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Guide · UK hosts
Airbnb cleaning fee: how much should UK hosts charge?
Charge £60 for cleaning on Airbnb and, if you’re not VAT-registered, you keep about £48.84. Airbnb’s 15.5% host fee is taken from your cleaning fee too, and guests see the fee in the total they compare. Here’s what a cleaning fee really costs you, Airbnb’s rules, and how to set yours.
In short
- Airbnb's 15.5% host fee applies to your cleaning fee as well as your nightly price, and in the UK there's 20% VAT on that fee.
- On a £60 cleaning fee, a host who isn't VAT-registered keeps about £48.84 (our maths).
- Guests see the total price, fees included, and short stays feel a cleaning fee most.
- Set it from what a turnover costs you, use Airbnb's short-stay fee for one- and two-night stays, and check your two-night total against similar listings nearby.
What you keep from a cleaning fee
Airbnb's single service fee "applies to your nightly price and any fees you add, like a cleaning" fee, and to pet and extra guest fees too. Since 22 June 2026, most UK hosts pay 15.5%. Airbnb's Help Centre also says its service fees in the UK are subject to 20% VAT, charged on the host fee. If you're not VAT-registered, you can't reclaim that.
| On a £60 cleaning fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Airbnb's fee (15.5%) | £9.30 |
| VAT on that fee (20%) | £1.86 |
| Goes to Airbnb | £11.16 |
| You keep | £48.84 |
Our maths, for a UK host who isn't VAT-registered.
Our maths: to actually keep £60, you'd charge about £73.70 (£60 ÷ 0.814, where 0.814 is what's left after 15.5% plus VAT on it). Put the other way, each extra £10 on your cleaning fee puts about £8.14 in your pocket.
If you're VAT-registered, Airbnb's own example shows no VAT added for hosts who account for it themselves, so your sums are different. And if you're anywhere near the VAT registration threshold, ask your accountant whether your cleaning fees count towards it.
What guests see
Since 21 April 2025, Airbnb has shown guests the total price by default, including all fees before taxes. Airbnb also said in 2022 that search ranking would prioritise total price instead of nightly price. So your cleaning fee is part of the number guests compare, and part of the number Airbnb ranks you on.
Airbnb's own guidance says fees "can discourage guests from booking, which could decrease your earnings".
Watch Airbnb's own price comparison. The similar-listings comparison in your calendar compares typical nightly prices. As the Help Centre puts it: "You're not comparing trip totals." So a nightly price that looks in line there can still be dearer on the total, once a high cleaning fee is added.
Many hosts have already moved. After Airbnb introduced total price display, it said nearly 300,000 listings removed or lowered their cleaning fees, and by the end of 2023 nearly 40% of its active listings charged none at all. Those are global figures from Airbnb's Q4 2023 shareholder letter; it hasn't published a UK figure.
Short stays feel it most
A cleaning fee is a flat charge per booking, so the shorter the stay, the more it adds to each night. Take a £100-a-night listing with a £60 cleaning fee:
| Stay | Cost a night, with cleaning | Cleaning adds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 night | £160 | 60% |
| 2 nights | £130 | 30% |
| 7 nights | about £108.57 | under 9% |
Our maths. An illustration, not data.
That's why Airbnb lets you set a separate, lower cleaning fee for short stays.
Airbnb's cleaning fee rules
- Short-stay fee. You can set a lower cleaning fee for stays of 1 or 2 nights. Your standard fee then applies to longer stays. Which one a guest pays is decided at booking, from the length of stay.
- What it's for. Airbnb says cleaning fees are only meant to cover standard cleaning between reservations. For unexpected cleaning, such as smoke odours, it points hosts to AirCover.
- No charges for skipped tasks. You can't charge guests for failing to do specific cleaning or checkout tasks. You can still rate and review them on cleanliness.
- Keep checkout simple. Airbnb says "Guests expect an easy checkout without any cleaning tasks." Its preset list is short: gather used towels, throw rubbish away, turn things off, lock up and return keys. Guests can report excessive checkout tasks, and Airbnb says listings with repeated low ratings for unreasonable tasks may be removed.
- Pet fee. It can't be more than your nightly base rate, and it should only cover the expected cleaning.
- Refunds. For bookings made from 21 April 2025, if a guest cancels inside your free cancellation period, the cleaning fee is refunded in full. Outside it, the cleaning fee is treated as part of the nightly price and follows your cancellation policy. Once a trip is completed, cleaning fees aren't returned.
- Special offers. Airbnb says hosts should factor the cleaning fee into a special offer, as it isn't added automatically.
If you take direct bookings on your own website
UK price transparency guidance from the competition regulator, the CMA (CMA209, November 2025), names "routine cleaning fees" as a mandatory charge. Mandatory charges belong in the headline price, not added at checkout. The CMA's own example is an apartment at £100 a night plus a £50 cleaning fee, advertised as £250 for two nights.
Airbnb already shows the total by default, so this matters most on your own booking site. Check that it shows totals with cleaning included. This is a summary for information, not legal advice.
How to set your cleaning fee
There's no reliable "typical UK cleaning fee" to copy. The averages we found were in US dollars or gave no method, so start from your own costs.
- Work out what a turnover really costs you: your cleaner, laundry and supplies. For example, £45 for the cleaner, £12 for laundry and £6 for supplies makes £63 a turnover (an illustration). If you use Airbnb's professional hosting tools and charge a linens fee, Airbnb adds it to the cleaning fee, so count the two together.
- Choose your approach. Either put the whole cost into your nightly price and charge no cleaning fee, or keep a fee that covers part of it and set a lower short-stay fee, so one- and two-night stays still look good value.
