What good management is worth.

What management covers

A manager does the work you can't do from another time zone. What that work looks like depends on how the home is let.

On a long let, a manager usually finds and references tenants, collects the rent, arranges repairs, books the safety checks and keeps the records. They also deal with notices and rent increases under the rules in force.

On a short let, the work is daily. Prices set night by night, guest messages, cleaning and laundry between stays, restocking, repairs and reviews.

On both, the part you see least matters most: keeping the home safe and legal, and showing you clearly what came in and what went out.

The rules a manager works within

These rules apply in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own.

Since 1 May 2026, under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, private tenancies roll on with no fixed end date, section 21 "no-fault" evictions have ended, and landlords can only raise the rent once a year. Ask any manager how its tenancy paperwork and processes changed for that.

Some duties apply to short lets as well as long ones. Gas appliances and flues you provide need a safety check by a Gas Safe registered engineer every year, and rented holiday accommodation is included. If you charge guests for short stays, fire safety law will usually apply: you must carry out a fire risk assessment and keep a record of it. Where a tenant lives in the home as their only or main residence, the electrics must be inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every five years.

Since 1 June 2019, landlords and agents in England can't charge tenants for referencing, inventories, renewals or check-outs. Those costs sit with the landlord, so ask whether they're in the fee or charged on top.

How fees work

Many managers charge a percentage of what the home earns. Three things decide what that percentage costs you.

1. The rate. The headline percentage.
2. The basis. A percentage of everything guests or tenants pay, or of what's left after cleaning and platform fees.
3. VAT. A VAT-registered manager charges VAT at 20% on its fee unless the rate is quoted VAT-inclusive. 15% plus VAT is 18%.

Here's how far the same 15% can move on a short let. Say a year's bookings come to £30,000, including the cleaning fees guests pay. Cleaning costs £4,000 and platform fees £4,500, which leaves £21,500. These are illustrative figures, not an estimate for any home.

Same 15% rate · £30,000 of bookings in a year	Fee
15% of all bookings, plus VAT	£5,400
15% of all bookings, VAT included	£4,500
15% after cleaning and platform fees, VAT included	£3,225

That's £2,175 a year between the first and last rows, from the same headline rate. Then ask what's charged on top: setting up the listing, inventories, finding a tenant, renewals, linen, or a mark-up on repairs. Put each version into the investor calculator to see what it does to your figures.

What to check before you sign

• Redress and client money. In England, agents who let or manage homes for tenants must belong to a government-approved redress scheme, a rule in force since 1 October 2014. Those who hold client money must also belong to a client money protection scheme, since 1 April 2019. They must publish their fees, including VAT, and name their schemes. Ask to see the certificates.
• Holiday lets. Those rules were written for homes let to tenants, and a holiday let can't be an assured tenancy. A manager who runs your home only as a short let may not be covered by all of them, so ask how any money they hold for you is protected.
• Your money. When you're paid, how often you get a statement, and whether you can see bookings and costs as they happen.
• Repairs. How much they can spend without asking you, and how they choose contractors.
• Safety records. Who books the gas, electrical and fire checks, and where you can see the certificates.
• Tax if you live abroad. If you live abroad for 6 months or more a year, your letting agent, or a tenant paying more than £100 a week, normally deducts basic rate tax from your rent before paying you. You can apply to HMRC to receive the rent with no tax deducted, and then declare it on a Self Assessment tax return. Ask how the manager handles it, and read UK property tax for overseas investors.
• Leaving. The notice period, and what happens to future bookings, listings and reviews if you move on.

Guaranteed rent or full management

Our own management company, Naras Property Management, runs short lets for owners in two ways.

Guaranteed rent. You're paid a fixed monthly rent for an agreed number of years, written into your agreement, however the bookings go. Naras Property Management takes on running the home, including cleaning, utilities, guests and repairs.

Full management. You keep the booking income, and Naras Property Management runs pricing, guests, cleaning and repairs. The fee is 15%, VAT-inclusive, worked out on booking revenue after cleaning costs and platform fees. That's the last row of the table above. There's no setup fee, and it runs month to month.

Guaranteed rent gives you a fixed figure. Full management leaves the income, and its ups and downs, with you. Which fits depends on your plans, and your accountant can tell you how each is taxed in your case.

Across our Hayes flats, occupancy was 94% from January to August 2026. Our homes held a 4.9 average guest rating as of September 2026. Past figures don't tell you what any other home will do. Here's how management fits into investing with us.