Holiday Let Commission Rates UK 2026, Compared

You priced your pod at £120 a night, but the payout never quite matches. Holiday let commission rates in the UK mostly fall between 15% and 25% of each booking. Airbnb takes 15.5%, Booking.com is commonly quoted at 15%, and letting agencies charge 15% to 25%, often plus VAT.

Canopy & Stars and CoolStays work differently again, and a booking on your own website costs you only card fees. Below you’ll find each channel side by side, a worked example, and the extra costs that rarely make it onto a fee page.

Holiday let commission rates at a glance

Listing sites and agencies take roughly 15% to 24% of a booking, while your own website takes about 2%. The table puts them side by side.

Rates are set in each platform’s own agreement, so your figure can differ from the headline number. Always check the paperwork before you sign.

What each listing site charges

Listing sites charge either a percentage of each booking or a flat subscription. Which is cheaper depends on how many nights you fill.

Canopy & Stars

Canopy & Stars doesn’t publish a standard commission rate, so ask for your figure when you apply. It’s selective about which sites it lists, and it’s a well-known UK name for glamping, so many owners think the conversation is worth having. Ask for the rate in writing, and ask what it’s charged on, such as extras and cleaning fees.

Airbnb

Airbnb’s host-only model charges hosts a single service fee of 15.5%, taken from your payout. It’s generally worked out on the booking subtotal, which includes extras such as a cleaning fee. Check your own host account for the exact fee and how VAT is treated, as terms can vary by listing.

Booking.com

Booking.com’s headline commission for UK properties is commonly quoted at 15%, set in your agreement. Programmes you opt into change the real cost. Genius discounts come out of your rate, and the Preferred Partner programme can add a few percentage points to the commission.

CoolStays

CoolStays charges owners a subscription, billed annually, quarterly or monthly, across Silver, Gold and Platinum tiers. Its owner page says owners pay a subscription and no commission. Prices aren’t published, so you contact them for the current figure, and it’s worth asking what each tier adds, such as search placement.

What letting agencies charge

Letting agencies for holiday cottages typically charge 15% to 25% of each booking, according to Group Accommodation, and many don’t show their rates on their websites.

Classic Cottages publishes a 20% commission. It also charges a cancellation guarantee fee, set per booking and by the size of the property, which pays you the full booking amount if a guest cancels. Sykes Cottages doesn’t publish its owner rate, so you’ll need a quote. Coast & Country says its commission is tiered by how much personal use of the property you want.

The VAT is the part owners miss. If an agency quotes 20% plus VAT, that is 24% of the booking, so compare agencies on the all-in figure. Whether you can reclaim that VAT depends on your own VAT position, so ask an accountant.

A £120 a night pod, worked through

On a three night stay at £120 a night, the booking is worth £360. Here is what you keep after each channel.

The direct figure assumes a card fee of about 2%. Your payment provider’s rate may be a little lower or higher.

The same £360 stay can leave you with £274 or £353, depending only on where the guest clicked "book".

On most channels commission is worked out on the whole booking, so a cleaning fee adds to what you pay. The figures above leave cleaning out to keep the sums simple.

The costs that sit on top of commission

Commission is the visible cost. A few others reduce what you keep, and they rarely appear on a fee page.

• VAT on agency commission. Some agencies quote their rate plus VAT.
• Booking.com programmes. Genius discounts and Preferred Partner both lower what you keep per booking.
• Cancellation guarantee fees. Classic Cottages lists one separately from its commission.
• Subscriptions. Flat yearly fees apply whether or not a booking arrives.
• Card processing. Direct bookings aren’t free, but the cost is small.
• Calendars that don’t match. If a listing and your calendar fall out of step, a double booking costs you a refund and a guest.

What a mixed year looks like

Shifting even a third of your nights to direct bookings cuts your commission bill by roughly a quarter. Take a pod booked for 100 nights a year at £120, so £12,000 in total.

That mixed year saves £474 against the first row, using the same 2% card fee as above. Scale it to three pods and it’s well over £1,000.

The same effect shows up in real sites. Millie the Hut, a shepherd’s hut near Presteigne, had 42 direct bookings in its first year on a site we built, saving its owners over £3,000 in commission.

Why guests still look for you directly

A listing brings the guest to you, but it doesn’t stop them searching for you afterwards. Some guests will look for the owner’s own website after finding a place on a listing site. They may hope for a better deal, or want to book with the owner.

If your own site doesn’t show up, or it’s slow on a phone, that booking goes back to the listing and you pay the commission anyway. A listing and a good website work best together. The listing gives you reach, and the website catches the guests who go looking.

Bringing your commission bill down

You don’t need to leave your listings to pay less commission. A few small steps shift the balance.

If you run a cottage or lodge rather than a pod, our page on holiday let website design covers how a direct booking site fits alongside agencies. You can also read how we work if you’d like to see the process before you get in touch.

Fees and terms accurate as of October 2026.

FAQs

What is the average commission on a UK holiday let?

Letting agencies usually charge between 15% and 25% of each booking, and some add VAT on top. The big listing sites sit at the lower end of that range, with Airbnb at 15.5% and Booking.com commonly quoted at 15%. Subscription sites such as CoolStays work differently, and a booking made through your own website carries only card payment fees.

Is Airbnb or Booking.com cheaper for hosts?

On headline rates they are close. Airbnb charges hosts a single fee of 15.5%, and Booking.com is commonly quoted at 15%. The gap is half a point, which is about £1.80 on a £360 stay. Discounts you opt into, such as Genius on Booking.com, can matter more than the headline rate, so compare what you actually receive.

Does VAT apply to holiday let commission?

Some letting agents quote their commission plus VAT, so check whether a rate includes it. Where VAT is added, a 20% commission becomes 24% of the booking. Classic Cottages lists 20% commission, but its page doesn’t say how VAT applies to UK owners, so ask. Whether you can reclaim VAT depends on whether you are VAT registered, so ask your accountant before you sign an agency agreement.

How can I avoid paying commission on bookings?

Take bookings through your own website. You pay no commission, only card processing fees, which are usually a percent or two plus a small fixed amount. Many owners keep a listing for reach and encourage repeat guests to book direct, because some guests search for the owner’s own site after finding a place on a listing.

Does Canopy & Stars charge commission?

Canopy & Stars doesn’t publish a standard commission rate, so ask for your figure when you apply. It is selective about who it lists and is a well-known UK name for glamping, so many owners find it worth the conversation. Ask for the rate in writing and what it is charged on.

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