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A holiday let on the Dorset coast earns most of its money in a short summer, so pricing is a year-round job of charging fully for the weeks that sell themselves and filling the ones that do not. The method is a base rate, seasonal bands, uplift for school and bank holidays, minimum stays that change with the season, and a weekly review against how fast dates are booking. Measure the result as revenue per available night, not occupancy.
The rates in this guide are illustrations with round numbers. They are not Sea Breeze figures and not a forecast for your property. Our own numbers are marked where they belong.
Base rate and seasonal bands
Set the base rate for the quietest period you will accept bookings in, then build bands above it. On this coast a workable structure has four or five bands.
| Band | Typical dates | What drives demand |
|---|---|---|
| Peak | School summer holidays, late July to the end of August | Families booking whole weeks, beach demand |
| High | Easter, May half term, the two May bank holidays, October half term | Short breaks and school holiday weeks |
| Shoulder | June, early July, September | Couples, retired guests, weekends |
| Festive | Christmas and New Year | Groups and families, fixed-date stays |
| Low | November to March, excluding the above | Weekend breaks, visiting friends and family, work stays |
The dates move each year. BCP Council publishes school term and holiday dates, and GOV.UK lists the bank holidays for England. Put both in your calendar a year ahead, because families book summer weeks early.
Anchor each band to what comparable properties nearby achieve for the same dates, not what they ask. A calendar full of unsold listings at a high rate tells you what does not sell.
Events, bank holidays and the Air Festival
Uplift belongs on nights where demand is known: bank holiday weekends, Christmas and New Year, and confirmed large events. Price those nights higher and set a minimum stay that keeps the weekend whole.
Do not plan around the Bournemouth Air Festival. BCP Council funded its last festival in 2024, and on 18 June 2025 the council's Cabinet agreed to stop further work on an Air Festival for 2026 onwards. If an organiser announces a future event, add uplift then. Until then, price late August on the school holiday and the summer bank holiday.
Minimum stays by season
The minimum stay decides the shape of the calendar. Too long and weekend guests go elsewhere. Too short and one-night stays break up weeks that would have sold whole.
- Peak. Longer minimums, often a week or close to it, with changeover days that match what families book.
- High and festive. Three or four nights, with bank holiday weekends sold as a block.
- Shoulder and low. Two nights, and one night where a gap would otherwise stay empty.
Relax the minimum as the date approaches. A seven-night rule that still has a five-night hole a fortnight out should give way.
Last-minute, early-bird and gap nights
Last-minute. Unsold nights lose all their value at midnight. A discount in the final days before arrival is reasonable in the shoulder and low seasons. In peak weeks, cutting the price late mainly trains guests to wait.
Early-bird. A small reward for booking months ahead secures summer weeks and gives you cash flow. Keep it modest: peak weeks usually sell anyway.
Gap nights. One or two nights stranded between bookings rarely sell at the full rate. Lower the minimum stay for those dates only and price them to sell.
Weekly against nightly. Weekly rates suit peak family demand and reduce changeovers. Outside the summer, nightly pricing with a length-of-stay discount usually fills more nights. Channel extranets and pricing tools generally let you set a length-of-stay discount.
Cleaning fees and channel fees
A separate cleaning fee keeps the nightly rate competitive in search results, but it weighs heavily on a short stay. Many owners set a modest fee and recover the rest in the nightly rate, or reduce it for longer stays.
Channel fees come out before you see any money, so price for them.
| Channel | What it charges, from its own pages | Charged on |
|---|---|---|
| Airbnb, single fee | Most hosts pay 15.5%, remaining hosts typically 14% to 16%, deducted from the payout | Nightly price and any fees the host charges, excluding taxes |
| Airbnb, split fee (being phased out) | Most hosts pay 3%, and the guest pays a separate service fee | As above |
| Booking.com | A set percentage stated in your accommodation agreement, varying by country and property type. Marketing programmes such as Preferred Partner can add to it | Room rate plus additional fees such as cleaning. Not local taxes |
Airbnb says it is moving all home hosts to the single fee, and a host who has switched cannot move back. On a single-fee listing the guest sees one all-in price, so the nightly rate you set carries the whole fee. What a manager's commission is charged on is set out in agency commission explained.
Illustration only. A nightly rate of £150 on a three-night stay with a £60 cleaning fee is £510. At a 15.5% single fee the host payout is about £431.
The winter switch to mid-term lets
From November to March, stays of several weeks can fill a calendar that short breaks will not: contractors, people between homes, visiting professionals. The income is lower per night and steadier, with fewer changeovers.
The legal line matters. A letting granted for the purpose of a holiday is excluded from assured tenancy status by Schedule 1 to the Housing Act 1988. A guest who occupies the property as their only or main home may be an assured tenant whatever the booking was called, and since the Renters' Rights Act took effect on 1 May 2026 an assured tenancy in England is periodic with no fixed end. Check the purpose of each longer stay, use the right agreement and take advice before accepting one. Our holiday let regulations guide covers the other rules, and stays of more than 28 nights do not count towards the 70 let nights in the business rates test.
Measure revenue per available night
Occupancy alone flatters a calendar filled cheaply. Revenue per available night divides the rental income for a period by the nights the property was available.
Illustration only. Over a 30-night month, property A lets 27 nights at £90, which is £2,430, or £81 per available night. Property B lets 21 nights at £130, which is £2,730, or £91 per available night, on six fewer occupied nights.
Track it by band and compare it with the same weeks last year.
When Sea Breeze manages a property, pricing is reviewed daily against peak summer, school holidays, events and the weather, with a mix of short and mid-term lets in winter. See what our holiday let management includes, and read holiday let tax after the FHL regime for what happens to the income afterwards.
