Corporate Housing UK: Every Question Answered (2026)

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Overview

Corporate housing is a furnished home, flat or serviced apartment that a business books for an employee, a relocating hire or a project team, usually for a month or longer. It sits between a hotel and an ordinary tenancy: more space and a kitchen than a hotel room, without a 12-month lease or a household setting up utilities.

The short answer

What it is: a fully furnished, bills-included home booked by or for a company, typically for stays of one to twelve months.
Who uses it: relocating employees, project and site teams, consultants, insurance and temporary housing placements, and staff between homes.
What it costs: in London, a furnished two-bed corporate let is commonly £2,500 to £4,500 a month (Houst, June 2026). The average UK private rent was £1,406 a month in September 2026 (ONS), and corporate lets carry a premium over that for furniture, bills and flexibility.
The legal point most people miss: a tenancy granted to a limited company is not an assured tenancy, so the Renters' Rights Act 2025 changes that took effect on 1 May 2026 do not apply to company lets in the same way (Withers, NRLA).
The tax point most people miss: an employee's accommodation at a temporary workplace is generally deductible, but a workplace stops being temporary if they are expected to spend 40% or more of their working time there for more than 24 months (HMRC EIM32080).
The VAT point: in hotel-type accommodation, stays beyond 28 nights qualify for a reduced-value VAT rule, which can bring the effective rate down to about 4% from night 29 (HMRC Notice 709/3).

Corporate housing, serviced apartments and hotels compared

Frequently asked questions

	Hotel	Serviced apartment	Corporate let (furnished house or flat)
Typical stay	1 to 14 nights	1 night to several months	1 to 12 months
Kitchen	Rarely	Yes	Yes
Bills and Wi-Fi	Included	Included	Usually included
Cleaning	Daily	Weekly or on request	Usually on request
Rooms for a team	One per person	One or two bedrooms	Two to five bedrooms common
Contract	Booking terms	Booking terms or licence	Booking terms or company let agreement

What is corporate housing?+

Corporate housing is temporary furnished accommodation booked for business reasons rather than a holiday. It includes serviced apartments, furnished flats and whole houses let to a company or to an employee whose employer is paying. The defining features are full furnishing, bills included, flexible length of stay and a booking made, or paid for, by a business.

Who uses corporate housing in the UK?+

The main users are employees relocating to a new city, staff on secondments, project and construction teams working away from home, consultants and auditors on long engagements, insurers housing policyholders after a flood or fire, and people between house sale and purchase. Serviced apartment operators reported an 8% year-on-year rise in enquiries from companies relocating staff to the UK in April 2025, according to the Global Serviced Apartment Industry Report covered by Business Travel News Europe.

How much does corporate housing cost in 2026?+

It depends heavily on location and size. Houst's June 2026 London guide puts a furnished two-bed corporate let at roughly £2,500 to £4,500 a month, with about £3,000 a typical benchmark in a central borough, rising to £3,500 to £5,000 in Kensington, Chelsea and Mayfair. Outside London, the ordinary rental market is a useful floor: the ONS put average monthly private rent at £1,406 for the UK, £848 for Wales and £1,011 for Scotland in September 2026. Expect a corporate let to cost more than the local unfurnished rent, because furniture, bills, cleaning and short notice are built in. For per-person nightly rates on crew bookings, see our 2026 contractor accommodation price guide.

Does corporate housing cost less than a hotel?+

For short stays, often not. For a month or more, usually yes once you count what is included. A hotel charges per room per night, so a team of four needs four rooms. A four-bedroom house is one booking, has a kitchen that removes the cost of eating out every night, and has parking and laundry. The more people and the longer the stay, the larger the gap tends to be. The contractor accommodation vs hotels guide works through the comparison for crews.

What is the difference between corporate housing and a serviced apartment?+

A serviced apartment is one type of corporate housing: usually a flat in a managed building with hotel-style services such as reception and regular cleaning. Corporate housing is the wider category and also covers ordinary furnished flats and family houses let for business use, which tend to have more bedrooms and parking but fewer on-site services.

What is a company let?+

A company let is a tenancy where the tenant is a company rather than a person, and the company places its employees in the property. The NRLA notes that where the tenant is an incorporated body, the agreement creates a non-assured tenancy, and that its company let agreement is not suitable for letting to individuals.

Does the Renters' Rights Act apply to corporate housing?+

Mostly not to company lets. The Act's main changes took effect on 1 May 2026, converting assured shorthold tenancies into periodic tenancies and abolishing section 21 for assured tenancies. Withers' summary of the Act lists lettings to companies among the tenancies outside the assured regime, which "remain unchanged". Short stays booked as holiday or serviced accommodation are generally outside the regime too. Where an individual employee signs a tenancy in their own name for their main home, the new rules apply in full. Our Renters' Rights Act guide for contractor accommodation covers the edge cases; take legal advice for anything unusual.

