Holiday home and Airbnb management in East Sussex.
Hand us the keys and we’ll run the whole thing. We set your listing up, photograph it, price it, talk to your guests, manage the bookings, clean between every stay and keep on top of the maintenance — while you keep full sight of everything and use your own property whenever you like.
What full management actually means
Full holiday-home management means you do nothing and still own everything. You give us access to the property; we do the rest and you keep the income, the control and the visibility. In practice, our management service in Eastbourne and East Sussex covers:
Listing setup on Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and Google Holiday Rentals — written, built and published for you
Photography — we shoot the property ourselves
Rate research — we check what genuinely comparable properties nearby are charging, and keep checking
Guest communication — every enquiry, every message, every question, before during and after the stay
Booking management — the calendar across every platform you’re listed on
Changeover cleaning between every guest, seven days a week, including same-day turnarounds
Laundry and linen, welcome packs and printed guest information packs
Maintenance oversight — we spot it, we tell you, and with your say-so we sort it
Hot tub, pool, garden and window upkeep scheduled around your bookings rather than through the middle of a stay
A 24/7 helpline for your guests, answered by Liz or Rhys
We don’t charge to set any of this up. Not the listing, not the photography. We never have and we never will — the better your listing performs, the better it is for both of us.
What it costs, and what “12%” really costs
We charge [X]% of your booking revenue. There is no VAT on top, no setup fee, no photography fee and no monthly account fee. That is the whole number. Here is why the headline percentage is the wrong thing to compare, using rates the companies themselves publish — on £20,000 of annual booking revenue:
We are not the lowest headline percentage you will find, and we’re not going to pretend otherwise — you can find “from 5%” advertised in this town, though you will struggle to find out what it includes. What we will tell you is exactly what our number is and exactly what is inside it, before you commit to anything.
For reference, full holiday-let management in the UK typically runs 15–20%, and most quotes have VAT and setup fees on top of that.
What to ask any management company before you sign
Ask us these too. We’ve put them here because the answers are how you tell operators apart, and most of these questions do not get asked until it’s too late.
Is that percentage plus VAT, or is it the final number?
Is there a setup fee, an onboarding fee or a photography fee?
Is there a monthly account or software fee on top of the commission?
What is the minimum contract, and what is the notice period to leave?
How many weeks a year can I use my own property?
Do you mark up cleaning, linen or maintenance, or is it charged at cost?
Can I see my own listing, my rates and my guest messages?
Who actually cleans it — and is it the same team each time?
Our answers: the number is final and there’s no VAT · no fees of any kind to set up · no monthly fee · no lock-in · use it as much as you want · cleaning is at our fixed changeover rate with no hidden markup · yes, full access · and it’s our own trained team, working to a written brief we wrote at your property.
You keep full sight of everything
This is the part owners tell us they weren’t expecting.
Most of our owners have full access to their own Airbnb listing. Every rate we set. Every message we send a guest and every message they send back. Every enquiry that comes in and what happened to it. How quickly we replied. What we sold each night for.
Crystal clear, complete transparency. It’s your property and your income — you should be able to look at it whenever you want, without asking us for a report and waiting.
It’s still your holiday home
Block out as many of your own dates as you like. We don’t limit you, ever.
Agents will. It’s common to be told you can have eight weeks a year, because every week you’re in it is a week they aren’t earning from it. We think that’s the wrong way round. You bought it. If you want it for half of August, have it for half of August — just tell us and we’ll close the calendar.
If you’re trying to sell the property as well: we manage several properties that are on the market at the same time, and we’ve built a way of handling it. We can hold three months of availability closed when an offer looks like it’s going through, so you’re not taking bookings you’d have to cancel. If the sale falls through, we reopen the calendar and you keep earning. If it completes, you’ve had income right up to the day you handed the keys over.
One of the houses we look after near Catsfield came to us exactly this way — three years on the market, a nine-month sale that collapsed just before completion. It’s earning now while it waits.
What we will and won’t tell you about income
We never promise occupancy, and we never will.
We work towards around 60% occupancy. That is a goal, not a guarantee, and we’d rather say that in writing now than have you feel misled in eighteen months. Anyone who guarantees you an occupancy rate or an income figure is guessing, and they’re guessing with your money.
For context: across Eastbourne, the average Airbnb occupancy over the twelve months to June 2026 was around 38%, from roughly 278 active listings — and active supply actually contracted while nightly rates rose. So 60% is a genuinely ambitious target rather than a soft one, and it’s the number we manage towards rather than the number we promise.
Your first year will usually be slower. Bookings follow reviews, and reviews take a season to build. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something.
The number that actually matters: 70 nights. In England, a holiday let is assessed for business rates rather than council tax where, in the previous 12 months, it was available to let commercially for at least 140 nights and actually let for at least 70 nights — and you intend to make it available for at least 140 nights in the coming year. Miss the 70-night test and it stays on council tax, where many councils now charge a second-homes premium on top.
We can’t promise you occupancy. But 70 let nights is the number that moves your property from one column to the other, and it’s the number we’re managing towards from the first booking. Whether business rates actually leave you better off depends on your property’s rateable value and whether small business rate relief applies, so check that with your accountant.
