Airbnb Host Fees UK (2026): 15.5% Host-Only, VAT and What You Keep
UK hosts moved to Airbnb's host-only service fee on June 22, 2026, ahead of the general September deadline: 15.5% of the booking subtotal now comes off the payout and the guest pays no service fee. For a host who is not VAT registered the real rate is 18.6%, because Airbnb's service fees for UK customers carry 20% VAT: on a £1,000 booking, £186 to Airbnb and £814 to you. A VAT-registered host accounts for the VAT directly and generally recovers it, which leaves the fee at £155 and the payout at £845.
Those two numbers, £814 and £845, are the ones this post is built around: what changed in June, how VAT attaches to the fee, a £1,000 booking worked old and new, what Vrbo and Booking.com cost on the same stay, and what a direct booking keeps after UK card processing at 1.5% plus 20p. The global version, with dollar examples, is in Airbnb host fees explained.
Key facts
- Airbnb moved UK hosts to the 15.5% host-only fee on June 22, 2026, per Rental Scale-Up's timeline of Airbnb's notices, ahead of the September 15, 2026 deadline for other hosts outside the EEA.
- Airbnb's VAT help page says its service fees for UK customers carry 20% VAT. For a host who is not VAT registered the fee is an effective 18.6% of the subtotal: £186 on £1,000, against £155 for a registered host.
- The UK VAT registration threshold is £90,000 of taxable turnover in a rolling 12 months, per GOV.UK; hosts below it may register voluntarily.
- Vrbo moves to a single 12% commission for bookings made on or after October 29, 2026, VAT on top where it applies (14.4% for an unregistered host). Expedia Group says the rate runs 12% to 15% by region, and the UK figure is unconfirmed.
- A direct booking paid with a standard UK card costs 1.5% plus 20p on Stripe's UK pricing: £15.20 on £1,000, a £984.80 payout, against £814 on Airbnb.
What changed on June 22, 2026
As of October 2026, Airbnb charges most hosts a single host-only service fee of 15.5% of the booking subtotal, deducted from the payout; guests pay no separate Airbnb service fee. The subtotal is the nightly rate plus cleaning, pet and extra-guest fees, before taxes. Some hosts pay 14% to 16%, and listings in Brazil and Mexico pay 16%. Software-connected hosts moved first, in October 2025 and April 2026; remaining hosts outside the European Economic Area switched by September 15, 2026, and EEA and Swiss hosts by October 13, 2026. The legacy split fee, about 3% from the host plus a guest fee of 14.1% to 16.5%, applies only to bookings made before a host's switch date. Where VAT or GST applies to the fee, unregistered hosts pay it on top.
The UK moved in the June cohort with Germany. The legacy split fee for a UK host was never quite 3%: Airbnb charged VAT on the host's 3% as on the guest's fee, so an unregistered host paid 3.6% and kept £964 of a £1,000 booking.
VAT on the fee
Airbnb's VAT help page states that its service fees for customers in the UK are subject to 20% VAT. For a host who is not VAT registered that is simply a cost: 15.5% times 1.2 is 18.6%.
A VAT-registered host accounts for the VAT on their own return and generally recovers it as input tax, which brings the fee back to 15.5%; adding your VAT number to your Airbnb account is the mechanism. The registration threshold is £90,000 of taxable turnover in a rolling 12 months, per GOV.UK, and registering below it is rarely worth it for the fee alone: holiday accommodation is standard-rated, so a registered host charges 20% VAT on the stay itself, which costs far more than the £31 saved on each £1,000 of fees. That is an accountant's decision.
A £1,000 booking, worked
| On a £1,000 subtotal | Split fee (bookings before June 22, 2026) | Host-only, not VAT registered | Host-only, VAT registered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbnb host fee | £30 (3%) | £155 (15.5%) | £155 (15.5%) |
| VAT on the fee | £6 | £31 | Accounted for and recovered |
| Host payout | £964 | £814 | £845 |
| Guest service fee | £141 to £165, plus VAT | None | None |
| Guest pays (before taxes) | £1,141 to £1,165, plus VAT on the fee | £1,000 | £1,000 |
The £150 drop from £964 to £814 is a 15.6% cut in payout for an unregistered host who has not repriced. Restoring it takes a rise of 18.43% (964 divided by 814), to £1,184.28; netting the full £1,000 takes 22.85% (1 divided by 0.814), to £1,228.50. A registered host needs 14.79% to hold £970 and 18.34% to net £1,000, the same figures as a US host. On a £120 night, netting £120 means listing at £147.42 unregistered or £142.01 registered.
Vrbo and Booking.com for UK hosts
As of October 2026, Vrbo is replacing its pay-per-booking fees with a single 12% commission for bookings made on or after October 29, 2026, announced on September 29, 2026. The commission applies to the rental amount plus mandatory host fees such as cleaning and pet fees, excluding taxes and refundable deposits, and it includes payment processing for hosts paid through Vrbo; Expedia Group says the rate runs 12% to 15% by region and brand. Before the change, hosts paid a 5% commission plus a 3% payment processing fee, about 8% in total, or 5% alone when a property management system handled payments. Legacy annual subscriptions convert at the end of their term. Vrbo still charges travelers a separate service fee that it does not disclose and now prices dynamically.
