Airbnb Cleaning Fee UK: Strategies, Costs, & Best Practices

Key takeaways

• All UK hosts moved to Airbnb’s single 15.5% host-only fee by 22 June 2026, and that fee applies to your cleaning fee.
• Non-VAT-registered hosts lose about 18.6% of every cleaning fee once VAT on Airbnb’s fee is added.
• Guests see the total price, including cleaning, in search results by default, so a high cleaning fee makes your listing look more expensive before anyone clicks.
• Airbnb data suggests cleaning fees at 25–50% of the nightly rate are linked to the strongest annual revenue.
• You can set a lower “short-stay” cleaning fee for 1–2 night bookings directly in Airbnb.

The cleaning fee is a one-off charge that covers the cost of resetting your property between guests. It sits separately from the nightly rate.

In 2026, getting it right matters more than it used to. Airbnb now takes its full service fee from the host, guests see all-in prices from the first search, and UK cleaning wages rose again in April.

This guide covers what UK hosts charge, how Airbnb’s fee changes affect what you keep, and a step-by-step formula to set a fee that covers your costs without losing bookings.

What Is an Airbnb Cleaning Fee and How Does It Work in the UK?

An Airbnb cleaning fee is a one-time charge per booking, set by the host, that covers turnover cleaning, laundry and restocking. It applies once per reservation, whether the guest stays one night or two weeks.

A few points matter in 2026:

• Guests see it in the total price straight away. Since April 2025, Airbnb shows the total price including all fees in search results by default. There is no longer an optional toggle.
• You can charge less for short stays. In your listing’s pricing settings, Airbnb lets you add a separate short-stay cleaning fee for 1–2 night bookings that is lower than your standard fee.
• It is cost recovery, not profit. Guests judge the fee against the property’s cleanliness. A higher fee means higher expectations.

Cleaning Fee vs Other Charges

Charge	Who sets it	Who pays it (2026)	How often
Nightly rate	Host	Guest	Per night
Cleaning fee	Host	Guest	Once per booking
Airbnb service fee (15.5%)	Airbnb	Host, deducted from payout	Per booking, on nightly rate + cleaning fee
VAT on Airbnb’s fee (UK)	HMRC	Host	Per booking
Damage claims	Via AirCover for Hosts	Guest (if upheld)	Only when needed

 

The cleaning fee is not a security deposit. Damage and excessive mess beyond a normal turnover go through Airbnb’s Resolution Centre, not your cleaning fee.

How Much Is the Average Airbnb Cleaning Fee in the UK in 2026?

The average UK Airbnb cleaning fee is around £55, and 63.2% of UK listings charge one, according to AirROI’s 2026 analysis of 2.4 million active listings. Your own fee should depend on bedrooms, bathrooms, location and what the clean includes.

Typical UK cleaning fees by property size

Property size	Typical fee (regional UK)	Typical fee (central London)
Studio / 1 bed	£35–£55	£45–£70
2 bed	£50–£75	£65–£95
3 bed	£70–£95	£90–£125
4 bed	£90–£120	£115–£160
5+ bed	£120–£180+	£160–£240+

 

Indicative ranges for a standard turnover clean with a linen change. Bathrooms move the price as much as bedrooms: each extra bathroom adds roughly 20–30 minutes. 

What do Airbnb cleaners charge per hour in the UK?

Most professional short-let cleaners in the UK charge £15–£25 per hour outside London and £18–£30 in London. Rates can’t fall much lower for employed staff: the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over has been £12.71 per hour since 1 April 2026, and agencies add their overheads on top.

Many cleaning companies quote a flat fee per turnover instead. Expect extras for:

• Linen laundering or hire: roughly £8–£15 per set
• Same-day or rush turnovers: a surcharge is common
• Deep cleans: usually 30–50% more than a standard turnover

London vs the rest of the UK

London cleaning costs typically run 20–40% above regional cities because of higher wages, travel time and parking. Prime boroughs such as Westminster, Kensington and Camden sit at the top. Cities like Leeds, York, Manchester and Bristol sit in the middle. Coastal hotspots such as Brighton often match city pricing in peak season.

How Airbnb’s 15.5% Host Fee Affects Your Cleaning Fee

Since 22 June 2026, every UK host pays Airbnb’s single 15.5% service fee, and it is calculated on the booking subtotal, which includes your cleaning fee. If you are not VAT-registered, you also pay 20% VAT on that fee, so you effectively lose about 18.6% of your cleaning fee.

