22.5%. Or 18%. Or 15% plus cleaning, plus linen, plus a photography fee, plus a listing setup charge, plus a per-booking commission on top.

That last one is a real example. The owner thought they were paying 15%. By year-end, the effective rate was closer to 30%.

Choosing a short-let management company is one of the few decisions a London property owner makes that directly determines whether their asset earns £25,000 a year or £50,000. Most owners make this decision based on a single phone call and a PDF proposal. They don't know what questions to ask because nobody has told them what to look for.

This guide does.

Fee Structure

Start here because this is where most operators obscure the real cost.

Three models exist in the London market. Percentage-of-revenue (the most common) takes a fixed percentage of gross rental income. Flat fee charges a monthly amount regardless of occupancy. Hybrid models combine a lower percentage with per-booking or per-turnover charges.

Percentage-of-revenue is the cleanest for owners because the management company only earns when you earn. But the headline percentage is meaningless without knowing what it includes. The questions to ask:

Does the fee cover cleaning between guests? Linen laundering and replacement? Professional photography? Listing creation and management across platforms? Guest vetting and ID verification? Daily housekeeping on longer stays? Gas, electrical, and fire safety certifications? Planning permission applications?

If any of those sit outside the fee, ask for a worked example showing total annual cost as a percentage of gross income. Some operators advertise 18% but the all-in cost lands above 28% once the extras are added. Others charge 22-23% and include everything. The second is cheaper.

Get the fee schedule in writing before signing anything.

Regulatory Knowledge

This is the fastest way to separate serious operators from platforms wearing a management company's clothes.

Ask three questions. First: how do you track nights against the 90-day rule? The answer should describe a system, not a person. Cumulative night tracking across all platforms, automated alerts as the property approaches the cap, and a defined process for switching to medium-term lets when the 90 nights are used.

Second: do you handle planning permission applications? A company operating in Prime Central London should have a clear position on this, because planning permission is the mechanism that removes the 90-night cap entirely. Some operators apply on every property from day one (at their own cost). Others leave it to the owner. The difference in long-term income is substantial.

Third: what happens when the national registration scheme launches? The scheme (expected 2026) will require every short-let property to carry a registration number displayed on all listings. A credible operator will already be preparing for this. If the answer is vague or surprised, that tells you something.

Safety certifications (gas safety, EICR, fire risk assessment, EPC) should be managed within the service. If the company expects you to source your own certificates, they are a listing platform, not a management company.

Pricing and Distribution

Two questions cut through the noise here.

Do they use dynamic pricing? Static pricing (one rate, all year) leaves 15-25% of potential revenue on the table. London demand fluctuates week to week based on events, school holidays, corporate travel cycles, and day of week. A management company should be adjusting rates daily using tools like PriceLabs, Beyond Pricing, or a proprietary model. Ask to see how the rate for your property would change between a Tuesday in February and a Saturday during Wimbledon week. If the answer is the same number, walk away.

Which platforms do they list on? Airbnb alone captures a fraction of London's short-let demand. Booking.com, Plum Guide, corporate relocation portals, direct booking channels, and mid-term platforms like SpareRoom and Rightmove all serve different guest segments. Multi-platform distribution is not a nice-to-have. It is the primary mechanism for achieving 75%+ occupancy. Ask how many active booking channels the company uses and what percentage of revenue comes from each.

Guest screening is worth asking about separately. At minimum, the company should verify government ID on every booking and run basic vetting. For higher-value properties, look for operators who use services like Superhog or Autohost for automated risk scoring.

Communication and Reporting

The management company will be making decisions about your property every day. The question is whether you see the results monthly or discover problems quarterly.

The standard you should expect: a monthly income statement itemising every booking (dates, rate, platform, guest type), fees deducted, and the net transfer. An occupancy dashboard showing performance against benchmark. A maintenance log documenting any work carried out. A compliance calendar confirming certification status and upcoming renewals.

Ask whether you get a dedicated account manager or a shared inbox. For overseas owners especially, this distinction matters enormously. A named contact who knows your property and responds within hours is operationally different from a ticket system that responds within days.

Some operators offer quarterly video reviews where the owner can see the property condition, review strategy, and ask questions. This is particularly valuable if you are not in London.

Track Record

Claims are free. Evidence is not.

Check Google reviews, but read them critically. A company with 50 five-star reviews from guests tells you about guest satisfaction, not owner satisfaction. Look for owner-specific reviews or testimonials on the company's website.

Ask for references. A confident operator will connect you with two or three current owners who can speak to their experience. If they decline or deflect, that is information.

Look at their current listings on Airbnb and Booking.com. The quality of photography, listing copy, and review scores on live properties tells you exactly what standard they operate at. If their listings look like they were written in five minutes and photographed on a phone, that is the standard your property will receive.

Check how many properties they manage and in which areas. A company managing 300 properties across all of London operates a very different model from one managing 30 in four postcodes. Neither is inherently better, but the operational approach, attention per property, and pricing strategy will differ substantially.

Contract Terms

Read the contract before the proposal.

Key clauses to scrutinise: initial term length (six months is common, twelve months is reasonable, twenty-four months without a break clause is a red flag). Notice period after the initial term (one to three months is standard). What happens if you want to sell the property mid-contract. What happens if you want to switch to a long let. Whether the company retains any right to future bookings made during the contract but fulfilled after termination.

Check whether the contract gives the management company authority to make maintenance decisions up to a defined spending threshold without your approval. This is normal and necessary for responsive property management. But the threshold should be explicit (£250-£500 per incident is typical) and anything above it should require owner sign-off.

And check termination mechanics. Some contracts require you to honour bookings already confirmed at the point of termination. Others allow a clean break. Know which one you are signing.

Belmont scores on every one of these criteria. Pricing is published in full: 20% + VAT on a flexible rolling agreement, or 15% + VAT on a 12-month term — all-inclusive, with no add-ons. Compliance, planning applications, housekeeping, linen, photography, and guest management are all included.

The Checklist

Before signing with any short-let management company, ask these ten questions:

If a company can answer all ten clearly and without hesitation, they are worth talking to. If they stumble on more than two, keep looking.

The Belmont Collection operates exclusively in Prime Central London (Knightsbridge, Mayfair, Belgravia, and Kensington & Chelsea). This guide is published to help property owners make informed decisions, regardless of which management company they choose.