Bromley Holiday Lets Run at a Loss After All Costs

Before any costs, holiday letting a 3-bed house in Bromley grosses roughly £9,436 against buy-to-let's £27,878, with holiday letting at -67% versus buy-to-let. The 90-day London cap is the reason, and once running costs are layered on the position worsens. This article walks through the after-costs picture for both a 3-bed house and a 2-bed apartment, because the two property types carry different expense structures and apartments add service charges that houses do not.

3-Bed House: Holiday Letting Runs at a Net Loss

For a median 3-bed house at roughly £567,623, the holiday let route in Bromley delivers a net yield of -0.8%, well below the 2.9% net yield on buy-to-let. The table below assumes self-managed holiday letting (the default in the dashboard) and agent-managed buy-to-let at around 10% of rent, which is the typical letting agent rate in outer London.

What Eats the Holiday Let Premium in Bromley

The premium does not get eaten away here, it never existed. Revenue is capped at 90 nights by the London rule, which holds gross holiday let income to roughly £9,436. Buy-to-let produces £27,878 from a standard tenancy, well ahead of holiday letting before any cost line is added. Insurance alone runs more than twice as expensive on a holiday let at £2,109 versus £856 for buy-to-let, because insurers treat short-stay guests as a higher liability exposure. Maintenance is higher too, at £5,371 for holiday letting versus £4,371 for buy-to-let, since holiday let maintenance includes furnishing replacement and faster wear from high guest turnover.

Utilities add another layer. On a holiday let the landlord pays all bills as part of the offer, costing roughly £2,094 per year. On buy-to-let the tenant pays their own utilities, so that line drops to zero for the landlord outside of void periods. Airbnb fees take another £1,463 off the top at the 15.5% host-only rate. Other platforms work differently: Vrbo charges around 8%, and Booking.com around 15%, so the fee line shifts depending on the channel mix.

2-Bed Apartment: Service Charges Compound the 90-Day Penalty

The apartment route in Bromley starts with a lower entry price of roughly £336,619, so the debt service arithmetic is lighter. However, leasehold apartments carry service charges of £2,517 per year, a property-level cost that a freehold house does not pay. Holiday letting a 2-bed apartment delivers a net yield of -1.5% against 2.8% for buy-to-let.

The service charge row appears in both columns because it is a leasehold obligation that applies regardless of how the flat is let. In some newer Bromley developments the figure can run substantially higher than the average used above, particularly where the block has a concierge, lift, or swimming pool. Always request the service charge schedule and sinking fund contributions before committing, because they can swing apartment economics by several hundred pounds a year either way.

House vs Apartment: Buy-to-Let Wins Across Both Property Types

Lower entry price versus extra service charges is the core trade-off between the two property types in Bromley. A 2-bed apartment at £336,619 is substantially cheaper than a 3-bed house at £567,623, which helps the yield arithmetic on the numerator side. The service charge of £2,517 per year partially offsets that benefit on the cost side, and the apartment commands lower gross rent than the house in absolute terms.

On a holiday let basis, the house produces a net yield of -0.8% against the apartment's -1.5%. On a buy-to-let basis, the house returns 2.9% against the apartment's 2.8%. Buy-to-let is the clear income play across both property types, with the market score reflecting this gap at 7.8/10 for buy-to-let versus 5.2/10 for holiday letting. The 90-day London cap is the structural reason: no investor can extract enough nightly revenue in 90 nights to match what 52 weeks of rent brings in, irrespective of whether the property is a house or a flat.

Break-Even Occupancy is Arithmetically Unreachable at 148%

Gross break-even for holiday letting a 3-bed house in Bromley sits at 148%. That figure represents the share of the 90 permitted nights a holiday let would need to be booked at the current average nightly rate of £215 to match the gross rent from a standard tenancy. A figure above 100% means the 90-day cap makes matching buy-to-let gross income arithmetically impossible at Bromley nightly rates. Even at 100% occupancy across all 90 nights, holiday let gross would top out at £19,366, short of the £27,878 a buy-to-let tenancy produces. For context, the current market average occupancy across Bromley listings is 49%, so most hosts sit well below that unreachable break-even point.

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Hiring a Letting Agent Deepens the Holiday Let Loss

The tables above assume self-managed holiday letting, which is the dashboard default. For a 3-bed house, handing operations to a holiday let manager adds roughly £1,698 per year, at around 18% of gross revenue. With a manager, net yield for the 3-bed house slips to -1.1% from the self-managed -0.8%. That is the opposite direction investors normally want management to move the number, but when the gross revenue line is already capped at 90 nights there is simply not enough headroom to absorb a professional fee.

On the buy-to-let side, the tables already include agent-managed costs at around 10%, which is the typical letting agent rate in outer London boroughs. Self-managing buy-to-let saves roughly £2,874 per year on the house and £1,880 on the apartment, though it puts lease administration, deposit protection, and repair call-outs onto the investor directly. For Bromley specifically, the management decision moves the buy-to-let net yield far less than the 90-day cap moves holiday let economics, so most investors sensitive to time value will keep the agent in place.

Tax: FHL Abolition Removes the Last Structural Advantage

The Furnished Holiday Let tax regime was abolished in April 2025, so holiday lets and buy-to-let properties are now taxed on broadly equivalent terms. Mortgage interest for both rental types is treated under the basic rate tax credit rather than as a fully deductible expense. Capital allowances for furniture and white goods are available under the standard replacement of domestic items relief, rather than the old FHL capital allowance regime. The FHL advantage that underpinned many holiday let investment cases has been removed, making the financial comparison between holiday letting and buy-to-let more important than ever.

Stamp duty adds a second-home surcharge on any buy-to-let or holiday let purchase. Exact liability varies by price bracket, timing, and whether the purchase is a first or additional property, so a solicitor should calculate the figure for your specific transaction. On the regulatory side, Limited to 90 nights per year. London 90-day rule: properties without planning permission are limited to 90 nights/year of short-term letting. Applies to all London boroughs. Exceeding 90 days requires planning permission from the local council. Platforms like Airbnb automatically block bookings beyond 90 days for London addresses. Platforms like Airbnb automatically block bookings past the 90-night threshold on London addresses, so the cap is enforced at the listing level, not only in principle.

City Medians Hide Suburb-Level Variation

The numbers above are Bromley-wide medians across 57 postcode areas. Individual suburbs diverge significantly: Bromley (TN16) tops the borough on buy-to-let gross yield at 5.6%, while premium pockets like West Wickham (BR4) sit on higher entry prices with lower yields. The dashboard shows suburb-level data for every bedroom count and property type, so you can model the exact postcode you are considering rather than working from the borough median. Methodology for the market score and yield calculations is documented at the market score methodology page, and the underlying data sources page lists the feeds behind rent, sale, and nightly rate figures.

Data reflects market conditions as of April 2026.

This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial or legal advice. Regulations and market conditions change frequently. Verify current rules with local authorities before making investment decisions.