Short-term rental terms, in plain English.

Accommodation revenue divided by the number of nights booked. It tells you what a booked night earns, not how many nights you sell.

Airbnb’s protection package for hosts, which includes host damage protection and host liability insurance. Airbnb states that host damage protection is not an insurance policy, so it does not replace the owner’s own cover.

The reference nightly rate a pricing tool moves up and down from. If the base price is wrong, every adjusted price built on it is wrong too.

A host who lets accommodation as a business rather than as a private person. Under the EU Digital Services Act, Airbnb asks business hosts for verified business details, such as name, address and registry number, and shows them to guests.

In Belgium and the Netherlands: A co-hosting or management company is typically a business host, so expect to provide these details for the listings you run.

Software that connects one property to several booking platforms through their official connections and keeps rates, availability and bookings in sync. Unlike a calendar link, it can push prices and restrictions as well as blocked dates.

A fixed charge per stay that the host adds to cover cleaning. On Airbnb it counts towards the amount the service fee is calculated on, so it is not passed through untouched.

A person a listing owner adds to an Airbnb listing to help run it, with a chosen level of access to the listing, calendar and messages. The owner and co-host agree between themselves who does what and how the co-host is paid.

Airbnb’s service that helps listing owners find experienced local co-hosts. It is available in selected countries only; the guide lists where it runs.

The amount a management commission is calculated on, such as gross booking value, revenue after platform fees, or revenue after cleaning and other costs. The same percentage earns very different amounts depending on the base, so it belongs in the agreement.

The EU directive that requires digital platforms to collect and verify information about the people who earn through them, including hosts, and report it to the tax authorities. It is a tax reporting rule and is separate from short-term rental registration.

A request for payment for damage caused during a stay. On Airbnb you ask the guest through the Resolution Center first and can involve Airbnb if they do not pay; both Airbnb and Booking.com set a deadline after checkout, so document damage straight away.

A reservation made with the host or manager outside the booking platforms. There is no platform fee, but the host handles payment, deposits, cancellations and consumer rules, and platform damage protection does not apply.

Two confirmed reservations for the same nights in the same unit. When a unit is listed on more than one platform, it usually happens because a calendar link has not yet passed a new booking to the other platform.

Nightly rates that change automatically with demand, season, weekday, booking lead time and local events, within limits the host sets. A tool applies the rules; the host still decides the base price and the minimum.

A document showing that tourist accommodation meets the applicable fire safety standards. In Flanders it is one of the basic conditions tourist accommodation must meet before it may receive guests.

In Belgium and the Netherlands: Which fire safety standards apply in Flanders depends on the type of accommodation and the number of rooms, and getting the certificate can require other inspection certificates first, for example for heating and technical installations.

The total guests pay for their stays, including fees the host charges such as cleaning, before platform fees come off and excluding taxes collected for authorities. Always check whether a figure you are given is gross booking value or payout.

An Airbnb badge for homes that guests love most, based on ratings, reviews and reliability, such as the host cancellation rate. Airbnb evaluates eligible homes regularly and can change the criteria.

The person or business that offers a stay on a booking platform and whose account the listing belongs to. On Airbnb the listing owner can add co-hosts to help, but the listing stays theirs.

Airbnb’s fee structure in which the entire service fee is deducted from the host’s payout and guests pay no separate Airbnb service fee. VAT may apply to the fee; the current percentage and which hosts it applies to are in the guide.

A calendar link that platforms use to share blocked dates with each other. It passes availability only, not prices or guest details, and imported calendars refresh on a schedule rather than instantly.

A lower rate for dates that are still unbooked close to arrival. It trades some price for occupancy on nights that would otherwise stay empty.

The Flemish decree on tourist accommodation. Anyone letting tourist accommodation in Flanders must notify Toerisme Vlaanderen and meet basic conditions, including a fire safety certificate and fire insurance.

In Belgium and the Netherlands: The decree covers Flanders only. Brussels and Wallonia have their own rules, and Flemish cities can add requirements such as planning rules, which Toerisme Vlaanderen does not check.

The contract between a property owner and a manager. It sets out the services, the commission and its base, which costs are passed on, who is responsible for what, who owns the listing account, and how the arrangement ends.

A manager’s fee expressed as a percentage of an agreed revenue base. It ties the manager’s income to what the unit earns.

Furnished letting for longer than a holiday stay but shorter than an ordinary lease, typically one month to several months. Which rules apply depends on national tenancy and short-term rental law.

The fewest nights a guest must book. Hosts often set it per season or per arrival day to avoid short gaps between bookings.

A legal maximum number of nights per year that a home may be let to tourists. Caps are set locally, differ between cities and change over time; the guide has the current figures.

