Before you start the questions, here's what your plan covers in detail: the licence route, getting the home ready, how the earnings are worked out and what happens if you go ahead.
Listing your Edinburgh property: the four questions we ask
The questionnaire takes about a minute. There are four questions, because each one changes something real in your plan. Here's what we ask, and why it matters.
- The postcode and bedrooms. The postcode tells us which council the home sits in. Guests staying in Leith pay the Visitor Levy; guests in North Berwick don't, because East Lothian isn't covered by Edinburgh's levy. Together with the bedrooms, it tells us which homes nearby to compare yours with.
- What you'd like from the property. Letting your own home while you're away, an extra space, a gap between tenancies, handing over a short let you run, or a second opinion on your manager. This decides your licence route and which plan we write.
- The dates you have in mind. All year, summer and the Fringe, or only while you're away. Each one gives a different set of figures.
- Where to send the plan. Your name, email and, if you like, a mobile number for a short WhatsApp note.
Anything else, such as your licence, certificates or how involved you'd like to be, we ask on a short call once you've read the plan. If you'd rather talk first, book a short call. Or go straight to the plan questionnaire.
Not sure where to begin? The short-let starter pack covers the basics in six pages.
Which short-term let licence your plan will recommend
Every short let in Scotland has needed a licence since 1 October 2023, and taking guests without one is a criminal offence. Your plan names the licence that fits your home and how you'd use it. There are four main routes.
| Your situation | Usual route | Planning? |
|---|---|---|
| Guests in part of your home while you're there | Home sharing | Usually not |
| Your main home, let while you're away | Home letting licence | Usually not |
| A home you don't live in | Secondary letting | Yes, in Edinburgh |
| A few weeks a year, such as the Fringe | Temporary exemption or temporary licence | Depends on the home |
Why planning comes first in Edinburgh
The whole of the City of Edinburgh has been a short-term let control area since 5 September 2022. Letting a whole home that isn't your main home counts as a change of use, so it needs planning permission, or a Certificate of Lawfulness if it was already a lawful short let before then. Planning is the most common reason Edinburgh applications fail, and the council doesn't refund its fee if a licence is refused. So your plan checks your planning position before anyone pays anything.
East Lothian has its own licensing process and isn't part of Edinburgh's control area. If your home is in Musselburgh, Portobello's neighbour along the coast, or North Berwick, your plan follows East Lothian's rules instead.
For the detail, read our Edinburgh licensing guide, or see every fee on the licence costs page.
Getting a home ready to list: certificates, safety and paperwork
The council expects the home to be fully ready when you apply, not afterwards. Most homes already have some of what's needed. Your plan lists what's missing and what it's likely to cost, and we can book local electricians, gas engineers and fire assessors for you.
The checklist, in short
- Fire safety: interlinked smoke and heat alarms, a carbon monoxide alarm where there's a gas boiler or other fuel-burning appliance, a written fire risk assessment and a fire blanket in the kitchen
- Gas and electrics: an EICR every five years, PAT testing for appliances guests use, and a gas safety certificate every year if there's gas
- Water: a legionella risk assessment
- Energy: a valid EPC, with the rating shown on every listing
- Insurance: public liability cover and buildings insurance that allows short lets
- Paperwork: a floor plan showing rooms, exits and alarms, and proof of ownership or consent from your lender where it's needed
Our interactive licence requirements checklist lets you tick off what you have and send it with your plan request.
Furnishing and kit
Guests expect a home that feels lived in, but works like a good hotel: proper blackout in the bedrooms for long June evenings, enough heating for a February week, a decent kettle, and two sets of linen per bed so changeovers never wait on the wash. Your plan says what's needed for your home and what isn't, so you don't buy things it doesn't need.
If you've inherited a flat or are buying one to let, our guides on inherited flats and buying a short-let property cover the questions to ask first.
What your home could earn: how the plan's figures are made
The earnings section is the part of the plan owners read first, so it's worth knowing where the figures come from and what they leave out.
Where the numbers come from
- Similar homes nearby. We look at homes like yours in your area, with the same number of bedrooms and similar guest numbers, using PriceLabs market data for the year ahead.
- Your dates. If you'd only let the home in summer, or around your own travel, the plan uses those dates, not a full year.
- How often homes are booked. Across Edinburgh short lets overall, 72% of nights were booked last year. In the homes we managed all year, it was 84%.
- What our homes actually earned. Listed prices aren't what guests always pay, so we adjust to match real statements.
The plan shows the result month by month. That matters in Edinburgh more than almost anywhere else, because August and Hogmanay sit well above every other month, and winter months across our homes earn roughly a third to a half of summer ones.