Worked example: a £60 cleaning fee

	Non-VAT-registered host	VAT-registered host
Cleaning fee charged	£60.00	£60.00
Airbnb fee (15.5%)	−£9.30	−£9.30
VAT on Airbnb’s fee (20%)	−£1.86	Reclaimable
You keep	£48.84	£50.70

 

The gross-up formula. To recover your real cleaning cost after Airbnb’s cut:

• Non-VAT-registered: cleaning cost ÷ 0.814
• VAT-registered: cleaning cost ÷ 0.845

So if your cleaner charges £60, you need a cleaning fee of about £74 (non-VAT) or £71 (VAT-registered) just to break even. Many hosts who set their fee before 2026 are now quietly losing money on every turnover.

How to Calculate Your Airbnb Cleaning Fee: A 5-Step Formula

Work out your true turnover cost, gross it up for Airbnb’s fee, then test the result against your nightly rate and typical stay length.

Step 1: Add up your true turnover cost. Include cleaner labour, laundry or linen hire, consumables (toilet roll, soap, dishwasher tablets, tea and coffee) and a small allowance toward periodic deep cleans.

Step 2: Gross it up for Airbnb’s fee. Divide by 0.814 (non-VAT) or 0.845 (VAT-registered).

Step 3: Check the ratio to your nightly rate. AirROI’s data links cleaning fees of 25–50% of the average nightly rate with the highest annual revenue. Fees above 100% of the nightly rate perform barely better than charging no fee at all.

Step 4: Test the per-night impact. A flat fee hits short stays hardest:

Stay length	Per-night impact of a £60 fee
1 night	£60.00
2 nights	£30.00
3 nights	£20.00
5 nights	£12.00
7 nights	£8.57

 

Step 5: Compare 10–15 local competitors. Check the total price for a 2-night and a 7-night stay, not just the cleaning fee. Guests compare totals now.

Worked example: 2-bed flat in Leeds (illustrative)

Cost item	Amount
Cleaner: 2.5 hrs × £18	£45
Linen and laundry (2 sets)	£18
Consumables	£6
True turnover cost	£69
Grossed up for Airbnb (non-VAT)	£85
Nightly rate	£110
Target range (25–50% of nightly rate)	£27.50–£55

 

The break-even fee (£85) is 77% of the nightly rate, well above the target range. A good fix is:

• Set the standard cleaning fee at £55
• Set a short-stay fee of £45 for 1–2 nights, or use a 2-night minimum
• Recover the remaining ~£30 through a slightly higher nightly rate, so the cost is spread across the stay

Should You Charge a Separate Cleaning Fee or Include It in the Nightly Rate?

Charge a separate fee if most of your bookings are 3+ nights. Build it into the nightly rate if you rely on 1–2 night bookings. Most UK hosts do best with a hybrid: a moderate fee plus a short-stay fee.

Approach	Works best for	Watch out for
Separate cleaning fee	Holiday lets with 4+ night stays	Makes 1–2 night totals look high
Built into nightly rate	City flats with lots of short stays	You undercharge on long stays
Hybrid (lower fee + short-stay fee)	Most UK serviced apartments	Needs reviewing each season

What Should an Airbnb Cleaning Fee Cover?

Your cleaning fee should cover everything needed to make the property guest-ready: the turnover clean, the linen change, and restocking the basics.

Task	Standard turnover	Deep clean (every 8–12 turnovers or quarterly)
Kitchen surfaces, hob, sink, appliance exteriors, bins	✓	✓
Bathroom disinfection, mirrors, floors	✓	✓
Fresh linen and towels on every bed	✓	✓
Hoovering, mopping, dusting, high-touch points	✓	✓
Restock toilet roll (2 per bathroom), soap, bin bags, tea/coffee	✓	✓
Oven interior, limescale, carpets, windows, skirting boards	—	✓

 

A studio or one-bed typically uses £5–£8 of consumables per turnover. Welcome packs and premium toiletries should be priced into either the fee or the nightly rate.

What Factors Affect Your Cleaning Costs?

• Bathrooms and layout: a 2-bed with two en-suites can cost more to clean than a 3-bed with one bathroom.
• Location: London and the South East cost the most. Rural Wales and Scotland usually cost less.
• Guest type: contractors and business travellers leave light turnovers, while families and groups need more time.
• Season: coastal sand in summer and mud in winter add time.
• Stay length: longer stays mean more laundry and sometimes a mid-stay refresh.
• Occupancy: at 80% occupancy with short stays you might run 50–60 turnovers a year. At £60 each, that’s £3,000–£3,600 in cleaning alone.

Is the Airbnb Cleaning Fee Refundable If a Guest Cancels?

