The Standard
Serviced accommodation is a furnished home let for short or medium stays with services included: cleaning, linen, wifi and someone to call. The services are the product, so the management is judged on them.
Housekeeping to a standard. Railton-Meeks arranges cleaning and linen for every changeover and for scheduled housekeeping on longer stays, with hotel-standard linen, at least three sets per bed, and photographic sign-off.
Guests handled. Vetting, identity checks and guest records, house rules, check-in, and a local out-of-hours number answered by a person.
The property looked after. Maintenance through tradespeople we already use, an inventory kept current, and an itemised monthly statement.
Who Books
A serviced property in Manchester draws on three pools, and a managed unit can take all three across a year.
Old Trafford and Etihad fixtures, Co-op Live and AO Arena dates, graduation weekends and the Christmas Markets, booked through the platforms.
Conferences at Manchester Central, and employers in Spinningfields, MediaCityUK and on Oxford Road. Corporate stays of 30 nights or more run on a company agreement.
Families on a chain break, waiting on a new build or relocating, staying a month or more on a serviced accommodation agreement with scheduled housekeeping.
Longer stays mean fewer changeovers and a steadier calendar; short stays carry the event-week rates. We price and accept bookings to balance the two for each property.
Compliance
Letting to paying guests sits under a different set of rules from a long let, and the gaps are where owners get caught.
Fire safety. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order applies to paying-guest accommodation, and the fire risk assessment must be recorded in writing. In an apartment block, guests must be told the building’s own fire strategy.
Rates or council tax. A self-catering property moves to business rates only if it is available to let for at least 140 nights and actually let for at least 70 nights in the last 12 months. Booking records are the evidence.
Records. The name and nationality of every guest aged 16 or over, kept for at least 12 months.
The register. England’s short-term let register is due to be fully operational by March 2027.
Each obligation is kept as a line in the property’s compliance register, with its evidence and review date. The checks we make before you sign are on our short let management page.
Holiday Lets
Holiday let management works the same way for a cottage near Knutsford or Prestbury as for a city-centre apartment: the listing stays on your account, Railton-Meeks arranges cleaning and linen, and you see every booking on the statement.
Owners who have used holiday letting agents elsewhere usually ask us three things — whose account the listing is on, whether there is a minimum term, and whether VAT is added. The answers are yours, no, and no.
Who Manages It
An ARLA Propertymark member firm founded in 2006 by Tara Meeks, a MARLA-qualified landlord. Our property manager, Sylwia Pagorska, is MARLA-qualified.
Several apartments in one block, or a small portfolio across South Manchester, managed on one calendar and reported to you property by property every month.
Short-stay terms for nightly guests, a serviced accommodation agreement for stays of 30 nights or more, and a company agreement for corporate bookings.
Listed on your own accounts, so the reviews stay yours. 12% of the nightly rent, no VAT, no minimum term, 30 days’ notice and no exit fee when you leave.
The questions owners and investors ask before handing over a serviced unit.
12% of the nightly rent, with no VAT, plus a one-off £250 set-up fee and £160 for photography and an inventory per property. Each property has its own cleaning fee, paid by the guest. The full breakdown is on our fees page.
Yes, provided the lease and the building's own rules permit short letting for each one. We check before you sign.
Yes. We manage holiday lets and serviced accommodation on the same terms across Manchester and the Cheshire corridor.
Only if it is available to let for at least 140 nights and actually let for at least 70 nights in the last 12 months. Until then it stays on council tax. We keep the booking records that evidence it.
Yes. Families between homes stay on a serviced accommodation agreement with scheduled housekeeping, and companies book through a company agreement.
Send the postcode, how many units, and how they are let today.
We will check each one is suitable — the lease, mortgage, planning and insurance — before you sign or pay anything.
