By the Unity Stays directors, Marcus Chong & Gadir Al-Khatib · Last updated 12 August 2026
In short: A short-let management fee around 20% sits mid-market, but the percentage means little until you know whether it is charged on gross or net and what sits outside it. UnityStays charges 14–22% of gross booking revenue by commitment and portfolio size, plus a £570–£690 setup fee and £15 monthly software; cleaning, linen and platform commission are recharged at cost.
The headline percentage is not the whole cost
Most agencies quote a single number — 15%, 20%, sometimes lower — and leave you to assume it covers everything. It rarely does. The questions worth asking are what the percentage is charged on, and what sits outside it.
A fee charged on gross booking revenue is not the same as one charged on net. A fee that excludes cleaning is not comparable to one that includes it. And a low percentage with a setup fee, a software fee and a per-clean charge can cost more over a year than a higher percentage with nothing else attached.
- Is it charged on gross or net? Gross is the booking value; net is after platform commission. The difference is material.
- Is cleaning inside or outside? This is the single most common hidden cost.
- Is there a setup or onboarding fee? Ask for the figure, not a range.
- Is there a software or technology charge? Monthly fees are easy to overlook in a quote.
- What is the minimum term, and what does leaving cost?
What ours is, in full
We publish the whole rate card rather than a headline. The fee runs from 22% down to 14% of gross booking revenue, depending on how long you commit for and how many properties you place.
Most landlords start at 20% — one property on a six-month term. On top of that there is a one-off setup fee — £570 for a one-bedroom property, rising to £600 for two beds, £630 for three, £660 for four and £690 for five, with six or more on application — and £15 a month for pricing software.
Then there are the costs of running the let, which are not inside the management fee. Cleaning and laundry after each stay, linen, platform commission and card processing are paid by us and recharged at cost. A booking taken through our own channels rather than a platform carries a 5% direct-booking commission in place of the platform's cut. To answer our own question above: cleaning sits outside the fee. We would rather say so here than have you find it on your first statement. Everything is itemised monthly and you are paid by the 10th of the following month.
You can put your own numbers through the income calculator and see exactly what survives.
Why longer commitments cost less
Setting a property up properly costs the same whether you stay a year or a month. Photography, listing build, channel setup, device installation and the first round of guest onboarding all happen once, at the start.
A longer commitment lets that cost be spread, which is why the rate card moves. It is not a loyalty discount — it reflects a real difference in what the arrangement costs to run.
The setup fee scales for a different reason: larger properties genuinely take more time and cost more to onboard, in photography, staging and risk assessment. That is why it runs from £570 for a one-bed to £690 for a five-bed.
What the fee does not cover
Being straight about this matters more than the percentage itself. Our fee does not include booking commission. Airbnb and Booking.com charge their own cut on bookings that come through them and it is passed through at cost; a booking through our own channels carries 5% instead, which is cheaper than any platform and is not nothing. Nor does the fee include cleaning, laundry or linen, which are arranged by us and recharged at what they cost.
It also does not include the cost of major repairs, replacing furniture, or utilities. Those are ownership costs and they stay with the owner. Larger works are always agreed with you before anything is spent.
Two things fall outside onboarding specifically, and they are worth budgeting for:
- Fire risk assessment. Essential for every short let. Smaller properties can often be self-assessed; larger ones need a professional, which typically costs around £350. We can introduce you to an assessor in your area.
- Interior design. Not part of standard onboarding. We offer it as an add-on if you would rather hand the whole stage over, but by default it is yours.
How to compare two quotes honestly
Put both on the same basis before comparing. Take a realistic annual gross figure, apply each fee, then add every fixed cost each company charges over twelve months. The lower percentage does not always win.
Then ask both companies the same question: what would I have paid you last year on this property? An agency that manages real properties can answer it.