Key points
- Your listing times give a headline gap. The usable gap is shorter, because a guest who overstays and a door that takes time to open are both deducted from it.
- Census 2021 counts purpose-built flats at 40% of London households, against 17% in England, so entry systems, lifts and bins belong in your turnover plan.
- Because the 90-night rule counts nights rather than bookings, short stays pack more changeovers into the same nights. The shorter your stays, the more a turnover routine that repeats cleanly is worth.
- Give your cleaner both times and the route in. Ivory offers same-day slots, subject to your gap, and answers within 30 minutes between 8am and 10pm.
In London, an Airbnb cleaning turnaround is a timetable problem before it is a cleaning problem. The clean fits between one guest leaving and the next arriving, and the things that squeeze that window sit outside the flat: someone who leaves late, a fob that fails, a lift that is out of service, a journey from the last property.
Below is a method for planning the gap from your own times. It gives no figure for how long a clean takes, since that depends on your property and a blog cannot see it. You get the sum, the pressures on the window, the questions to put about a block of flats, and a way to schedule with room to spare.
How do you work out the real gap for a London turnover?
Your listing times give you a headline gap: check-in minus check-out. Your cleaner cannot use all of it, because part is gone before the clean can start.
In the table the two allowances are letters, not figures. Only you can fill them in, from how your guests behave and how your building works.
| Step | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Check-out time | The time on your listing. |
| Check-in time | The time on your listing. |
| Headline gap | Check-in time minus check-out time. |
| Late leaver allowance (A) | What you expect to lose to a guest leaving late. |
| Entry allowance (B) | Fob, lift, buzzer, key safe: what it costs to reach the door. |
| Gap you can plan with | Headline gap, minus A, minus B. |
Whether the remainder is enough comes down to the property. Your cleaner can judge it once they have the bedrooms, the bathrooms and both times.
What eats into a same-day Airbnb turnaround?
Pace of cleaning is seldom the first concern. Each of the following removes minutes from the gap before anyone has picked up a cloth.
- A guest who overstays. Their delay eats the gap from the start while your check-in time does not move. Settle your late check-out policy beforehand, along with how you will warn your cleaner.
- A code that fails. If the key safe code has been changed, or the cleaner never received the smart lock code, minutes go at the door.
- Getting into the block. A fob, a buzzer or a concierge adds steps between the street and your front door.
- A guest who has not gone. Agree in advance who the cleaner contacts and who decides what happens next.
- The trip from the last job. When your cleaner finishes at another property first, the journey from there is part of your schedule.
Which building questions affect a London turnover?
Census 2021 counts purpose-built flats at 40% of London households, against 17% in England. That says nothing about your own property, but it is a reason to treat the building as part of the plan and not a footnote. Blocks differ from one another, so put the questions before you promise a tight gap.
- What is the route in for a cleaner: a fob, an entry code, a buzzer or a concierge?
- If entry needs a fob or code, does a non-resident have to be set up for it, and who does that?
- Is there a lift, and does the building restrict who may use it?
- Where should rubbish be taken, and are there set times for doing so?
- Does the key safe or smart lock hold the right code for this booking?
- Who can be called at the building if the entry system stops working?
Most of the answers should come from whoever manages the building, or from the notes on your listing. A house with its own front door still needs entry details and bin arrangements written down. Add all of it to the briefing for your cleaner.
Does the 90-night rule change how you plan turnovers?
It does not set a cleaning rule. Under section 44 of the Deregulation Act 2015 (opens in a new tab), in the 32 London boroughs and the City of London, a home used as temporary sleeping accommodation must stay within 90 nights in a calendar year, and at least one person providing it must be liable to pay council tax there. London's City Hall guidance (opens in a new tab) calls the use unlawful without planning permission when it does not meet these two conditions. GOV.UK says your local planning authority decides whether you need planning permission.
Where it matters is the rhythm of your bookings. Because the cap counts nights, not bookings, a host who takes short stays fits more changeovers into the same nights than a host who takes long ones. The more often a property turns over, the more a routine that repeats cleanly is worth. The arithmetic is in what sets an Airbnb cleaning fee in London.
How do you schedule turnovers so there is room to spare?
- List the check-out and check-in times beside every booking.
- Calculate the headline gap, then deduct your late leaver allowance and your entry allowance.
- Give your cleaner the bedroom count, the bathroom count, both times and the route in, naming any fob, buzzer or concierge step.
- Find out what they want from you in advance, and how they would deal with a guest who is still inside on arrival.
- Where one cleaner covers two properties in a day, add the journey across and agree the order of visits.
- After the first few turnovers, review both allowances and set them to what actually happened.
When the timing holds, the briefing is the next thing to get right. Airbnb host cleaning tips for London has a checklist you can paste in.
What does Ivory need to plan a London turnover?
Tell us when guests leave and the next ones arrive, which property it is and how we get in. Our Airbnb clean in London is built around the gap you give us.
Our London team has same-day slots where your gap allows. We answer within 30 minutes, from 8am to 10pm, every day of the week, and you see your price before you choose a day. Cleaners are vetted and arrive with their own eco products and equipment. Should anything be missed, let us know and we come back.
Questions people ask
Start from the headline gap, then subtract what you expect a late leaver and the way into the building to cost. Send your cleaner the bedrooms, the bathrooms and both times, and ask whether the remainder suits your property.
Ask what the route into the building is, whether a fob or code has to be set up for a cleaner, whether there is a lift, where rubbish goes and who to call if entry fails. Census 2021 counts purpose-built flats at 40% of London households, against 17% in England, which is why the building belongs in the plan.
It limits nights, not turnovers. Where the rule applies to you, shorter stays mean more changeovers inside the same 90 nights a calendar year.
The lost time comes off the start of the gap, because your check-in time does not shift. Settle your late check-out policy beforehand and tell your cleaner how you will pass on a delay.
Yes, where your gap allows it. Tell us the check-out and check-in times, the property and how we get in, and we reply within 30 minutes, any day of the week between 8am and 10pm.
Sources
Written by M.A. Published .
Keep reading
Airbnb host cleaning tips for London: the walk-through and the paperwork
Walk your property in the order a guest meets it, brief your cleaner in writing, and keep the safety and paperwork items GOV.UK lists for hosts on a separate list.
Airbnb cleaning fee cost in London: what sets a turnover price
What decides the price of an Airbnb turnover in London, how the 90-night cap and your stay length set how many you pay for, and how to set your fee.
Best Airbnb cleaning service London: what to check before you book
Four checks for comparing London Airbnb cleaners: fit to your gap, reply time and hours, how the price is built, and what happens when something is missed.
