.
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2. Agreement / Viewing
After inspecting your property and mutually agreeing on its condition and our partnership, we will dispatch our management contract.
This comprehensive contract encompasses our management terms, fee structure, and pre-agreed plans for property work we’ll undertake on your behalf.
We maintain flexibility in our terms and encourage landlords to share their suggestions.
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3. Contract Signed / Onboarding
After reviewing the management contract, signing the agreement, and confirming your readiness to proceed, we initiate the onboarding process.
Our onboarding phase encompasses collecting essential property details , optimising it for short-term rentals, and ensuring full legal compliance. Once onboarding concludes, we commence property marketing and secure your initial bookings!
What does holiday let management include?
Holiday let management is a fully managed service in which a specialist company handles all day-to-day operation of your short-let property. This includes 24/7 guest communication, dynamic pricing updated daily, listing management and optimisation across multiple booking platforms, key and access management, cleaning coordination, maintenance coordination, property inspections, review collection and monthly financial reporting. You receive the income and monthly statements — your management company handles everything else.
Stayful charges 15% + VAT of accommodation revenue, with no setup fee. There is no onboarding cost, no photography charge for the first shoot, and no minimum contract term. A full breakdown of what the fee covers is on our holiday let management costs page, or you can compare what other companies charge on our holiday letting agent fees guide.
Cleaning between stays is coordinated and quality-checked by Stayful — we schedule every clean and hold standards to the same level as any other part of the service. The cleaner's charge is passed directly to guests as a cleaning fee on the booking, meaning it does not come out of your accommodation income and the 15% management fee does not apply to it. This is standard practice across the industry and means the income figures we show you are not reduced by cleaning costs.
Properties are listed and actively managed on Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO, Google and the Stayful direct booking platform. Around 40% of bookings come through direct and non-Airbnb channels, which reduces platform dependency and protects your income if any single platform changes its algorithm or fee structure. You can read more about our approach and track record on the Stayful reviews page.
Where Do Our Holiday Let property management Bookings Come from ?
We invest heavily in our direct booking platform at Stayful and have worked very hard to get direct account managers with our main providers, something that is exclusive to big hosts that our management customers can take advantage of giving us insights that normal hosts can’t get to optimise our listings.
Our target is for 40% of our bookings to come directly through Stayful, maximising profits and minimising our reliance on online platforms, keeping more profit for our customers, this is something we are working on all the time and customers that stay with us will be able to take advantage of in the future.
Currently
Our Target
Where we manage holiday lets — full UK coverage
Stayful manages properties across England — from coastal towns and market cities to university cities, heritage destinations and rural market towns.
Every managed property gets the same 15% + VAT fee structure, the same 24/7 guest communication and the same dynamic pricing approach regardless of location.
Select your area below to see location-specific income figures, seasonality data and what drives demand in your market.
Strong year-round commercial demand in Newcastle and Darlington; coastal leisure peaks in Scarborough and Whitby; heritage city occupancy in York and Harrogate. The Great North Run weekend in September lifts Newcastle's nightly rates above any other single event in the region.
Manchester's football tourism and direct bookings programme keeps winter occupancy higher than any comparable Northern city. Liverpool's waterfront and culture district drive strong leisure and event demand. The Lake District remains one of England's most visited short-let destinations year-round.
The most commercially diverse region in the cluster — from Leamington Spa's Jaguar Land Rover and Warwick University corporate floor to Ludlow's Food Festival peaks, Malvern's Hills walking season and Nottingham's NHS and university demand. Birmingham is the region's primary city market; Stratford-upon-Avon and Lichfield anchor the heritage segment.
London's occupancy floor is the highest in the cluster — 58% in January — because international and domestic leisure demand never fully drops away. Oxford and Cambridge combine university and heritage demand. Margate leads the Kent coastal market with its Turner Contemporary and DFL regeneration story.
The most seasonal region in the cluster — Cornwall, Torquay and the coastal destinations run 90%+ occupancy in August but 35–40% in January. Bath is the exception: UNESCO heritage and the Roman Baths drive year-round international demand that produces a much flatter profile than the coastal markets. Plymouth's naval, academic and port base smooths seasonality relative to pure coastal towns.
Guides, calculators and supporting pages
Whether you are comparing short letting against a standard tenancy, trying to understand what the total fee load looks like or working out whether your specific property is suited to the short-let market, the pages below give you honest, specific answers.