Vrbo's help page says that where VAT applies it is charged in addition to the commission, and Vrbo's UK partner terms describe the reverse charge for VAT-registered partners who supply a VAT number. An unregistered UK host therefore pays 14.4%, £144 on £1,000 for an £856 payout; a registered host pays £120 for £880. One caveat: the UK rate within Expedia Group's 12% to 15% band is not stated on any Vrbo page we could find. At 15% the unregistered cost would be 18%, £820 on £1,000, within a few pounds of Airbnb.
Booking.com quotes a 15% global average commission within a 10% to 25% range, plus 1.1% to 3.1% when Payments by Booking.com collects the card: £819 to £850 on £1,000, before any VAT on the commission, which is best read off the invoice.
| UK host, £1,000 subtotal | Not VAT registered | VAT registered |
|---|---|---|
| Airbnb, 15.5% host-only fee | £814 | £845 |
| Vrbo, 12% commission (bookings from Oct. 29, 2026) | £856 | £880 |
| Booking.com, 15% average, before any VAT | £819 to £850 | £819 to £850 |
| Direct, standard UK card (1.5% + 20p) | £984.80 | £984.80 |
| Direct, EEA card (2.5% + 20p) | £974.80 | £974.80 |
The two-platform comparison at an equal guest total, including Vrbo's traveller fee, is in Vrbo vs. Airbnb host fees.
The direct alternative
A direct booking replaces the platform fee with card processing: Stripe's UK pricing lists 1.5% plus 20p for standard UK cards and 2.5% plus 20p for EEA cards, and its UK pages put international cards at 3.15% plus 20p, with 2% more where a currency conversion is required. On a £1,000 booking that is £15.20 from a British guest, £25.20 from a French one and £31.70 from an American one: payouts of £984.80, £974.80 and £968.30.
Against Airbnb's £814 the UK-card gap is £170.80 per booking; 30 such bookings a year keep £5,124 more direct, or £4,194 more if VAT registered. That margin funds a direct discount: an unregistered host can offer up to about 17% off the Airbnb price before netting less than Airbnb pays (0.814 divided by 0.985), and a 10% discount on the £1,000 stay still nets £886.30, £72.30 ahead.
The marketplace still earns its fee on guests you could not have found; the direct channel is for the guests who come back and the ones your own marketing brings. Haven builds branded direct booking sites and charges no booking commission, so card processing is the only deduction; the plans are on the pricing page.
FAQ
How much does Airbnb charge UK hosts in 2026?
15.5% of the booking subtotal, deducted from the payout, with no separate guest fee, for bookings made since June 22, 2026. With 20% VAT on the fee, a host who is not VAT registered pays an effective 18.6%: £186 on a £1,000 booking, leaving £814.
Do I pay VAT on Airbnb's host fee?
Yes, unless you are VAT registered: Airbnb's VAT help page says service fees for UK customers carry 20% VAT. Registered hosts account for it on their own return and generally recover it, which brings the fee back to 15.5%.
When did UK hosts move to the host-only fee?
June 22, 2026, ahead of the September 15, 2026 deadline for other hosts outside the EEA. Bookings made before that date keep the split fee: about 3% plus VAT from the host and 14.1% to 16.5% from the guest.
Is Vrbo cheaper than Airbnb for UK hosts?
On the host side, Vrbo's 12% commission for bookings from October 29, 2026 costs an unregistered host 14.4% with VAT, £144 on £1,000, against Airbnb's £186. Vrbo still charges the traveller a service fee Airbnb does not, and the UK rate within Vrbo's 12% to 15% band is unconfirmed.
What does a direct booking cost a UK host?
Card processing only: on Stripe's UK pricing a standard UK card costs 1.5% plus 20p, so a £1,000 booking pays out £984.80, and an EEA card at 2.5% plus 20p pays out £974.80.
Sources
- Airbnb Help Center — Airbnb service fees (accessed October 2026)
- Airbnb Help Center — Value Added Tax (VAT) and how it applies to you (accessed October 2026)
- Airbnb Resource Center — Simplifying Airbnb service fees (accessed October 2026)
- Rental Scale-Up — Airbnb's 15.5% Host-Only Fee Is Coming for All Hosts (accessed October 2026)
- Rental Scale-Up — Airbnb Host Fee VAT: Why 15.5% Is Really 19.1% (accessed October 2026)
- GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register (accessed October 2026)
- Expedia Group newsroom — Vrbo Compensation Model Changes (October 1, 2026; accessed October 2026)
- Vrbo Help — About the pay-per-booking (PPB) model (accessed October 2026)
- Vrbo — Partner terms of use (UK) (accessed October 2026)
- Booking.com Partner Help — Understanding our commission (accessed October 2026)
- Stripe — UK pricing (accessed October 2026)
- Stripe — UK local payment methods pricing (accessed October 2026)
