Every management company will tell you short letting earns more. Sometimes it does, by a lot. Sometimes it doesn't, and the ones who tell you otherwise are the ones who'd be taking a percentage. Here's how to work it out for your own property before anyone takes a fee.
Start with gross, then be honest about net
A long let is simple: twelve months of rent, minus the letting agent's fee, minus a void between tenants every couple of years. A short let's gross can be 40–100% higher in a good London location — but it comes with costs a long let doesn't have. Compare net to net:
- Furnishing and setup: a short let must be furnished and equipped to hotel standard. Budget for it once, and for replacing things.
- Bills: you pay the utilities, council tax, WiFi and TV licence, not the tenant.
- Cleaning and linen: paid per stay. Guests pay a cleaning fee that usually covers it, but it's a cost that flows through your numbers.
- Consumables: toiletries, tea, coffee, cleaning products.
- Platform fees: Airbnb takes roughly 3% from the host on most listings; Booking.com takes more. Direct bookings avoid it.
- Management: if you use a manager, their percentage of revenue.
- Wear: more people through the door means more repainting and repair over time.
Do this properly for your property and a common outcome in a strong area is that the short let nets somewhere between 20% and 60% more than the long let — after the manager's fee. In a weak area, or with a property that doesn't photograph well, the long let wins and you should take it.
Location decides more than anything
Short-let demand in London is intensely local. A flat ten minutes from Wembley Stadium, or on foot from Borough Market, or on the Elizabeth line to Heathrow, fills at rates a long let can't approach. The same flat two miles from anything guests want may struggle to reach the occupancy that makes the model work. The question is not 'is short letting profitable in London' but 'is it profitable at this postcode' — and that is exactly what a valuation should answer with comparable properties, not averages.
Tax
The Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime — which gave short lets favourable treatment on mortgage interest, capital allowances and capital gains — was abolished from April 2025. Short lets are now taxed broadly like other residential lettings. That removed one argument for short letting; it didn't remove the income difference. Take advice on your own position: the right structure depends on whether you own personally or through a company.
Flexibility
This is the part the spreadsheet misses. A long-term tenant has the property for a year or more and you can't use it, sell it easily, or move family into it. A short let is yours whenever you block the calendar. Landlords who spend part of the year abroad, who are between plans for a property, or who might want to sell within eighteen months often find this decides it regardless of the numbers.
Effort
Self-managed, a short let is a part-time job: messages at all hours, cleaners to coordinate, pricing to watch, a lockout to solve at midnight. That's why management companies exist. A good one turns it back into what a long let feels like — money arriving monthly — at the cost of a percentage. Whether that percentage is worth it depends on how much you value your evenings.
A short checklist
- Is the property in an area with real short-stay demand? (Ask for comparables, not averages.)
- Does the lease allow short letting? Does your mortgage lender consent? Is it insured for it?
- Have you compared net to net, including furnishing, bills, cleaning, platform fees and management?
- How much do you value being able to use or sell the property at short notice?
- Do you want to run it, or have it run for you?