Rent-to-rent is a straightforward arrangement described badly by most of the internet. This page sets out what the mechanism is, how a unit is assessed before it is taken, and the two routes into it.
A property is taken from a landlord on a company let, furnished to a defined standard, and operated as short-stay accommodation. The landlord receives a fixed monthly sum with no voids and no management to think about. The operator keeps the difference between that sum and what the property earns.
Two things follow from that structure. The capital required at entry is materially lower than a purchase, because there is no deposit against a mortgage and no stamp duty. And the time to income is shorter, because there is no completion to wait for.
Set against buy-to-let, the trade is legible. Buy-to-let holds an appreciating asset and asks for a large sum up front and a long wait. Rent-to-rent holds a contract rather than a title, asks for far less at the start, and reaches income faster. It is also operationally demanding in a way a mortgage is not.
That last point is the whole reason the firm offers two routes rather than one.
Three tests are applied before a property is taken. A unit that fails any one of them is not taken, regardless of how well it presents.
A unit must break even at fifty per cent occupancy. Anything that only works above sixty is a bet on a good year rather than a business. The strong months are there to build a reserve, not to rescue a weak assumption.
Headline nightly rates are not revenue. Platform commission, cleaning, linen, utilities, licensing and management all sit between the two. Every model is built net of those, before it is compared with the rent payable to the landlord.
Location is the only decision that cannot be reversed. Furniture, pricing, photography and management can all be changed after the fact. The building cannot be moved, so the area is settled before anything else is.
The calculator applies the same fifty per cent test we apply internally. It is deliberately unflattering.
The mechanism is the same in both. What differs is who does the work, and how much of your week it takes.
Structured video training that takes you through the full sequence, and the Knowledge Vault, our library of operational documents. Agreements, checklists, models, standards and frameworks, in the form we use ourselves.
You source the units, you negotiate with the landlords, and you run the operation. We are the reference behind you while you do it.
Wilton sources the property, negotiates the agreement, sets the unit up and operates it on your behalf. You retain the portfolio and the income without the sourcing calls, the viewings or the day-to-day management.
For professionals whose time, rather than capital or intent, is the binding constraint.
Which route suits you is a question of available time and of whether you want the skill as well as the asset. It is settled in the consultation, not before it.
The same material underpins both routes. In one you use it. In the other we use it for you.
Our library of operational documents. Company let agreements, landlord correspondence, compliance checklists, deal models, staging standards and supplier lists, maintained as they change.
The full sequence recorded and ordered, from company formation and compliance through to sourcing, negotiation, staging and the first live listing. Worked examples rather than theory.
Units are modelled against the same three tests before anyone commits. A significant part of the value of the firm is the properties we advise clients to walk away from.
Identifying suitable stock, approaching landlords and agreeing terms. Carried out by the firm under the done-for-you route, and supported under done-with-you.
Insurance, registrations, the company let itself, safety requirements, furnishing to a defined standard, and the listing across the relevant channels.
Pricing, guest management, cleaning and maintenance, reporting. Under the done-for-you route this stays with Wilton for the life of the arrangement.
What the firm charges depends on the route, the scale intended, and how much of the work sits with us rather than with you. Those are not things a webpage can establish.
So fees are set in the consultation, once we both understand what is actually being proposed. If the number is wrong for you, you will know inside forty minutes, and neither of us will have wasted a month finding out.
We also hold a minimum. The firm is not built for people looking for the cheapest way in, and we would rather be clear about that here than halfway through a conversation.
Forty minutes on your position, the capital you have set aside, the time you can give it, and which of the two routes is appropriate.
If neither route suits you, we will say so on the call.
The questions we are most often asked before that call are answered here.