Airbnb changeover cleaning in the UK typically costs £35 to £60 for a studio, £45 to £80 for a one bedroom and £65 to £110 for a two bedroom, per changeover. Laundry is usually charged separately at roughly £8 to £18 per set, or handled by you through a linen rotation. London and tourist hotspots sit at the upper end of every band.
Those are the headline numbers. The more useful question is what moves them, because the difference between a £65 quote and a £110 quote on the same flat is almost always the changeover window, the linen arrangement and whether the price includes a report.
Cost by property size
| Property | Typical per changeover | Time on site |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | £35 to £60 | 1.5 to 2 hours |
| 1 bedroom | £45 to £80 | 2 hours |
| 2 bedrooms | £65 to £110 | 2 to 3 hours |
| 3 bedrooms | £90 to £150 | 3 to 4 hours |
| 4+ bedrooms | £130 to £220 | 4 hours plus, usually two cleaners |
Bathrooms move the number more than bedrooms do, exactly as in domestic cleaning. A two bedroom flat with two bathrooms prices closer to a three bedroom.
What changes the price
The changeover window. This is the single biggest factor and the one hosts underestimate. A 10am checkout and a 4pm check-in is a six hour window and prices normally. An 11am checkout with a 3pm check-in is four hours and carries a premium, because it needs either two cleaners or a guaranteed slot that cannot be moved.
Linen. Washing on site ties the cleaner to the property while machines run, which usually makes a tight window impossible. Most hosts move to a rotation of three sets per bed, with the cleaner taking dirty linen away and bringing clean. Above about three properties, commercial linen hire is normally cheaper than the time it costs to manage a rotation.
Restocking. Toilet paper, soap, shower gel, tea, coffee, bin bags and dishwasher tablets. Some companies include the labour and invoice consumables at cost; others build a flat supplement in. Ask which, because it is a common gap between quotes.
Access. City centre apartment blocks with concierge hours, lift bookings and loading bay time limits genuinely add time. So does a property with no parking where everything comes in on foot.
Same-day and peak dates. Bank holidays, event weekends and the tail of the summer season carry supplements. A late checkout that compresses the window on the day usually does too.
Reporting. A changeover that ends with a photographed report of damage, missing items and low stock costs slightly more than one that does not, and it is the part that pays for itself the first time a guest breaks something.
Laundry, priced properly
| Arrangement | Typical cost | Works when |
|---|---|---|
| On-site washing | Included in the hours, but adds 1 to 2 hours | One property, generous gaps between bookings |
| Rotation, cleaner launders | £8 to £18 per set | One to three properties |
| Commercial linen hire | £12 to £25 per set delivered | Three properties or more |
Three sets per bed is the practical minimum for a rotation: one on the bed, one clean in the cupboard, one in the wash. Two sets works until the first time a wash is delayed, at which point it does not.
Setting your guest cleaning fee
Most hosts charge a cleaning fee at or slightly below actual cost. Two things are worth knowing.
Very high cleaning fees measurably reduce booking conversion, particularly on shorter stays where the fee is a large proportion of the total. A £90 cleaning fee on a two night stay reads as a penalty rather than a cost.
Second, platforms display total price prominently now, so the old tactic of a low nightly rate plus a high cleaning fee no longer hides anything. Setting the fee near cost and the nightly rate honestly is the arrangement that survives.
If your changeover costs £75 and you charge £60, you are subsidising £15 per booking in exchange for a better conversion rate. That is a legitimate trade, and it is worth making it deliberately rather than by accident.
What a changeover should include
A price is not comparable without knowing the scope. A proper turnaround covers:
- Kitchen including inside the fridge, the microwave and the bin
- Bathrooms fully cleaned and descaled, with hair removed from every surface and drain
- Beds stripped and remade, presented the same way each time
- Towels replaced and folded consistently
- Restocking of consumables
- All floors, touch points and glass
- Everything returned to its listed photograph position
- Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms checked
- A report of damage, missing items and low stock, with photographs
The last item is what separates a turnaround service from a clean. Your cleaner is the only person who sees the property between guests, so they are your inspection regime as well.
What it does not include
Changeovers maintain a property, they do not reset it. Ovens, limescale, extractor filters, skirting boards, high level dust and behind furniture all accumulate invisibly while each individual changeover looks fine.
Budget a deep clean every four to eight weeks depending on turnover. It is a separate line and it is not optional; short lets are used harder and aired less than a home, and the drop-off is gradual enough that nobody notices until a guest mentions it in a review.
The costs hosts forget
| Item | Typical |
|---|---|
| Deep clean, every 4 to 8 weeks | £165 to £350 |
| Carpet cleaning, annually | £75 to £175 |
| Mattress protectors and pillow replacement | £40 to £120 a year |
| Consumables per changeover | £4 to £10 |
| Exceptional clean after a bad guest | 50% to 100% supplement |
| Emergency same-day cover | 20% to 50% supplement |
Getting a fair price
Give the actual window. Checkout time, check-in time, and whether either can move. This is what the quote hangs on.
Say how linen is handled before asking for a number, because it changes the answer completely.
Ask what happens if a guest leaves it in a state. A good answer describes a supplement and a photographed report sent before the next arrival, so you can raise a platform claim inside its window.
Ask for a per-property checklist. A checklist with photographs of how each room should look is the only thing that makes a different cleaner produce the same result. Without it, consistency depends on who turned up.
Automate booking from the calendar. The changeover that gets missed is always the one in a busy week.
Frequently asked questions
Is a cleaning fee per stay or per night? Per stay. That is why it weighs heaviest on short bookings and why very high fees suppress two and three night reservations.
Should I do the changeovers myself? For one property with generous gaps, it is realistic. The arithmetic changes at two properties, and it changes completely the first time you are away on a changeover day.
How far ahead do I need to book? Once your calendar is shared, changeovers should be booked automatically from it rather than message by message. For ad hoc cover, as much notice as you can give.
What if the guest checks out late? It compresses the window and usually triggers a supplement, because the slot cannot absorb it. Agree in advance what happens so it is not a negotiation on the day.
Do cleaners handle guest communication or key handover? Normally not. That is a hosting task rather than a cleaning one, and mixing them tends to blur responsibility when something goes wrong.
How often do I actually need the deep clean? Every four to eight weeks depending on turnover. If the property is booked most nights, treat it as monthly.