It depends on when they cancel. If a guest cancels within the free cancellation period, the full cleaning fee is refunded. Outside that window, Airbnb treats the cleaning fee as part of the nightly price, so any refund follows your chosen cancellation policy. This rule applies to reservations booked from 21 April 2025. Source: Airbnb

The four standard policies for stays under 28 nights are Flexible, Moderate, Limited and Firm. You can compare each one’s refund windows on Airbnb’s cancellation policy page.

If a guest leaves the property needing work beyond a normal turnover (stains, smoke, deep carpet cleaning), request payment through the Resolution Centre. Damage protection is covered separately by AirCover, which provides up to US$3 million in damage protection.

How to Communicate Your Cleaning Fee to Guests

Explain what the fee pays for, keep checkout tasks light, and make sure the property looks worth it on arrival.

• Say what it covers in your listing: professional clean, fresh linen and towels, restocked essentials.
• Keep checkout requests reasonable. Asking guests to strip beds and run the dishwasher and charging a cleaning fee is a common source of complaints. Airbnb has pushed hosts to keep checkout tasks simple.
• Show it in your photos: crisp beds, clear surfaces, staged bathrooms.
• Respond fast to cleanliness issues. Sending the cleaner back the same day protects your rating far more than the fee itself.

Is the Airbnb Cleaning Fee Taxable in the UK?

Yes. The cleaning fee counts as part of your rental income, and your cleaning costs are an allowable expense.

• The Furnished Holiday Lettings regime ended on 6 April 2025 (1 April 2025 for companies), so holiday lets are now taxed as ordinary property income.
• Cleaning, laundry, consumables and Airbnb’s commission remain deductible running costs.
• Cleaning fees count toward your turnover for the VAT registration threshold (£90,000 at the time of writing). This matters for larger portfolios.

This is general information, not tax advice. Speak to an accountant about your situation.

Conclusion

The right Airbnb cleaning fee in the UK starts with your real turnover cost, grossed up for Airbnb’s 15.5% fee and VAT, then checked against your nightly rate and typical stay length. Review it at least twice a year and whenever cleaning costs or Airbnb’s rules change.

If you’d rather not manage turnovers, pricing and guest standards yourself, JF Property Partners’ Airbnb management team handles it end to end across the UK. Get a free estimate, email info@jfpropertypartners.com or call +44 7457 427143.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average Airbnb cleaning fee in the UK?

The average is around £55 per booking, and about 63% of UK listings charge one. Studios and one-beds usually sit at £35–£55, and homes with four or more bedrooms at £90–£180+.

Does Airbnb take a cut of the cleaning fee?

Yes. Since June 2026, all UK hosts pay a 15.5% service fee on the booking subtotal, which includes the cleaning fee. Non-VAT-registered hosts also pay 20% VAT on that fee, so they keep about 81.4% of the cleaning fee.

Can I charge a lower cleaning fee for 1–2 night stays?

Yes. Airbnb lets you set a short-stay cleaning fee for 1–2 night bookings that is lower than your standard fee. It’s the simplest way to stay competitive for weekend and contractor bookings.

How do I calculate a fair cleaning fee?

Add up cleaner labour, laundry and consumables, then divide by 0.814 (or 0.845 if you’re VAT-registered) to cover Airbnb’s fee. Aim for a result around 25–50% of your nightly rate, and recover any gap through the nightly rate.

Should the cleaning fee be separate or included in the nightly rate?

A separate fee suits properties with mostly longer stays. Including it in the nightly rate suits properties with many 1–2 night bookings. Many UK hosts use a moderate separate fee plus a short-stay fee.

Do guests see the cleaning fee before booking?

Yes. Airbnb shows the total price, including the cleaning fee, in search results by default, and the fee appears as its own line on the price breakdown.

What do professional cleaners charge per hour for holiday let changeovers?

Typically £15–£25 per hour outside London and £18–£30 in London in 2026. Many companies quote a flat fee per turnover instead, with extras for linen, same-day cleans and deep cleans.

Is the cleaning fee refundable if the guest cancels?

In full, if they cancel during the free cancellation period. After that, the refund follows your cancellation policy, because Airbnb treats the cleaning fee as part of the nightly price for bookings made since 21 April 2025.

Can guests refuse to pay the cleaning fee if they clean themselves?

No. Once you set a cleaning fee, it’s added to every booking automatically. Guests can’t opt out by offering to clean.

How can I find reliable short-let cleaners in the UK?

Look for local cleaning companies that specialise in holiday-let turnovers, ask local host groups for recommendations, and run a paid trial clean first. A monthly retainer can secure reliable cover during peak season.