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Guide · UK hosts
How much can a holiday let earn in the UK?
Income calculators give you one big number. What a holiday let can potentially leave you with is that number minus the channel’s fee, your changeovers and your bills, before any mortgage and before tax. Here’s what the published figures say, why they run high, and the full sum, worked through for one made-up lodge.
In short
- One industry dataset puts average yearly revenue per listing in the UK’s 12 biggest short-let markets between US$31,900 (Kent) and US$46,900 (Lake District).
- That revenue includes cleaning and other guest fees and is before your costs, so it is not what an owner keeps.
- The honest sum: nights × rate − channel fees − cleaning − running costs. In our illustrative example, £27,000 of bookings leaves about £12,700, before any mortgage and before tax.
- For tax, check with your accountant.
What the published figures say
AirDNA, a short-term rental data company, publishes free figures for UK markets. For the 12 markets with the most active listings, its average yearly revenue per listing (trailing twelve months, updated 13 October 2026, in US dollars as published) runs like this:
| Market | Average yearly revenue | Occupancy | Average daily rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake District | $46.9K | 58% | $262 |
| London | $44K | 63% | $221 |
| West Yorkshire | $43.9K | 57% | $242 |
| Highland | $42.8K | 65% | $232 |
| Norfolk | $41.2K | 57% | $242 |
| Dorset | $40.4K | 56% | $245 |
| Devon | $38.9K | 54% | $247 |
| Cornwall | $38.6K | 57% | $242 |
| Shropshire and Herefordshire | $37.1K | 55% | $210 |
| West Wales | $35.8K | 56% | $213 |
| North East England | $35.4K | 59% | $194 |
| Kent | $31.9K | 52% | $199 |
AirDNA UK market pages, updated 13 October 2026, read 17 October 2026. Vendor data, shown for scene-setting; it covers Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com listings.
For what “normal” occupancy looks like where you are, see our occupancy guide.
Why income calculators look so high
None of this makes the figures wrong. It makes them a starting point, not a forecast. Three things push them above what an owner keeps:
- Revenue includes cleaning and other guest fees, and it’s before your costs. AirDNA defines annual revenue as the earnings of a typical active listing “before host expenses”, including cleaning and other guest fees. Its revenue calculator (Rentalizer) counts the cleaning fee in the same way.
- Quiet stretches drop out. Its occupancy only counts a listing’s nights if the listing has had a booking in the past 28 days.
- It’s one average across every size of place. In AirDNA’s own words, “Market-level averages hide wide variation.”
The honest maths, worked through
Here is the full sum for one made-up lodge. Every input is illustrative; the arithmetic is ours. Swap in your own numbers.
| Line | Working | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Bookings | 180 nights × £150 average | £27,000 |
| Airbnb’s host fee | 15.5% × £27,000 | −£4,185 |
| Cleaning | 180 nights ÷ 3.44 nights a stay ≈ 52 changeovers × £60 | −£3,120 |
| Running costs | Energy, water, insurance, broadband, council tax or business rates, repairs | −£7,000 |
| Left | Before any mortgage, and before tax | £12,695 (about £12,700) |
Illustrative · our maths. 15.5% is what Airbnb says most hosts pay (Help Centre, article 1857). The 3.44 nights a stay is our maths on ONS figures for 2025: 35,101,220 occupied nights ÷ 10,191,430 stays.
- VAT on the channel fee. Airbnb says VAT is charged on its host service fee. How that affects you depends on your circumstances, so ask your accountant.
- Other channels charge their own fees; take off each one for the bookings it brings. See how to price your Airbnb for the basics.
- Tax. The sum stops before tax. For tax, check with your accountant.
How to estimate your own
Swap the averages for your own inputs:
- Your rate: what similar places near you charge, night by night, not a market average.
- Your nights: how often places like yours are actually booked, minus the nights you keep for yourself.
- Then take off each channel’s fee, your changeovers and your bills.
Any figure for nights that haven’t sold yet is a potential, if booked: a ceiling, not a forecast.
Questions hosts ask
How much can a holiday let earn in the UK?
It depends on your nights, your rate and your costs. One industry dataset puts average yearly revenue per listing in the UK’s 12 biggest short-let markets between US$31,900 (Kent) and US$46,900 (Lake District), but that is revenue including cleaning and guest fees, before costs. In our illustrative example, £27,000 of bookings leaves about £12,700 before any mortgage and before tax.
Why do holiday let income calculators look so high?
Their revenue figures usually include cleaning and other guest fees and come before your costs. One widely used dataset also counts a listing’s nights in occupancy only if it has had a booking in the past 28 days, and its market figures are one average across every size of property.
How do I work out my holiday let income?
Nights booked × average nightly rate, minus each channel’s fee, minus your cleaning and changeover costs, minus your running costs. Base the rate and nights on similar places near you, and check tax with your accountant.
Do I pay VAT on Airbnb’s fee?
Airbnb says VAT is charged on its host service fee. How that affects you depends on your circumstances, so ask your accountant.
Check it against your real competitors
The two inputs that matter most in the sum are your rate and your nights, and both are best judged against places like yours. You can check by hand on Airbnb, or let PeakRate track your competitors night by night.
- 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 £19 a month for one property (£49 for up to 3), with a 30-day free trial and no card. It sends approved prices through Hospitable today, with more systems coming soon (see the latest).
More guides
- Airbnb Guest Favourite
- Easter and summer 2027 pricing
- Short-term let pricing
- England’s short-term let register
- How to price your Airbnb
- Airbnb’s 15.5% host fee
Sources
- AirDNA, UK market pages (12 largest markets), updated 13 October 2026, read 17 October 2026: annual revenue per listing, occupancy and average daily rate, in US dollars; definition of annual revenue (“before host expenses”, including cleaning and other guest fees); “Market-level averages hide wide variation.”
- AirDNA Help Centre, “How does AirDNA calculate revenue?” (20 May 2026), read 17 October 2026: revenue includes nightly rates and cleaning fees, including projected revenue in Rentalizer
- AirDNA Help Centre, “How does AirDNA calculate occupancy rate?” (20 August 2026), read 17 October 2026: nights count only if there has been a reservation in the past 28 days
- Airbnb Help Centre, “Airbnb service fees” (article 1857), read 17 October 2026: most hosts pay 15.5%
- Airbnb Help Centre, article 436, read 17 October 2026: VAT is charged on the host service fee
- ONS, “Short-term lets through online collaborative economy platforms, UK: July 2023 to December 2025” (24 June 2026), read 17 October 2026: 35,101,220 nights and 10,191,430 stays in 2025
- Our maths: 180 × £150 = £27,000; 15.5% × £27,000 = £4,185; 35,101,220 ÷ 10,191,430 = 3.44 nights a stay; 180 ÷ 3.44 ≈ 52; 52 × £60 = £3,120; £27,000 − £4,185 − £3,120 − £7,000 = £12,695
PeakRate makes pricing and competitor-benchmarking software for hosts. Where this guide mentions it, we say so; everything else is sourced above.