Every number behind our fees, worked through in pounds: what you'd pay at each tier, what VAT does to the headline rate, and the costs that sit outside our fee.
Airbnb management fees in Edinburgh: one month, worked through
Fees are easier to judge with real numbers in front of you. Here is the month the calculator above starts with, set out line by line for each tier.
Guests paid £4,000 after platform fees. The cleaning charge was £500 (ex VAT) and the Visitor Levy collected was £150. Both come off first, because neither is income from your home. That leaves £3,350 of net booking revenue, and our percentage is worked out on that figure only.
| Rate | Fee before VAT | VAT at 20% | Fee including VAT | Yours, before running costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New owner rate, 10% + VAT | £335.00 | £67.00 | £402.00 | £2,948.00 |
| 12% + VAT (10 to 19 homes) | £402.00 | £80.40 | £482.40 | £2,867.60 |
| 13.5% + VAT (5 to 9 homes) | £452.25 | £90.45 | £542.70 | £2,807.30 |
| 15% + VAT (1 to 4 homes) | £502.50 | £100.50 | £603.00 | £2,747.00 |
An illustration, not a forecast. A quiet February month and a full August month will look very different, which is why the Edinburgh income calculator shows a range for a whole year rather than one number.
Why the order of deductions matters
Some managers take their percentage from the full amount guests paid, including the cleaning charge. On the month above, that would mean paying a fee on £500 of cleaning money that was never yours to keep. We take cleaning and the levy off first, then work out our fee. If you're comparing quotes, ask each manager which figure their percentage is taken from. Our guide Is your short-let manager working for you? has the other questions worth asking.
15% + VAT is 18% including VAT: reading our fee honestly
We publish our rates as a percentage plus VAT, because that is how the invoice works. But it is worth being plain about what that means for most owners. Fifteen per cent plus VAT at 20% is 18% of net booking revenue once VAT is added. On the worked month above, that is the difference between £502.50 and £603.
If you're not VAT-registered, the figure that leaves your account is the one including VAT, so 18% is the number to plan with. If you are VAT-registered, how VAT works for you is a question for your accountant. Our free guide to short-let tax after April 2025 is a good starting point for that conversation.
The same sum at every tier
- 15% + VAT is 18% including VAT
- 13.5% + VAT is 16.2% including VAT
- 12% + VAT is 14.4% including VAT
- The new owner rate of 10% + VAT is 12% including VAT
Comparing Edinburgh managers fairly
Edinburgh managers typically charge somewhere between 12% and 20% of booking revenue, and some add VAT on top. Two quotes with the same headline number can cost very different amounts. To compare like with like, check three things for each one:
- Is VAT added to the percentage, or already in it?
- Is the percentage taken from the gross booking, or after platform fees, cleaning and the levy?
- What sits outside the fee: photography, linen, restocking, licence renewals, noise monitoring, call-outs?
Once you've answered those, the cheapest quote is often not the one with the lowest number. Our page on switching short-let manager covers what to ask your current manager for, if you're weighing up a move.
How the new owner rate works for your first four months
Owners who sign a one-year management agreement by 31 December 2026 pay 10% + VAT for their first four months. It applies on every tier, whether you have one flat in Marchmont or twenty homes across the city. After the four months, your normal tier rate applies. The service doesn't change at any point: same team, same cleaning, same statement.
What it means in pounds
On the worked month above, with £3,350 of net booking revenue, the new owner rate costs £402 including VAT instead of £603 at the 1 to 4 homes rate. That is £201 more for you in that month. Over four months the difference depends on what the home earns, and it is larger if your first months include busy dates such as the Six Nations weekends at Murrayfield.
Things owners ask about it
- When do the four months start? Your agreement sets out the dates. Ask us on a call if you'd like them explained before you sign.
- Does the onboarding fee change? No. The onboarding fee is separate and one-off, from £400 + VAT.
- What if my licence isn't in place yet? Every short let in Scotland needs one before guests arrive. Your plan sets out the route and how long it usually takes, and our licence costs page lists every fee.
- Is it a trial? No, it's a one-year agreement. If you'd rather understand everything before committing, start with a free plan for your home or a short call.
There's no need to rush a decision to fit a date. A short let that starts well, with the right licence and the home properly ready, earns more over a year than one launched before it's ready.