- Allow for Airbnb's cut. Airbnb's fee applies to your nightly price and your fees alike, so moving the cost into the nightly price doesn't avoid it. Whichever way you charge, if you're not VAT-registered, divide what you want to keep by 0.814 (our maths).
- Set it in Airbnb. On desktop, go to Calendar, choose the listing, then Price settings, Additional charges, Fees, Cleaning fee. Airbnb's own articles label these menus slightly differently, so if you can't see that path, look for Fees in your pricing settings.
- Check your two-night total against similar listings near you, on the same dates. That's the number guests compare. If yours sits at the top of the range, lower the fee, add a short-stay fee, or move part of it into the nightly price.
- Keep checkout simple, so guests aren't paying a cleaning fee and doing the cleaning too.
For more on where your nightly price should sit, read how to price your Airbnb, and for the fee itself, Airbnb's 15.5% host fee.
Questions hosts ask
How much should I charge for cleaning on Airbnb?
Start from what a turnover really costs you: cleaner, laundry and supplies. Then allow for Airbnb’s 15.5% fee and, if you’re not VAT-registered, the 20% VAT on it: to keep £60 you’d charge about £73.70 (our maths). Finally, check your total for a two-night stay against similar listings near you.
Does Airbnb take its fee from the cleaning fee?
Yes. Airbnb says the single 15.5% host fee applies to your nightly price and any fees you add, like a cleaning fee. With 20% VAT on that fee, a host who isn’t VAT-registered keeps about £48.84 of a £60 cleaning fee (our maths).
Should I charge a cleaning fee or put it in the nightly price?
Either works. Guests see the total price by default, and Airbnb’s fee applies to both, so the choice is about how your total looks, especially for short stays. Many hosts have dropped the fee: Airbnb said nearly 40% of its active listings charged none by the end of 2023 (a global figure).
Can I charge a lower cleaning fee for short stays on Airbnb?
Yes. Airbnb lets you set a short-stay cleaning fee for stays of 1 or 2 nights, with your standard fee applying to longer stays.
Can I charge Airbnb guests for not cleaning at checkout?
No. Airbnb says hosts may not charge guests for failing to do specific cleaning or checkout tasks. Guests can also report excessive checkout tasks.
Check it against your real competitors
The number guests compare is your total for a two-night stay. You can check it against your neighbours by hand on Airbnb, or let PeakRate compare your price and listing with similar ones nearby.
- Free listing audit (Airbnb listings). Paste your Airbnb listing link and PeakRate compares your price and listing with similar ones nearby.
- PeakRate, for the full picture. You choose the competitors that count, PeakRate tracks their prices night by night, and puts a suggested price next to the typical competitor price. Nothing changes until you approve it.
- Built for UK hosts, priced in pounds. From £49 a month for up to 3 properties, with a 14-day free trial and no card. It sends approved prices through Hospitable today, with more systems coming soon (see the latest).
More guides
- How to price your Airbnb
- Airbnb’s 15.5% host fee
- Airbnb slow season
- Airbnb bookings down?
- Airbnb minimum stay
- Airbnb occupancy rate
- Airbnb conversion rate
- Airbnb Smart Pricing
Sources
- Airbnb Resource Centre, "Simplifying service fees on Airbnb" (7 July 2026, updated 24 August 2026, article 771, FAQ): the single fee applies to cleaning, pet and extra guest fees; the VAT-registered example
- Airbnb Help Centre, "Airbnb service fees" (article 1857): most hosts pay 15.5%
- Airbnb Resource Centre, "Simplifying service fees" (22 March 2026, article 761): UK hosts switch on 22 June
- Airbnb Help Centre, article 436: 20% VAT on Airbnb’s service fees in the UK, charged on the host fee
- Airbnb Newsroom, "Total price display is now standard globally" (21 April 2025): total price shown by default
- Airbnb Newsroom, 7 November 2022: search ranking prioritises total price
- Airbnb Resource Centre, "Using Airbnb pricing tools" (article 707): fees can discourage guests from booking
- Airbnb Help Centre, article 3399: the similar-listings comparison doesn’t compare trip totals
- Airbnb Q4 2023 shareholder letter (global, 2023): nearly 300,000 listings removed or lowered cleaning fees; nearly 40% charged none
- Airbnb Help Centre, "Add cleaning fees to home listings" (article 58): the short-stay fee, AirCover, special offers, no refund after a completed trip, the desktop path
- Airbnb Help Centre, articles 2385 and 2894 ("Ground rules for home guests"): what the fee covers; no charges for skipped cleaning or checkout tasks
- Airbnb Help Centre, article 3623: the pet fee cap; article 3625: the linens fee is added to the cleaning fee
- Airbnb Resource Centre, "A clear and simple checkout" (7 April 2026, article 584): guests expect an easy checkout; the preset task list; reporting excessive tasks
- Airbnb Help Centre, article 2812: cleaning fee refunds for bookings made from 21 April 2025
- CMA, "Price transparency guidance" (CMA209, 18 November 2025, updated 2026): routine cleaning fees as a mandatory charge; the £100 + £50 = £250 example
- Our maths: £60 × 15.5% = £9.30; £9.30 × 20% = £1.86; £60 − £11.16 = £48.84; 1 − (15.5% × 1.2) = 0.814; £60 ÷ 0.814 ≈ £73.70; £10 × 0.814 = £8.14; (£700 + £60) ÷ 7 = £108.57
PeakRate makes pricing and competitor-benchmarking software for hosts. Where this guide mentions it, we say so; everything else is sourced above.