What Is Serviced Accommodation? A Guide for London Landlords
Serviced accommodation is a furnished home let to guests with hotel-style services: professional cleaning, fresh linen and support during the stay. In Greater London, any stay shorter than 90 consecutive nights counts as a short let, and short lets are limited to 90 nights per calendar year without planning permission.
What does serviced accommodation include?
Serviced accommodation is a residential property run to hospitality standards. The guest gets a self-contained flat with a kitchen and living space, plus the services they would expect from a hotel. Housekeeping turns the flat around between stays, and the guest has someone to call if the boiler fails or a key code stops working.
A flat can host a guest for three nights or for three months and still count as serviced accommodation, as long as it is run this way.
For an owner, this means more work than a standard tenancy. Someone has to handle bookings, pricing, guest messages, check-ins, turnovers and maintenance. Some owners do it themselves. Others hand it to an operator offering full-service management for serviced apartments.
How is serviced accommodation different from a short let?
A short let is defined by how long the guest stays. Serviced accommodation is defined by how the property is run. The two often overlap: many serviced flats in London take short-let bookings, and many short lets are not serviced at all.
The practical difference is the operation behind the booking. In serviced accommodation, professional housekeeping and guest support are part of every stay. In a basic short let, the host may clean and hand over keys personally, with no set standard. Operators offering Airbnb and short-let management in London usually bring the serviced standard to short-let bookings too.
The terms get mixed up because they overlap: one serviced flat can take a short let in August and a mid-term let in October.
Is serviced accommodation legal in London?
Yes, but it has to fit London’s planning rules. In Greater London, short lets (any stay shorter than 90 consecutive nights) are limited to 90 nights per calendar year without planning permission. Serviced accommodation with stays under 90 nights falls within this rule. To let short stays for more than 90 nights a year, you need planning permission from your council.
Airbnb applies the limit automatically. Entire home listings in Greater London stop taking bookings once they reach 90 nights in a calendar year, unless the host confirms they have permission to go beyond it. Other platforms may not do this, so track nights across every channel you use.
Stays of 90 consecutive nights or more fall outside the limit. They bring other legal considerations, so take advice before you plan around them.
Planning is not the only check. Before you start, look at:
- Your lease. It may restrict short-term letting or business use.
- Fire safety. Follow the government guidance for letting a self-catering holiday home.
- Gas, carbon monoxide and electrical safety. Follow the Health and Safety Executive guidance for landlords.
- Energy Performance Certificate. Check whether you need one.
- Insurance. You should have holiday let insurance, public liability cover and buildings and contents cover suitable for short-term letting.
A national registration scheme for short-term lets in England is also on the way. It is expected to start in March 2027.
This is general information, not legal advice. Speak to a planning consultant or solicitor about your property.
How much does it cost to have serviced accommodation managed in the UK?
In London, most operators charge around 12% to 20% of booking revenue for full management, often plus VAT, and a few premium operators quote up to 25%. The percentage depends on what the operator does for it. A hands-off arrangement, where the operator runs everything from pricing to maintenance, costs more than help with listings or check-ins alone.
When you compare offers, look past the headline percentage. Ask three questions:
- What is included? Pricing, guest messaging, check-ins, cleaning, linen, toiletries and maintenance call-outs may sit inside the fee or be charged on top.
- What is the fee calculated on? Some operators take their share before platform fees and cleaning charges, others after.
- What are the contract terms? Check the minimum term, the notice period and who pays for setup.
Two offers with the same percentage can leave you with very different payouts once extras are added. Ask each operator for a sample monthly statement before you sign. For a detailed breakdown, see Airbnb management fees in London.
Do you pay business rates on serviced accommodation?
It depends on how much the property is available and actually let. In England, a property is valued for business rates as self-catering accommodation if it is let commercially for short periods and meets three conditions:
- it was available to let for at least 140 nights in the last 12 months
- it was actually let for at least 70 nights in the last 12 months
- you plan to make it available for at least 140 nights in the next 12 months
If the property meets these conditions, you apply to the Valuation Office, which sets its rateable value. If it does not, you pay council tax instead. You confirm the criteria each year, and a property that stops meeting them moves back to council tax.
The rules are different in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This is general information, not tax advice. Check your position with an accountant.
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FAQ
What do serviced accommodation providers do?
Serviced accommodation providers run the property on the owner’s behalf. They list it on booking platforms, set prices, vet and message guests, arrange check-ins, and manage cleaning, linen and repairs between stays. The owner receives the income after the provider’s fee and any agreed costs.
What tools help you communicate with guests in serviced accommodation?
Most operators use a shared inbox that pulls messages from every booking platform into one place, so no question is missed. Scheduled messages send check-in instructions and house rules at set times. Digital guidebooks and keyless entry codes reduce the number of questions guests need to ask in the first place.
Who stays in serviced accommodation?
Guests are often people who need a home rather than a hotel room: business travellers, contractors, relocating professionals and families between homes. Owners use it in different ways too. For example, landlords between tenancies can earn from a flat that would otherwise sit empty.
Can I run serviced accommodation from a leasehold flat?
Possibly, but read your lease first. Leases can restrict business use, subletting or short-term letting. If your lease requires consent, get it in writing from the freeholder or managing agent, and check your mortgage terms and insurance before you take any bookings.
Is serviced accommodation the same as a holiday let?
They overlap, but not completely. A holiday let is usually booked for leisure, while serviced accommodation also serves business travellers and longer stays. For tax, the Furnished Holiday Let regime was abolished on 6 April 2025, so income from both is now taxed under the usual rules for residential landlords.
Is serviced accommodation right for your property?
Serviced accommodation works when pricing, housekeeping and guest support are handled as one operation. Staymo provides serviced accommodation management in London on that model, under one commission.
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