Lease a property and sub-let it as a short-stay - the real numbers are thinner than the courses say.
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Licence requiredInsurance requiredPeople-facingRecurring revenueEvenings and weekends
The Money Label
Cash score26
Startup cost$$$$$£2,362–11,812
Ready in1–3 mo
Hours a week10–20 hrs/wk
Skill floorLearnable in weeks
RiskHIGH
Effort10–20 HRS/WK
Ceiling£240–630/MO
SaturationCrowded
EvidenceMOSTLY HYPE
Hype gap2-4x - marketed 500-1,500 GBP/month or six-figure viral claims versus evidenced $300-800/month net per unit, with most markets net negative at median occupancy
Available inGB · US · CA · AU
Why that grade Course marketing quotes 500-1,500 GBP/month 'profit' per property and viral '$187k/month' claims; independent 2026 unit-economics analysis (AirROI) found the median market loses money at median occupancy and only the very best markets clear roughly $862/unit/month. Course-seller index 9/10.
Figures are researched estimates, not guarantees. Check local rules before you trade.
Why anybody pays for this
Short-stay guests pay a nightly-rate premium over long-let rent because they want furnished, flexible, hotel-like space - the arbitrage is real when occupancy and licensing cooperate, which happens less often than the courses imply.
Realistic net profit is $300-800/unit/month after occupancy (60-75%), cleaning, platform fees, utilities and local tax; a well-run 10-unit portfolio nets roughly $4,000-7,000/month - not the 5-figure single-property claims common in course marketing.
Good fit if
Someone with genuine hospitality and operations stamina, written landlord-and-lender consent already in hand, and enough cash reserve to cover the master rent through slow months.
Skip it if
Anyone who has not secured explicit written consent from both the landlord and their mortgage lender before signing - skipping this is the number one reason operators lose everything - and anyone who can't self-fund 2-3 months of master rent with zero bookings.
What actually goes wrong
You're on the hook for the master lease rent whether or not the unit is booked, and the landlord or their mortgage lender can void your right to sub-let the moment they find out - at which point you lose your furniture spend and deposit with essentially no recourse.
Landlord/lender consent is the single most-skipped step and the most common way operators lose everything on a month's notice
Course-marketed profit figures are drawn from best-case screenshots, not audited averages
Council short-let licensing schemes are expanding fast in 2025-2026 - a model that pencils out today can be shut down by new local rules within a year
The playbook
7 steps to your first paying customer
What the steps cost
£3,418
estimate £2,904–11,812
Decide
01
Get written consent from landlord and lender
£0 · 6 hrs
CANNOT TRADE UNTIL DONE
Secure explicit written permission from both the landlord and, if there's a mortgage, their lender, before you commit to anything.
Done when You hold written sign-off from both the landlord and, if there's a mortgage, the lender, naming short-let sub-letting explicitly.
Watch out: A landlord's verbal 'yes' isn't enough - if their mortgage forbids sub-letting and the lender finds out, they can be forced to evict you regardless of what the landlord agreed.
Written consent letter template
02
Check local short-let licensing
£0 · 2 hrs
CANNOT TRADE UNTIL DONE
Confirm the council or city's short-let licensing rules and any night caps (e.g. London's 90-night rule) before you sign a lease.
Done when You have the council or city's licence requirement and any night-cap rules in writing, and know whether your model still works under them.
Watch out: Airbnb enforces London's 90-night cap automatically on your listing - plan the model around it, don't discover it after signing a 5-year lease.
Council website / local licensing scheme
5 more steps in this playbook
The rest of the playbook: what to charge, what you need in place before you take money, where the first customers come from, and what each step costs.
There's no real moat - anyone can approach the same landlord with the same pitch once they see it's working.
01
Lock in multi-year guaranteed-rent leases so a copycat can't undercut you on the same building
02
Build a reputation with local landlords and agents so you get first refusal on new stock before it's advertised
Exit options
Assign the master lease and furniture to another operator for a fee if the landlord permits assignment, or simply let it lapse - there's no asset to sell, only a lease and a listing history.
What changes where you are
Same idea, different rules. One playbook, with the facts that actually differ overlaid per market.
United Kingdom · you are here
London caps unlicensed short-lets at 90 nights/year and Airbnb enforces this automatically; a national short-let registration scheme has been rolling out across England, and Scotland already requires a short-term let licence in every local authority.
United Arab Emirates
Dubai requires a DTCM holiday-home permit for every unit, obtained by the property owner, not the tenant - arbitrage without the owner's active involvement in permitting is not workable here.
India
No dedicated national short-let licensing regime yet, but individual housing societies and RWAs frequently ban or restrict Airbnb-style short stays in their bylaws - check the society rules, not just the law.
United States
City-level rules vary enormously - New York's Local Law 18 effectively ended most unhosted short-term rental arbitrage in the city, while many other cities require a rental registration number before a listing can go live.