What is the minimum stay for corporate housing?+

There is no legal minimum. Many corporate housing providers and monthly-rental platforms set a minimum of one month, while serviced apartments often take bookings from one night. Whole furnished houses used by project teams are commonly booked Monday to Friday or by the week; see our Monday to Friday accommodation guide.

Can corporate housing be booked for less than 90 nights in London?+

Yes, but London has a specific rule for whole homes. Under the Deregulation Act 2015, a residential home in London can be let as short-term accommodation for no more than 90 nights a year without planning permission. Houst notes that stays of 30 nights or more are not counted against the cap, while stays under 21 consecutive nights are. Purpose-built serviced apartments with the right planning use are not affected. Ask the provider which applies to the property.

Is VAT charged on corporate housing?+

It depends on what is being supplied. Hotel-type accommodation, which can include serviced apartments, is standard-rated at 20%, but HMRC's long-stay rule in VAT Notice 709/3 lets the provider charge VAT only on the facilities element from night 29 of a continuous stay. At least 20% of the charge must be treated as facilities, so the effective VAT rate on the total is at least 4% from that point. Holiday cottages and seasonal lets do not get the reduced-value treatment. A residential company let of an ordinary house is generally exempt from VAT. Smaller private hosts below the VAT registration threshold do not charge VAT at all.

Is corporate housing a taxable benefit for the employee?+

Not usually when it is for business travel. HMRC treats accommodation needed because an employee is working at a temporary workplace as a deductible travel expense rather than a benefit. The position changes if the accommodation becomes the employee's home or the workplace becomes permanent, in which case the living accommodation benefit rules can apply, including an additional charge on property costing more than £75,000 (Tax Insider). Relocation packages have their own rules. Employers should check with their payroll adviser.

What is the HMRC 24-month rule?+

A workplace counts as temporary only while the employee is not expected to work there for more than 24 months. HMRC's manual (EIM32080) says a workplace becomes permanent if the employee spends, or is likely to spend, 40% or more of their working time there over a period that lasts, or is likely to last, more than 24 months. From the point it is clear the rule will be broken, travel and accommodation there become ordinary commuting and stop being deductible. Our lodging allowance and tax relief guide explains how this works for construction workers.

Who pays council tax and bills in corporate housing?+

In most corporate housing the provider pays utilities, Wi-Fi and council tax and builds them into the price. Houst notes that most London corporate lets include utilities, council tax, Wi-Fi and a TV licence, and that bills-inclusive pricing carries a premium of about 10% to 15% over bills-exclusive rates. Under a company let, the agreement should state who is liable for each bill. Always confirm in writing before booking.

What should a corporate housing property include?+

At a minimum: beds made up with quality linen and towels, a fully equipped kitchen, a washing machine, reliable Wi-Fi, heating that works, and a desk or table usable for work. For teams, add a bed per person rather than a sofa bed, parking for every vehicle, secure storage for tools if needed, and a clear check-in process for people arriving at different times. Our checklist on writing an accommodation request that gets offers lists what to specify.

How far in advance should corporate housing be booked?+

As early as dates are known, especially near large infrastructure projects and in cities with tight rental markets, where good-sized furnished houses are booked out first. Short-notice bookings are possible, but the choice narrows quickly when a team needs four or more bedrooms in one place.

Can you negotiate the price of corporate housing?+

Often, yes, particularly for stays of a month or more, for repeat bookings and outside peak season. Hosts value a guaranteed long booking because it removes empty nights and changeovers. Offer2Stay is built around this: a business posts what it needs and verified hosts send their best offers, and the booker can name a price or counter. Our guide to negotiating accommodation rates for work crews covers what to ask for.

How do I find corporate housing near a specific site or office?+

Search by the exact location, not just the nearest city, because a house 10 minutes from the site often beats a city-centre flat 40 minutes away. Specialist agents, serviced apartment operators, holiday let owners who take longer stays and reverse marketplaces all hold different stock. You can browse contractor and corporate accommodation by area or post an enquiry with dates, headcount and budget and let hosts respond. Offer2Stay charges guests no booking fees.

What paperwork does a business need for corporate housing?+

For short stays booked on a platform, the booking confirmation and a VAT invoice where applicable are usually enough. For a company let, expect a written agreement naming the company as tenant and listing the occupants, an inventory, the deposit terms, who pays which bills, and the notice period. Keep a record of which employee stayed where and for how long, because that supports the tax treatment.

Corporate Housing in the UK: Every Question Answered (2026)

Overview

The short answer

Corporate housing, serviced apartments and hotels compared

Tell hosts what you are looking for

Frequently asked questions

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