How managers charge, what the percentage is really applied to, and the extras that turn a cheap-looking fee into an expensive one. Then what we charge, in plain figures.
Almost every holiday let manager in the UK charges a percentage of booking revenue. The
headline number gets advertised. The base it is applied to decides your bill. Two companies can
both say fifteen per cent and invoice you very differently for the same booking. Three things
move the money.
Gross, or net of channel commission. When a guest books through Airbnb or
Booking.com, the platform takes its cut first. A fee on the gross booking value is charged on
money that never reaches your account. A fee on what lands is charged on money you have actually
seen. Same percentage, very different sum.
What counts as revenue. Some agreements take a cut of everything the guest
pays, cleaning fee and pet fee included. Others charge on the accommodation element alone. Ask
which, on a real booking.
VAT. A fee quoted plus VAT is not the fee you pay. Fifteen plus VAT is
eighteen.
So compare on the base, not the badge. The question is not "what is your percentage". It is: on
a booking worth a thousand pounds to the guest, how many pounds do you take, and how many reach
my account? Any manager worth hiring answers that in one email. The same test applies to
software you would run yourself.
Small print
The extras that catch owners out
The percentage is rarely the whole cost. These are the lines to look for.
Setup or onboarding fees. A one-off charge to get the property live. Ask
whether it is refunded if you leave in the first few months.
Photography fees. Some charge for the shoot, then keep the licence to the
images if you leave. Ask who owns the photographs. Our
photography and listing build sits inside the
managed fee.
Linen and laundry charges. Often billed per changeover on top of the fee.
Not wrong, but it belongs in the quote, not on your first statement. See how
cleaning, linen and laundry are coordinated.
Marked-up maintenance. A percentage on every contractor invoice, or a
call-out rate on top of the trade cost. Ask for the policy in writing, and to see how
repairs appear on a statement.
Minimum terms and notice. A twelve-month lock-in with three months' notice
means the exit is longer than it looks.
Exit fees, and what leaves with you. The listings, reviews and guest history
on the channels: do they travel with the property, or stay with the manager? Worth more than
most exit fees.
Owner stays. Some agreements bill you for a changeover clean after your own
visit. Check.
Due diligence
What to ask any manager before you sign
Take this to every company you speak to, including us.
Is the fee charged on gross bookings or net of channel commission? Show me on a booking.
Is VAT included in that number, or added to it?
What is the total of every other charge in year one, in pounds?
Do you mark up contractor invoices? By how much?
Who pays for linen, consumables and restocking?
What is the minimum term, and what is the notice period?
If I leave, do the listings, reviews and images come with me?
Which channels will the property be on, and who sets the nightly rate?
Can I see a sample owner statement?
Who answers the phone at 11pm when a guest is locked out?
A manager who will not answer these in writing has answered them. Our
owner portal and monthly statement keep
three, four and nine consistent, month after month.
Our fees
What we charge and what it covers
Two plans, both a percentage of booking revenue, both confirmed in writing before you commit.
Fully Managed, 15%. Listing and photography, distribution
across the major channels, dynamic pricing, 24/7 guest
communication, housekeeping and linen coordinated through our vetted partner network,
maintenance, compliance checks, and a monthly statement and payout. Your
Flexiestays booking platform listing is included
inside the fee, not charged on top. No setup fee, no photography fee, no listing fee. That is
what holiday let management in Bournemouth and
hands-off Airbnb management mean in practice.
List on Flexiestays, 5%. You keep the guests, the pricing,
the cleaning and the standards. We add distribution: the property joins the Flexiestays platform
and its audience, and direct bookings carry no OTA commission. You do not need to hire us to
manage anything. Flexiestays has two doors; this is one.
Judge a fee on what you keep, not on the percentage. What follows uses our published indicative
model: a market model, not a record of what our properties have earned, and not a promise or a
quote.
Take a two-bedroom flat in central Bournemouth. The model starts from an indicative £142 a
night for a two-bed and a central multiplier of 1.10: about £156. A well-distributed, actively
priced property is modelled at 68% occupancy; one sitting on a channel or two, at a rate that
never moves, at 47% and a lower nightly rate.
On those assumptions the well-distributed version books around £38,800 a year, and after the
15% fee you keep roughly £33,000. The limited version books around £24,100 and you keep all of
it. Fifteen per cent of the bigger number beats nought per cent of the smaller one. That is the
case for management, and its honest limit: a manager who cannot move your distribution and your
rate is just charging you a fee.
