Renting out your London property

The initial decision to rent out your house can be a tough one, and if you are doing this for the first time, there can be lots of questions — what is the best option, how much money will I make and what do I need to do to get my property ready?

There are 2 main options when deciding how to rent out your house:

a) Rent out your spare room(s)

This option will make you a live-in-landlord, and often landlords prefer to find friends or family to fill these rooms. Otherwise, free websites such as Spare Room and Gumtree are great ways to find suitable tenants.

b) Rent out your whole property

You may decide to rent out your whole property, either on a short let or long let basis.

Short letting

You can short let your fully furnished property for up to 90 days each year, perhaps when you are away on holiday or with work. Short letting often achieves high average nightly rental rates making this option a handy additional earner. 

Although, short letting can create a lot of additional work for a homeowner. Everything from managing enquiries, check-in’s, cleaning, linen changes, providing amenities, and ensuring high-value personal items are secure.

Long letting  

For this option, tenants can be in the property for a minimum of 6 months, and you’ll need to create an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement for your tenants to sign. 

This option is normally less ‘hassle’ for you as a landlord, because there is a smaller turnover of tenants. As a landlord, you do have certain government regulations and compliance matters to attend to before your property is fit and safe to rent out, including electrical and gas safety measures.

City Relay are London’s most trusted property management company, specialising in maximising income for both your short let or long let properties. Find out more about the end-to-end services we offer, our pricing, read our blog, and find out how we can make you additional income without the stress and hassle of managing your rental property.

As a general rule of thumb, short letting your property provides a greater nightly return compared to long letting. 

Short let hosts can charge a premium for their properties, especially those fully furnished and stylish properties, which are centrally located. Prices within London can often reach up to £150 a night or more. However, as a UK homeowner, you’ll need to consider the 90-day rule, meaning you can only short let for 90 days in a year unless you seek additional authorisation from the council.

On the other hand, long letting your property generally achieves a lower nightly return, but provides other benefits:

• more financial stability as the property is tenanted for at least 6 months
• lower turnover of guests means greater security of the property and less hassle for the landlord – reduced number of check-in’s, property cleans, washing of linens and towels etc.

The ideal solution to maximise income from your property whilst remaining in compliance with regulations is to combine both short let bookings with long let stays. City Relay can coordinate the transition between short and long letting in-house, providing you a one-stop, hassle-free way to make the most out of your property. Find out more about the end-to-end services we offer.

In recent times, Airbnb management managers and companies have been extremely successful given the increase in demand for short let rental properties in the UK.

Essentially, property management companies are designed to take away the stress and hassle of renting a property from the host. They provide services such as property listing, photography and marketing, personal check in’s, housekeeping, linens, property maintenance, whilst managing all guest questions and queries – meaning the host can simply relax and enjoy their additional earnings.

Airbnb management companies also ensure that guests are truly receiving a 5-star service – a ‘home away from home’ experience without paying the price for a hotel. Better service equals better reviews, which equals greater demand, bookings and rental income for your property.

City Relay are London’s most trusted property management company. We offer London’s leading short let services through our market-leading operations, smart pricing and marketing. Letting your property has never been so easy, or so lucrative. Find our more about our range of Airbnb short let services and how we can help you.

The fees that Airbnb management companies charge vary greatly, depending on the company, their location and their operational model. Most commonly there are two main options for Airbnb management fees:

a) A commission percentage 

These fees are often between 15% – 30% +VAT of your monthly Airbnb earnings. Given the nightly rate for a short let is high, often around £150 in London, this fee structure still leaves plenty of room for profit and provides stability for you as the host, all year round. 

b) A monthly flat fee 

Some management companies prefer this option and this of course has benefits for you as a host – you can make large profits in the peak months! But you would have to make sure you have received enough off-peak bookings to ensure you aren’t losing money in these months by renting out your property.

Find out more about how City Relay could help you with managing your property. Our Airbnb management pricing is between 10-20% of your earnings, providing you a hassle-free, end-to-end service at the best price.