Airbnb Cleaning Fees in the UK: What to Charge and What to Pay
The figures in the worked example are made up.
What to charge guests as a cleaning fee, what a changeover cleaner costs in London and the UK, and how Airbnb shows the fee to guests.
- Category
- Short Lets
- Who it is for
- Airbnb and short-let hosts in the UK
- Time to set up
- An hour to cost one changeover and reset the fee
- Saves or earns
- About £2,000 a year on a London one bed
01The Problem
There are two numbers here, and hosts often mix them up. One is the cleaning fee you charge guests. The other is what you pay a cleaner for each changeover. They don't have to match, but you need to know both.
What hosts charge guests. About 63 per cent of UK Airbnb listings charge a cleaning fee, and the average is about £55, on AirROI's 2026 figures.
What hosts pay cleaners. In London, a changeover usually costs about £50 to £80 for a studio or one bed, £70 to £100 for a two bed and £95 to £180 for a three bed, depending on how much is included. Outside London, a one bed is often about £35 to £60. Weekend and same-day jobs often cost 10 to 25 per cent more. Linen is usually extra.
As one example, Artemis charges £75 for a studio or one-bed changeover, £80 for a two bed, £95 for a three bed with one bathroom, £108 for a three bed with two bathrooms and £122 for a four bed. The prices come from the time the job takes at £30 an hour. Washing and drying a load is £15, the inside of the oven £35, the fridge £20 and inside windows £25. Linen sent to an outside laundry is not included.
Two Airbnb rules change how the fee works:
Guests See the Total
Since April 2025, Airbnb shows guests the total price for their dates in search, with the cleaning fee and other fees included. UK law has also banned drip pricing since April 2025: a fee every guest must pay has to be in the price they first see. A low nightly rate with a high cleaning fee no longer looks cheap in search.
Airbnb Takes Its Cut from the Cleaning Fee Too
Most hosts are now on Airbnb's single fee of about 15.5 per cent, taken from your payout. It is worked out on the booking subtotal, which is the nightly price plus any fees you charge, including cleaning. If you are not VAT registered, the VAT on that fee takes the real cost to about 18.6 per cent. Some hosts are still on the old split fee of about 3 per cent for the host, with the guest paying their own service fee. Check which one your account is on.
02The Cost
Most hosts set the cleaning fee by copying a nearby listing, then never look at it again. That goes wrong in two ways. Set it too low and every short stay costs you money. Set it too high and one and two-night stays look dear in search and stop booking.
Start with what one changeover really costs. For a London one bed: £75 for the clean, about £12 for a laundered bed set and towels, and about £5 for toilet roll, tea, coffee and soap. That is £92 a stay.
Take a whole one-bed flat in London. The 90-night rule means it can only be let for short stays for 90 nights a year without planning permission. The host charges £140 a night, a £30 cleaning fee and takes one-night stays. Stays average two nights, so the 90 nights mean 45 changeovers.
Takings
90 nights at £140 is £12,600, plus 45 cleaning fees at £30, £1,350. That is £13,950.
Airbnb Fee
At 15.5 per cent, about £2,162, leaving £11,788.
Changeovers
45 at £92 is £4,140.
Left Over
About £7,648.
The £30 fee covers less than a third of each changeover. And because the flat can only be let for 90 nights, every extra changeover is a cost with no extra night sold to pay for it.
03The Fix
Cost One Changeover First
Add the cleaner's price, laundry, consumables and any extras you always need, such as the oven every fourth stay. That is your real cost per stay. Ask your cleaner for a fixed price per changeover by size, and for the hours behind it, so you know the clean is not being rushed.
Set the Fee to Cover Most of That Cost
A fee close to your real cost per stay means short stays pay for themselves and long stays look good value per night. Remember that Airbnb takes its fee from the cleaning fee as well, so a £92 cost needs a fee of about £109 to be fully covered. Most hosts set the fee a little under their full cost and carry the rest in the nightly price.
Use Airbnb's Lower Fee for Short Stays
Airbnb lets you set a separate, lower cleaning fee for stays of one or two nights. Use it for gap nights and for dates less than a week away, when a short stay is better than an empty night. Pair it with a minimum stay that changes with how far ahead people book.
Check the Total, Not the Fee
Guests compare the total for their dates. Search your own area for your typical stay length and compare the total, fees included. If a higher cleaning fee pushes your three-night total above similar flats, take a little off the nightly price.
Price Linen Properly
A commercial laundry or linen hire usually costs about £8 to £15 per bed set, plus towels. Washing at the flat is cheaper per load but adds time, and linen dried in a rush and put away damp gets complaints. Keep three sets per bed: one on, one at the laundry, one spare. Agree in writing who collects and delivers, and what happens when a bag is late.
Pay for the Hours the Job Takes
A one-bed changeover usually takes about two to two and a half hours, a two bed about three. London cleaners usually charge about £20 to £30 an hour, and the National Living Wage has been £12.71 an hour since April 2026. A price that works out far below that usually means a rushed clean, and cleanliness is the review score that slips first.
Agree the Extras Before the First Job
Oven, fridge, inside windows, a load of washing, restocking, and what you pay when a guest leaves the flat in a bad state. If a guest leaves real damage or an unusual mess, the cleaner's photos and invoice are what you need for a claim to Airbnb within 14 days of checkout.
Look at the Fee Every Three Months
Cleaners' prices go up, laundry goes up, and the platform fee can change. Re-cost one changeover each quarter and reset the fee.
04The Result
Before
£140 a night, a £30 cleaning fee and one-night stays: 45 changeovers and about £7,648 left over
After
£135 a night, an £85 cleaning fee, a lower short-stay fee for gaps and a two-night minimum at weekends: 30 changeovers and about £9,660 left over
Cost
An hour to cost one changeover and reset the fee, and £5 a night off the nightly price
Better Off
About £2,000 a year on one London one bed
The sums: after the change, 90 nights at £135 is £12,150, plus 30 cleaning fees at £85, £2,550. That is £14,700. Airbnb's 15.5 per cent is about £2,279, leaving £12,422. Thirty changeovers at £92 is £2,760, leaving about £9,660. That is about £2,010 more than before, mostly from 15 fewer changeovers. A three-night stay costs the guest £490 in total, against £450 before. Outside London, with no 90-night limit, the same sums apply per stay: work out your cost per changeover and make sure every length of stay covers it.
The Lessons
- The fee you charge guests and the price you pay your cleaner are two different numbers. Know both.
- Guests see the total price in search, so a high cleaning fee makes short stays look dear.
- Airbnb takes its fee from the cleaning fee as well as the nightly price.
- Set the fee from your real cost per changeover, and use the lower short-stay fee to fill gaps.
- Pay for the hours a clean takes and agree the extras in writing.
Need a Hand With Your Properties?
End of tenancy cleans, short-let turnovers and custom packages.