Short or long let? What Europe's rental data shows

With rents climbing, new registration duties arriving and the cost of running a property rising on both sides, landlords across Europe are weighing the short-let and long-let models more carefully than they have in years.

For a long time the comparison looked simple. Long-term rents rose sharply after the pandemic, and on headline income alone a traditional tenancy often looked like the safer number. But the full picture runs deeper than monthly rent, and the honest answer to the question “should I run short or long-term lets?” is now firmly “it depends.”

Location, specification and local rules push some properties clearly towards one model. Even then, the bigger variable is how well the property is managed and what return that management can realistically deliver.

What the numbers show

Rental growth has been broad but uneven across the EU. Rents rose in every member state in the year to the second quarter of 2026, up 3.0 per cent across the bloc, while house prices climbed faster at 4.7 per cent. Over the 2025 calendar year the spread between markets was wide.

Market	Long-term rent growth, 2025	EU position
Croatia	17.6%	Fastest rising
Greece	10.0%	High pressure
Hungary	9.8%	High pressure
EU average	3.1%	Baseline
Italy	3.8%	Near average
Spain	2.4%	Below average
France	2.3%	Below average

Short-let demand has grown at the same time. Guests spent 398.1 million nights in EU short-term rental accommodation booked through the major platforms in the third quarter of 2025 alone, up 8.7 per cent on the same period a year earlier, with demand heavily concentrated in a small number of regions.

Comparing the two models on these headline figures alone, many landlords would settle on a long let, and for some properties that remains the right call. The comparison only gets interesting once the costs beneath the rent line are added in.

The costs that rarely appear in a rent comparison

Two models that look close on monthly income can diverge sharply once flexibility, administration and the condition of the property are priced in.

The route back to vacant possession is one factor. As several European jurisdictions tighten tenant protections and extend minimum notice and tenancy terms, long-term letting in a growing number of markets carries less flexibility and more administration, from new tenancy rules to heavier record keeping.

The condition of a property when a long tenancy ends is the cost left out most often. When properties switch from traditional rentals, operators regularly report substantial refurbishment bills, covering everything from new flooring and higher grade furniture to full bathroom replacements and garden work. Short lets tend to wear differently, with regular cleaning and inspection between stays catching small problems before they become expensive ones. These costs rarely show up in a simple monthly rent comparison, but become very real when a tenancy ends and a property needs significant work before it can earn again.

Short-term letting is not a free upgrade

The short-let model carries its own regulatory and financial load, and that load is rising across Europe. From 20 May 2026, EU Regulation 2024/1028 requires member states to operate single digital entry points through which booking platforms report host and listing data, including registration numbers and nights booked. Several countries already run their own licensing, registration or cap regimes on top of this.

Consideration	What it means for a short-let operator
EU registration framework	Valid registration numbers required where local schemes exist, kept consistent across every channel
National and city rules	Licensing, zoning and night caps apply in many Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese and Greek markets
Platform data sharing	Nights booked reported to authorities monthly or quarterly, raising the bar on compliance
Financing	Many standard buy-to-let mortgage products restrict short lets, so specialist finance may be needed before converting

Taxes aside, lenders vary in what they will allow, and the administrative cost of staying compliant is now a standing line item rather than a one-off.

If you go short-term, go professional

None of this means every property should move to short-term letting. Location has a significant bearing on demand, and a property in an area with limited leisure or business trade will struggle to fill the calendar no matter how well it is run. Design and size matter too. A studio in an area that mostly attracts families will not perform like a home with ample communal space.

The sensible step is to assess this honestly before switching, looking at local demand, seasonality, licensing requirements and the practical reality of managing regular turnovers, ideally with input from someone who understands the local market.

Where a property does suit short lets, outcomes still vary widely with management decisions. Professionally managed short lets can command stronger rates and occupancy, and scale makes it easier to grow margins as a portfolio expands, lowering the cost of laundry, maintenance and guest service. That standard of management has a price. Fees typically run at 15 to 20 per cent of revenue plus VAT, and short-let income is more seasonal than long-term rent, so a poorly run listing with weak reviews can easily underperform a traditional tenancy.

A strong management approach can improve the numbers on a suitable property, but it will not rescue one that was never right for the market, and higher furnishing and setup costs should be budgeted from the start.

What actually decides the return

Both models can be genuinely profitable, and both have the capacity to fail. What separates them is the work behind the numbers: understanding the local market, budgeting properly for the costs each model brings, and putting a management approach in place that can deliver the return being targeted.

Landlords who set a strategy once and leave it alone tend to see returns drift, whether that is a long tenancy left unreviewed for years or a short-let listing still running on pricing and presentation from three years ago. Whichever route a property takes, the stronger discipline is to review pricing, costs and management regularly and treat the decision as ongoing rather than something settled once and forgotten. That is the work that determines the return.