Common questions from holiday let owners
The questions below come directly from conversations with owners who were weighing up whether holiday let management was the right move for their property. If your question isn't here, the free income estimate is the fastest way to get a straight answer for your specific situation.
Stayful charges 15% + VAT of accommodation revenue — there is no setup fee, no photography charge for the first shoot, and no minimum contract term. Cleaning between stays is coordinated within the service, but the cleaner's charge is passed to guests as a cleaning fee on the booking rather than deducted from your income, so the 15% applies only to accommodation revenue. Most management companies charge between 12% and 25%, with significant variation in what is actually included. For a full breakdown see our holiday let management costs page.
Stayful's fully managed service covers 24/7 guest communication, dynamic pricing updated daily, listing management across Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO, Google and Stayful direct, professional photography for the first shoot, key and access management, cleaning coordination, maintenance coordination, property inspections, review collection and responses, and monthly income and occupancy reporting. You are only contacted when something genuinely requires your decision. A full explanation of what is and isn't included is on our fully managed holiday letting page.
It depends on your location, property size and the mix of demand in your area. A well-managed 2-bedroom property in a city with strong corporate and leisure demand will typically generate between £14,000 and £22,000 net per year after management fees — compared to £10,500–£15,600 for a comparable long let. Coastal and heritage destinations can earn more per night but are more seasonal. Urban properties earn less per night but tend to have more consistent year-round occupancy.
The most accurate way to understand your property's potential is to use the holiday let income calculator, which returns a monthly breakdown based on live local comparables — including the quieter months, not just peak projections.
January and February are typically the quietest months, with occupancy running at 40–50% compared to 85–92% in peak summer. On an illustrative 2-bedroom property that translates to roughly £690–£810 net in those months — lower than a flat long-let payment, but not zero.
The important figure is the annual total, not any single slow month. Across a full year, properties managed by Stayful generate on average around £5,300 more than the same property on a standard long let, even after accounting for the two quietest months. The income calculator gives a full 12-month breakdown for your specific postcode and property type.
With holiday let management you retain ownership of the income your property generates and receive accommodation revenue minus a management fee — income varies with occupancy but the upside is yours. With guaranteed rent a company pays a fixed monthly amount typically 15–25% below open market rent and keeps any income above that figure themselves.
For most properties in areas with strong demand, holiday let management generates meaningfully more income over a full year. Guaranteed rent suits owners who prioritise certainty above all else, or whose property is in an area where short-let demand is genuinely unpredictable. We offer both services and will be honest about which is the better fit for your specific property. See the full comparison on our holiday let vs guaranteed rent page.
The key clauses to check are: the management fee and exactly what it covers, the minimum contract term and notice period required to exit, what happens to existing bookings if you leave, who owns the guest data and platform reviews after the contract ends, whether the manager can subcontract, how damage and maintenance costs are handled, and whether there is an exclusivity clause preventing you from listing elsewhere.
A fair contract is specific about all of these. Vague language around fees or exit terms is a warning sign. Our holiday let management contract guide explains each clause in plain English and identifies the terms worth negotiating before you sign.
From instruction to first booking live typically takes 7–14 days. This covers property assessment, photography, listing creation and optimisation across five platforms, pricing strategy setup, and key and access management. Once the listing goes live, first booking requests typically arrive within 48–72 hours — new listings receive a visibility boost on most platforms when they first launch, which we time the setup to take advantage of. There is no setup fee at any stage of this process.
Yes. Owner blocks can be applied to any dates you want to use the property yourself. You request the dates to be blocked and they are removed from the booking calendar across all platforms. This is one of the meaningful practical differences between a managed holiday let and a long-let tenancy — you retain the flexibility to use the property when you need it without ending a tenancy or giving formal notice. Most owners use this for a few weeks per year without it meaningfully affecting their annual income.
No. Key and access management is included in the service — guests receive check-in instructions ahead of arrival and access the property without any involvement from you. Stayful handles check-in, check-out, and any access issues that arise during a stay. You are not contacted unless something genuinely requires your decision. For more on managing a property at a distance, see our guide to managing a holiday let from afar.
Properties managed by Stayful are listed on Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO, Google and the Stayful direct booking platform. Each listing is individually optimised for the platform it appears on — not a single listing copied across all five. Around 40% of bookings come through direct and non-Airbnb channels, which reduces platform dependency and means your income is not entirely at the mercy of algorithm or policy changes on any one platform. See what owners say about the results on the Stayful reviews page.