Onboarding fee: what £400 to £600 + VAT pays for
The onboarding fee covers the work of turning your home into a listing that earns, before the first guest arrives. It is one-off, based on the size of the home, and there are discounts when you bring several homes at once.
What happens during onboarding
- A visit and a compliance check. We look at the home against the licence conditions and our own standards: alarms, certificates, fire safety, and the things guests will notice. The licence requirements checklist shows the full list.
- Professional photography. Included. Good photos are the first thing a guest judges a listing on, so we don't leave them to a phone camera.
- Listings written and set up on Airbnb, Booking.com and our other channels, with your licence number and EPC rating shown, as every advert must.
- Pricing connected. Every night priced on its own and checked by a person, from the Fringe, rugby weekends and Hogmanay to quiet Tuesdays in February.
- Calendars synced, so a booking on one channel closes the dates on the others.
- A Minut noise sensor, included. It measures sound levels only, never recordings.
- The home's first clean, so it is ready for its first guests.
What isn't in the onboarding fee
Licence support is quoted in your plan, and the council's own licence fee is paid separately. Any missing certificates, such as an EICR or a gas safety certificate, are paid to the contractor. Furnishing, linen and anything the home needs to reach the standard are agreed with you before anything is bought. Your free plan lists each of these for your home, so the first month holds no surprises.
Homes with seven bedrooms or more are quoted individually, because a large group house in East Lothian takes more setting up than a one-bedroom flat off the Royal Mile.
Running costs of a short let in Edinburgh: what stays with you
Our fee is one part of what a short let costs. The rest are costs you have whoever manages the home, and it helps to see them all in one place before you decide.
Costs guests usually cover
- Cleaning. Guests pay a cleaning fee on most bookings. It covers the clean, fresh linen and restocking after each stay.
- The Visitor Levy. 5% of the accommodation price for the first five nights, on stays in the City of Edinburgh from 24 July 2026. It's the guest's money, collected for the council. It doesn't apply in Musselburgh or North Berwick, which are in East Lothian. Our Visitor Levy guide explains the returns.
Costs that stay with you
- Energy, water, broadband and a TV licence where needed
- Insurance that covers short lets, plus public liability cover
- Council tax or business rates, depending on the home. Our page on council tax or business rates explains which applies, and the council tax premium article covers the change for second homes from 1 January 2027
- The licence, its renewal (usually every three years) and the safety certificates behind it. See licence renewal
- Repairs and replacements, passed on at cost, with anything larger agreed with you first
Where owners get caught out
The most common surprise isn't a fee at all. It's the safety work a licence needs: interlinked smoke and heat alarms, a fire risk assessment, an EICR and, in older tenement flats, the time it takes to get trades up the stair. The second is a mortgage lender or the title deeds that need consent for short letting. Both are cheaper to find out about before you furnish the flat than after. The tenement flat guide covers the stair, the neighbours and the paperwork in detail.
Checking every number on your monthly owner statement
Publishing our fees only helps if you can check them afterwards. Every month you get one statement, and every number on this page appears on it in the same order: what guests paid, what came off, what we charged and what's yours.
What each statement shows
- Every booking, with its dates and the amount
- Platform fees, cleaning and the Visitor Levy, each on its own line
- Net booking revenue, our percentage and the VAT on it
- Any repairs or supplies, at cost, with the larger ones you agreed beforehand
- What is paid to you
Your owner login shows the calendar and statements any time, so you don't have to wait for the month end to see how the home is doing. You can block your own dates there too, and we let the home around them.
A quick self-check
- Add up the bookings and compare them with the calendar for the month.
- Take off cleaning and the levy, and check the net figure.
- Multiply by your rate, then add 20% VAT. It should match our fee to the penny.
If anything looks wrong, ask your named person, or email our team with the line you'd like explained. We'd much rather you asked than wondered.
A word on referrals
If you introduce an owner who signs with us, we pay you 3% of their home's net booking revenue. It's set out on the owners page.
When you're ready to see these numbers for your own home, book a short call or read more reviews from owners first.
Want to see the fee in the context of a whole year? Read how much does an Airbnb earn in Edinburgh?
Book a 15-minute call with one of the co-founders, or get a free plan for your home: what it could earn, the licence route and every cost.