Change the details and switch the plan to see the fee come off. These are indicative market figures for Bournemouth and Dorset, not a quote and not a guarantee. Your free valuation gives real numbers.
Indicative estimate based on typical Bournemouth and Dorset holiday-let figures. It is not a guarantee, a quote, or financial advice. Your free valuation gives exact numbers for your property.
Alternative
Fixed rent as an alternative
Not every owner wants a percentage. A fixed rent pays an agreed sum each month whether the
property books or not. You trade the upside of a strong August for certainty in February; we
carry the void risk. It suits owners who want the property to behave like a salary.
It does not suit every property. The terms, the property types that qualify and the current
rates are {{TODO: confirm with FSM}}. Raise it at valuation and we will tell you plainly
whether yours is a candidate.
Variables
What drives the rate
The published rates are the published rates. What moves within them is this.
How many properties. One flat and a twenty-unit building are not the same
operation. Portfolio owners and aparthotel operators
should ask about terms rather than assume the headline rate.
Turnover intensity. A studio doing forty changeovers is more work than a
four-bed doing twenty, even though the four-bed earns more.
Condition and readiness. A furnished, certified, photographed property goes
live faster than one that needs
furnishing from scratch.
Compliance status. Certificates and safety checks must be in order before a
guest sleeps there. See
compliance, safety and licensing.
How much you want to keep. The more of the operation you keep, the lighter
the plan. That is why the 5% listing option exists.
We will not quote a rate before we have seen the property. Ask for
a free valuation: a projection, the fee in pounds, the terms in writing.
Pricing
Two ways to work with us
Hand the property over, or keep running it yourself and just take the extra reach. Both doors open onto the same booking platform.
Recommended for this pageFully Managed
15 %
of booking revenue
Hand it over. We run the whole thing.
Who it suits. Owners who want the income without the work, and operators who want a single team running the building.
Everything in List on Flexiestays, included
Listing, photography and copy across every major channel
Dynamic pricing and calendar management
24/7 guest communication and check-in
Cleaning and linen coordinated through vetted partners
The Flexiestays listing is included inside the fully managed fee. It is not charged twice, and
it is not reserved for managed clients: anyone can take the 5% listing on its own.
Compare both plans in full.
FAQs
Fees, straight answers
The questions owners ask before they sign anything.
Nearly all of them charge a percentage of booking revenue, and the range is wide because the service behind it is wide. A company that only lists and prices your property sits at the low end. A company that also handles guests around the clock, coordinates every changeover and looks after maintenance sits at the high end. We will not quote you a market average we cannot evidence. Ask each manager for the fee in pounds on a worked booking, and check whether it is charged before or after channel commission and whether VAT sits on top. Ours: 15% of booking revenue fully managed, or 5% to list on the Flexiestays booking platform while you carry on managing the property yourself.
No. Fully managed is 15% of booking revenue and covers the service: listing and photography, distribution across the major channels and Flexiestays, pricing, 24/7 guest communication, and the coordination of housekeeping and maintenance through our vetted partner network. There is no separate onboarding charge, no photography charge and no listing charge. Third-party costs that any owner pays, such as a contractor invoice for a repair, replacement furnishings or statutory certificates, are set out in your agreement so you can see exactly what is passed on. The rate and the terms are confirmed in writing before you commit.
The costs of owning the property remain yours: mortgage, insurance, utilities, council tax or business rates, and the physical cost of repairs and replacements. The management fee buys the operation, not the property. On the 5% listing plan the boundary is different again: you keep guest communication, pricing and cleaning, because you are still the manager. If you want an item moved from your side of the line to ours, say so at valuation and we will tell you honestly whether we can.
On some properties, yes. A fixed rent pays you an agreed sum whether the property books or not, and we carry the void risk instead of you. It suits owners who value certainty over upside. It does not suit every property, and the terms, eligible property types and current rates are to be confirmed by FSM. Ask about it at valuation and we will tell you plainly whether your property qualifies.
Self-managing costs no fee. It costs time, and it usually costs distribution: one or two channels, a rate that does not move with demand, and every message answered by you. A managed property is not automatically better, but it is usually on more channels and priced more actively. If you would rather keep control and simply reach more guests, the 5% listing plan exists for exactly that, and you do not need to hire us to manage anything.
Not always. A fee is a share of what the property earns, so what matters is the number left in your account at the end of the year, not the percentage on the front page. A lower fee charged on the gross booking value before channel commission, with linen billed per changeover, a mark-up on every contractor invoice and a photography charge at the start, can cost you more than a higher all-in fee. Work out the pounds, not the percentage, and compare on what you keep.