From earnings to what you keep
Below the earnings, the plan takes off platform fees, cleaning, the Visitor Levy where it applies and our fee, then lists the running costs that stay with you, like energy, insurance and the licence. You see one figure for what you'd keep, and every line behind it.
For a quick range before you start, try the Airbnb income calculator. For typical nightly prices by area and size, see Airbnb management in Edinburgh. And if you're weighing a short let against a long let, our guide Short let or long let? The Edinburgh numbers compares the two honestly.
After you list your property: the steps from plan to first guest
Reading your plan doesn't commit you to anything. If it fits, here's what happens next, in order.
- A visit or a short call. Joanne or someone from our team comes to see the home, or talks it through with you by phone. We check the plan's assumptions against the real thing: the stair, the light, the beds, the boiler.
- The licence route, started. If your home is your main home, we gather the certificates and prepare the home letting licence or temporary exemption with you. We don't prepare secondary letting or planning applications, but we manage homes that already have both. Timings depend mostly on the council.
- Your agreement. Fees, notice, how repairs are approved and the dates you want to keep for yourself, all in writing.
- Onboarding. Professional photos, listings on Airbnb, Booking.com and more, pricing connected, calendars synced, a compliance check, a Minut noise sensor fitted and the first clean.
- Your owner login. You see every booking as it arrives, and block your own dates whenever you want.
- Your first statement at the end of the first month: every booking, every cost and what's paid to you.
If your home is already licensed and hosting, the steps are shorter. Our page on switching short-let manager explains how future bookings and reviews are handled, and hosting it yourself covers moving over from self-hosting.
The onboarding fee, from £400 + VAT, and our management fees are set out in full on the pricing page. New owners who sign a one-year agreement by 31 December 2026 pay 10% + VAT for their first four months, on every tier.
Which homes suit short lets in Edinburgh and East Lothian
Most homes can work as a short let, but not all of them should. Part of your plan is an honest view on whether yours is a good fit, and how.
Homes that usually work well
- Tenement flats near the centre. The classic Edinburgh short let. Guests love the high ceilings and the views, and we look after the stair: bins out at every changeover, quiet hours from 10pm, and a yearly letter to every household. Read the tenement flat guide.
- Family homes for groups. Graduation families, rugby weekends and golf trips all want space to eat together. See graduation stays and golf homes in East Lothian.
- Coastal homes. Portobello and North Berwick are popular with summer visitors who want the sea as well as the city.
- Your own home while you're away. A home letting licence covers this. Our page on letting your home while abroad explains how your things are kept safe.
- Student lets over the summer. Let the flat to guests over the summer, between student tenancies. See summer lets for student landlords.
When we'd suggest something else
If planning permission looks unlikely for a secondary let, if the title deeds forbid short letting, or if the costs of getting a home ready would take years to earn back, we'll say so. Sometimes a long let, or a few weeks under a temporary exemption, is the better answer, and we'll tell you that too.
Mistakes owners make before listing a short let
These are the things we see most often when owners come to us after trying to set up on their own. None of them are unusual, and all of them are easier to avoid than to fix.
- Paying the licence fee before checking planning. In Edinburgh the council keeps its fee if a licence is refused, and planning is the usual reason. Check first.
- Furnishing before the compliance check. Interlinked alarms and a fire risk assessment can mean moving furniture, or choosing different pieces. Do the safety work first, then the cushions.
- Forgetting the lender and the insurer. Many mortgages and standard home policies don't allow short lets without consent or the right cover.
- Pricing August like the rest of the year. A third of a typical Edinburgh year's income can arrive in six weeks of August. One price all year leaves a lot behind.
- Leaving the listing without its licence number. Every advert must show the licence number and the EPC rating.
- Not thinking about the neighbours. In Edinburgh, the licence holder must write to every household in the building within 28 days of getting the licence, and every year after. A friendly word on the stair before the first guest goes a long way. Our neighbours page shows what we do.
- Ignoring the levy. Stays in the City of Edinburgh from 24 July 2026 carry a 5% Visitor Levy on the first five nights, with quarterly returns.
If you've already listed and something isn't working, a free listing review is a good place to start. Or read What every Edinburgh host should know, our longest free guide. You can also read what owners say on our reviews page.
Before you start, two posts worth reading: how much does an Airbnb earn in Edinburgh? and mortgage and insurance for short lets.
Book a 15-minute call with one of the co-founders, or get a free plan for your home: what it could earn, the licence route and every cost.