The rules, honestly
Owners ask us about this constantly and there is a lot of confidently-worded nonsense online. Here is where things genuinely stand.
The 90-day rule does not apply to your property in Eastbourne. The 90-night cap comes from the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973, relaxed by the Deregulation Act 2015, and it applies to the 32 London boroughs and the City of London only. It does not apply anywhere else in England. We meet East Sussex owners who have been limiting their own lettings for years because they believed it did.
You do not currently need planning permission to let your Eastbourne property short-term. A new planning use class for short-term lets — C5 — has been consulted on but has not been enacted, and no statutory instrument has been laid. The intention is that existing short-term lets would be reclassified automatically rather than having to apply. This is the change worth watching, because unlike registration it would be a genuine constraint rather than paperwork.
The national registration scheme: not yet settled. A registration scheme for short-term lets in England has been legislated for under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, and government has indicated a go-live target of April 2026. As at the review date below, the detail — the portal, the fee, the enforcement — had not been finalised, and you will find a great deal of confident but contradictory information about it online. We track this for every property we manage, and if registration becomes a requirement we’ll handle it for you. If you want to check the position yourself, GOV.UK is the only source worth trusting.
Tax changed in April 2025. The Furnished Holiday Lettings regime was abolished and holiday lets are now taxed as ordinary property businesses, which affects mortgage interest relief and capital allowances among other things. We are cleaners and property managers, not tax advisers — please speak to your accountant about what it means for you.
Safety obligations that do apply to you now. Since October 2023 a written, recorded fire risk assessment is required for short-term lets in England regardless of property size. If there’s gas, you need an annual Gas Safety Certificate from a Gas Safe registered engineer. You’ll want specialist holiday-let insurance with public liability — standard residential cover generally won’t respond to a paying guest. We keep the fire safety information in the printed guest pack we write for you, and we’ll flag anything we notice on a changeover.
This section is reviewed every six months. The review date is at the foot of this page.
How we get a new property live
Week one — we come and look
We walk round with you, take the photographs, and work out what the property actually is: who it suits, what’s special about it, what needs sorting before a paying guest sees it.
Week one to two — we build the listing
Written, photographed, published across the platforms that suit your property. We research what genuinely comparable properties nearby are getting and price accordingly. No charge for any of this.
First three cleans — one of us is there
Liz or Rhys attends in person. We write your property’s brief and photograph how every room should look finished. That brief is what our team works to from then on, and why the fortieth clean looks like the first.
Then it runs
Guests message us, not you. We handle the calendar, the pricing, the changeovers, the linen and the maintenance. You get photographs after every clean, and you can look at your own listing whenever you want.
Self-managing, an agency, or us
“I used Liz and Rhys to manage my caravan Airbnb bookings and it was a brilliant experience. They took care of everything, always with a friendly tone and touch. They offer an excellent one stop shop for this situation, and I highly recommend.”
Would you rather hear it from an owner?
We’ll put you in touch with someone we already work for. We do this for most new owners — it’s more use to you than anything we could write about ourselves.
Frequently asked questions
How much do holiday let management companies charge in the UK?
Full management in the UK typically runs 15–20% of booking revenue, and most quotes have VAT and often a setup fee on top. Published rates range from around 12% to 25%. JJ Cleaning charges [X]% with no VAT, no setup fee, no photography fee and no monthly fee.
How much do I pay someone to manage my Airbnb?
It depends on whether it’s full or part management. Part management — listing, pricing and guest messages only — generally runs 10–15%. Full management including cleaning and property care generally runs 18% and up once VAT is added. Our [X]% is a full-management rate with nothing added afterwards.
What is the 90 day rule for Airbnb in the UK?
The 90-day rule limits short-term letting of a residential property to 90 nights a year without planning permission — but it applies only in Greater London. It does not apply in Eastbourne, East Sussex, or anywhere else in England.
Do I need council permission to run a holiday let in Eastbourne?
Not at present. A new short-term-let planning use class (C5) has been proposed but has not been brought into law, and no local licensing scheme applies in Eastbourne as at the review date on this page. We track this and will tell you if it changes.
Can I use my own property if you’re managing it?
Yes, as much as you want. We don’t cap owner use. Block out whatever dates you like and we’ll close the calendar.
Will you guarantee my occupancy or income?
No, and you should be wary of anyone who does. We work towards around 60% occupancy as a goal. For context the Eastbourne market average is around 38%. Your first year is usually slower while reviews build.
Do you charge to set up the listing or take photographs?
No. We never have and we never will. We take the photographs ourselves and build the listing free of charge.
Am I tied into a contract?
No. There’s no lock-in and no minimum term.
Who cleans the property?
Our own trained team, working to a written brief we created at your property during the first three cleans, which Liz or Rhys attended in person. Every clean is photographed.
What if something breaks while a guest is there?
You or your guest gets hold of us — that’s what the 24/7 number is for. We’ll deal with it and tell you what we’ve done. For anything beyond a quick fix we’ll get your say-so on cost first.
Hand us the keys.
Tell us about the property — or send us the listing link if it’s already live — and we’ll come back with a straight answer on what we’d charge and what we think it could do.