How payments and commission work
From your tenant’s pocket to your bank account: the exact timeline of your payments, what commission applies to your country and plan, and how to make sure nothing delays your first transfer.
The first payment
When your tenant sent the booking request, they authorized Spotahome to charge the First Payment. The First Payment is 30 days’ rent (31 days if the contract starts on the 1st of a 31-day month), and one week’s rent in the United Kingdom. The charge happened automatically the moment you accepted. Spotahome holds the money for safety until the move-in actually happens, then transfers it to you within 48 hours of the tenant moving in — if move-in falls on a weekend or holiday, the transfer goes out the next business day.
Why the 48 hours? It’s the window in which the tenant confirms the property matches the listing. It protects them from surprises — and it protects you, because a tenant who has moved in and confirmed is a tenancy that has truly started.
Spotahome’s success fee is collected from this first transfer. Nothing was charged before; nothing extra is charged after.
What the fee looks like
One rule: you pay only when a booking completes — an expired or declined request costs nothing, and you always see the exact fee before you accept. The fee is a percentage of the total contract value, meaning the rent for the whole stay you agreed with the tenant. It is charged once, when the booking completes, and deducted from your first transfer. The rate depends on your country, and on the plan you are on:
| Country | Spotahome Plus fee |
|---|---|
| Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Portugal, Ireland | 8% |
| Germany, United Kingdom | 10% |
Other plans carry different rates. Your exact rate, for your country and your plan, is in the Plans section of your landlord panel, and you always see the exact fee on a request before you accept it.
At 8%, a €1,150 flat booked for 10 months has a contract value of €11,500 and a fee of €920, so your first transfer is €230 instead of €1,150. From then on you receive the full rent every month. If the fee is ever larger than one month’s rent, it is spread across the following transfers. This is an example: here the First Payment equals one month’s rent of €1,150.
A worked example
- Monthly rent — €620
- Booking length — 3 months
- Total contract value — €1,860
- Spotahome Plus commission (8%) — €148.80
- First payout to you (First Payment minus commission) — €471.20
- Following monthly payouts (months 2 and 3) — €620 each
These figures are an example — in it the First Payment equals one month’s rent of €620. Figures rounded where shown; your panel always displays the exact amounts for each booking.
Every month after
Spotahome collects the rent and pays you on the 5th business day of every month — whether or not the tenant has paid. If the tenant defaults, you’re covered for up to 12 months while the situation is resolved. That regularity is the single biggest reason landlords upgrade.
Cash-flow tip: the fee is concentrated at the start of the tenancy, so your first transfer is the small one. Budget the start as the “fee month” — after that, the full rent arrives on schedule.
Your payout setup checklist
Before move-in day, confirm these five things:
- Bank account (IBAN) is entered in your landlord panel, in the account holder’s name
- Billing details — full name or company name, address, and tax ID (NIF/VAT) — are complete and match the bank account
- Account holder matches the listing owner. If the property is managed for someone else, set the payee correctly now, not after the transfer fails
- Your email is current — payment confirmations and invoices go there
- You know when you get paid. Spotahome collects the rent and transfers it to you on the 5th business day of each month
Invoices and taxes
Spotahome issues an invoice for its success fee — you’ll find it in your panel, useful for deducting the fee as a business expense. Rental income itself is declared like any other tenancy in your country; if this is your first time renting, a one-off consultation with a local tax adviser is money well spent.
Keep everything in one folder: booking confirmation, contract, inventory photos, Spotahome invoice. Future you — at tax time or in a dispute — will be grateful.
Get payment-ready
Check your payout details so nothing delays your first transfer.