If you own an apartment and you are weighing up short-letting it, the search results will quickly start telling you about rent to rent. They will less often tell you that rent to rent is one of two distinct models, and that the other one might be better for you.
This article is the honest comparison. We run both, which is unusual. Most of the new owners we sign on go onto management contracts rather than rent to rent. Knowing the difference matters because the trade-offs are real on both sides.
Rent to rent
A short-let operator like us signs a long-term lease on a property, the same way a long-let tenant would. We then run it as a corporate short-let or list on booking platforms with strict vetting in place. We pay you a fixed monthly rent for the property. We carry all the risk. If a month is empty, we still pay you. We keep everything we earn above the rent we pay you.
Management contracts
You keep the property. We agree to run it on your behalf for a percentage of gross booking revenue. We do everything: photography, listings, pricing, guest communication, cleaning coordination, maintenance, and monthly reporting.
You receive monthly statements showing what came in, what was spent, and what we owe you. The risk sits with you. If a month is quiet, you earn less. If a month is strong, you earn more.
The earnings, side by side
The most useful thing we can do is show you the numbers on a comparable property, so let us use a one-bedroom apartment in North Greenwich at a benchmark performance level.
Rent to rent: We agree to pay you £2,400 a month, every month, fixed. You receive £28,800 pounds a year.
We then run the apartment, and our actual earnings depend on how well we do. Some months we make money, some months we lose money. The fixed rent is your protection from that variance.
Management: The apartment generates £4,200 in gross booking revenue in a strong month and £2,800 in a soft month. Over a year, it averages perhaps £3,400 a month, or £40,800 gross.
Our commission, assuming 15%, is £6,120.
Costs of running the property (cleaning, supplies, platform fees, utilities) come out at roughly £5,000 for the year. You take home around £29,000 - £31,000 net for the year, and you carry all the upside if we do better than expected.
Why an owner would choose rent to rent
Predictable income matters more to you than maximum income. You want a single number you can plan your year around. You may have a mortgage to service and you want to know exactly what the property pays each month. You are also fine with us taking the upside if the operation goes well.
Rent to rent contracts also tend to be longer (we are paying you for two or three years up front in a sense), which gives you stability if you cannot sell the property easily or do not want to deal with tenants frequently.
Why an owner would choose management
You believe a well-run short-let earns substantially more than a long-let, and you want to capture most of that yourself. You are comfortable with variance month to month. You have other income, so a soft month is not a crisis.
You also keep more control. You use the property whenever you want. The property stays in your name, you receive monthly statements, you can audit our pricing decisions, and you can terminate with 30 days' notice if we are not performing. Rent to rent locks you into a long lease.
Where the two models converge
Both models leave you with a serviced property, run by a small diligent operator, with strictly vetted guests staying in it most nights.
If you are not sure which you want, the question we usually ask is: would you rather receive £28,800 a year, every year, with no surprises, or would you rather receive somewhere between £20,000 and £31,000 , depending on the year, with the upside being yours?
Most owners choose the predictable number. Some, particularly those with experience in the property market, choose the management contract because the variance does not scare them and the long-term economics favour it.
Where we sit
Lush Homes Collection runs one property as of Q2 2026, and is taking on owners on management contracts through 2026 and beyond.
If you would like to talk about either model for your property, our Contact page has details.