In Belgium and the Netherlands: Amsterdam combines a night cap with a registration number, a holiday rental permit and a notification before each stay.

Nights booked divided by nights available in a period, shown as a percentage. It tells you how often a unit is booked, not what each night earns.

A gap between two bookings that is shorter than the minimum stay, so no guest can book it. It stays empty unless a gap rule lowers the minimum stay for those nights.

A booking platform, such as Airbnb, Booking.com or Vrbo, that lists accommodation for guests to book and charges a fee or commission for it.

The regular statement a manager sends an owner, usually monthly: bookings, revenue, fees, costs, occupancy, average daily rate, reviews and any issues. It is how the owner checks the commission and the results.

The number of complete linen and towel sets kept per bed or per unit. Enough sets mean a turnover never has to wait for laundry to come back.

Booking.com’s service that takes the guest’s payment and transfers the money to the property, instead of the property charging the guest itself. What it costs on top of the commission is covered in the guide.

The money a platform transfers to the host for a booking after its fees and any adjustments come off. When and how it is paid differs per platform and payment method.

Software that runs reservations, guest messages, cleaning tasks and owner statements in one place, often with a channel manager built in. On Airbnb, hosts who connect through property management software can be placed on a different fee structure.

The home where you mainly live and are registered. Some cities only allow short-term letting of a principal residence, or limit how long it may be let each year.

In Belgium and the Netherlands: Amsterdam requires holiday rental hosts to live at the address and be registered there, and Brussels limits how long a tourist residence that is the operator’s main residence may be open each year. The guide has the current limits.

A unique number an authority gives a short-term rental unit where registration is required. Under Regulation (EU) 2024/1028, platforms must let hosts display it on the listing and check it.

In Belgium and the Netherlands: Amsterdam requires a registration number in every advertisement and listing, and each region and country sets its own procedure.

The EU regulation on data collection and sharing for short-term rentals. It sets common rules for registration where member states require it, checks by platforms and data sharing with authorities, but leaves the decision whether letting is allowed to national and local rules.

Leasing a home long-term and letting it short-term, keeping the difference as profit. The tenant carries the rent in empty months and needs the lease, the landlord and local rules to allow it.

In Belgium and the Netherlands: Tenancy law restricts subletting. Under the Flemish tenancy decree (Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet, article 32), a tenant who rents a home as their main residence may not sublet all of it, and may sublet part of it only with the landlord’s consent. Check the lease and local tenancy law before you plan arbitrage anywhere else.

Accommodation revenue divided by the number of nights available, which equals average daily rate multiplied by occupancy. It shows how well price and occupancy work together.

The predictable swing in demand and prices across the year, the week, holidays and local events. A projection that ignores it overstates or understates what a unit earns.

Arrival without meeting anyone, using a lockbox, smart lock, keypad or key exchange point. It frees the host from fixed arrival times but puts clear instructions first.

Subsidised Belgian vouchers for household help in your own home. They may not be used for professional activities, which include cleaning a room you rent out.

In Belgium and the Netherlands: Cleaning a short-term rental therefore needs a cleaning company, employed staff or another legal arrangement, not service vouchers.

Running someone else’s short-stay property for a fee, usually a commission on what it earns. The work covers the listing, pricing, guests, cleaning and reporting to the owner.

The national electronic channel through which platforms send short-term rental activity data to authorities, and through which authorities send requests to platforms, under Regulation (EU) 2024/1028.

An Airbnb status for listing owners of home listings who meet thresholds for ratings, response rate, cancellations and completed stays at regular evaluations. Co-hosts are not evaluated for Superhost status, even when they run the listing.

A local tax on overnight stays, usually charged per person per night or as a set amount per unit, and set by the municipality. Who collects and pays it depends on the city and, in some places, on the platform.

In Belgium and the Netherlands: Rates and collection differ per municipality, so check the official page of the city where the unit is; the guide links them.

The clean, restock and check between one guest’s checkout and the next guest’s check-in. It is the most time-critical routine in short-term rental operations.

VAT charged on providing furnished accommodation for short stays, where that letting falls under VAT. Whether it applies and at which rate depends on national rules, which the guide keeps current.

In Belgium and the Netherlands: In the Netherlands, short-stay accommodation such as holiday homes falls under the VAT rate for accommodation (logies). In Belgium, the VAT rate for furnished accommodation applies where the letting is subject to VAT, which depends on how the accommodation is offered.

The association of co-owners of an apartment building: VME in Belgium, VvE in the Netherlands. Its statutes and house rules can restrict short-term letting, so check them before taking on an apartment.

In Belgium and the Netherlands: Amsterdam notes that a holiday rental in a building with a VvE may need the VvE’s permission.