Wow! I got an amazing response to my email last week, asking you for the business ideas you were most interested in.

In fact, I got so many emails, I’m still sifting through them and taking notes!

However, there was one that immediately jumped out at me, because it’s certainly something I’ve not covered before.

If you’ve ever dreamed of earning a second income without needing a website, products, or any online digital marketing skills… this could be up your street (quite literally!)

It’s a growing opportunity to earn a steady income from other people’s properties, with no upfront costs.

All you need is a smartphone, a bit of common sense, and a knack for staying organised.

You could start by earning around £300–£700 a month part time and scale this income up very easily into a small business worth £3,500-£4,800 or more per month!

Let’s take a look at…

How to Become an Airbnb Co-Host!

If you don’t already know, then Airbnb (airbnb.com) is an online platform that lets people (known as ‘hosts’) rent out their home on a short-term basis.

It launched in 2008 in San Francisco but now operates globally, including across the UK.

Through the Airbnb website (or phone app) hosts can list their properties… anything from a spare room or an entire flat to a shepherd’s hut or remote cottage… and set a rental price, depending on the time of year.

Airbnb users can browse the site to find something that suits them in the location they want to visit. They can read all the info, look at photos and reviews, then book their dates and pay!

So this makes it very easy for property owners to generate a regular income without needing to do their own online marketing or deal with tech stuff like booking systems and payment processing.

But there’s a downside.

You still have to manage your property so that everything is clean, properly furnished and functioning properly.

Not everyone wants to be glued to their phone answering messages from guests, arranging cleaners, or troubleshooting why the Wi-Fi won’t work.

Plus, there are increasing pressures on Airbnb hosts…

In 2024, the Government announced plans to introduce a national register for short-term lets, plus give local councils more power to require planning permission for holiday rentals.

This means more paperwork and admin for hosts.

So, increasingly, Airbnb owners are using ‘co-hosts’.

A co-host is someone who helps an Airbnb owner manage their listing. This could involve anything from messaging guests to handling tasks like cleaning, check-ins, or maintenance.

In 2024, Airbnb made this role an official part of the business by launching the Co-Host Network.

It connects owners who need help with people willing to provide it.

Which means you can now find work directly inside the Airbnb system rather than trawling through Facebook groups or getting word-of-mouth referrals.

Airbnb lets the host give you specific permissions and even direct payouts through its platform, so it’s all trackable and transparent.

This has created an exciting new side-income opportunity to become a freelance property manager… but without the red tape or the expense of starting your own company.

And no need for a website or to do any online marketing to find clients!

What’s Involved?

Here are the main tasks that you might need to do:

• Manage the listing – Update property descriptions, photos, pricing, and availability.
• Handle guest communications – Respond to queries, message guests during their stay, answer questions, and deal with any issues that pop up.
• Coordinate check-ins and check-outs – This might mean handling keys, arranging self-check-in systems, or greeting guests in person.
• Cleaning and maintenance – You might organise cleaners, check the property between stays, restock essentials, and arrange small repairs.
• Pricing and occupancy management – You might adjust nightly rates, manage discounts, and track occupancy to keep the listing performing well.

As you can see, there’s nothing creative involved here, so you don’t need any skills in writing, design or tech.

The Airbnb dashboard is really user-friendly and intuitive, so you shouldn’t have any problems there.

Plus you can also use AI tools like ChatGPT to cover some of the basic tasks like:

• Writing messages, emails and replies in good English
• Writing great listings that fit the format and style
• Planning tasks and scheduling your time.
• Pricing and management strategies

However, while it’s pretty easy, this isn’t necessarily for everyone.

It’s not ideal if you’re super-shy, dislike communicating with people, and have zero flexibility in terms of time.

But it could work very well for you indeed if you’re:

• Communicative – You reply quickly and politely, whether it’s a late-night message from a nervous guest or a scheduling query from the owner.
• Organised – You can use a calendar and be on time for appointments.
• Practical – You’re good at sorting out problems — whether that’s a broken kettle or a missing key (or you are happy to find reliable cleaners, handymen, and taxi firms, etc).

If that sounds like you… or close enough that you could fake it for a while until you gain confidence… then you could potentially do this.

One more thing you need to consider is…

Time and Commitment

How much time you spend on this, and when you do the work, depends on the level of service you offer and how many properties you manage.

For example, if you are co-host for a single listing… and you’re only handling guest communication and check-ins… you might expect to spend around one hour in a day on average.

(Note that most days are quiet – it’s just check-in and check-out days that get busy.)

However, if you take on a bigger management role — handling everything from pricing to maintenance — you could be working for a lot longer.

Here are some options…

• Minimal involvement

You could handle guest messages and update the listings, while the owner manages cleaning, maintenance, and pricing.

For this you could earn around 10% of booking revenue, maybe £150–£300 a month for a busy property.

You can do it in the evenings or weekends if you’re fitting it around another job as most communication is online anyway.

• Medium involvement

You manage communication and check-ins, coordinate cleaning, and also restock supplies while the owner handles pricing, listings, and major repairs.

For this you might earn 15–20% of booking revenue, which could mean £300–£600 per month per property.

Again, you could do a lot of this in hours you choose, unless the property requires you to be there when a guest arrives.

• Full-service management

You do it all, including listing optimisation, pricing, guest communication, cleaning, maintenance and check-ins. The owner is effectively absent.

For this you could earn 20–25% (or even more) of the booking revenue. A single busy property could earn you £700–£1,200 a month.

Of course, you can start small with minimal involvement, and build up at your own pace.

Some co-hosts manage multiple listings (five to ten or more), which means a lot more income – £3,500-£4,800 a month – but at this point it becomes more like a full time job.

That is, unless you delegate by hiring cleaners and maintenance pros, using automated AI tools and schedulers to run parts of it.

You could also partner up with a family member or friend to split the workload.

How to Get Started

The obvious method is to join Airbnb’s Co-Host Network here:

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/host/co-hosts

This is where hosts actively search for local co-hosts, meaning you don’t need to do any self-marketing.

You can set up a professional profile, list your experience (even if it’s just being organised and friendly) and set your rates.

However, there is one big obstacle….

As you’ll see if you click through to the co-host page, you need an airbnb account with an average co-host rating of 4.8 or above.

Which means you need to show some experience.

It’s a bit of a catch-22…

After all, how do you get experience and ratings if you need them to start in the first place?

Well, despite Airbnb’s official network, many people still find co-hosts the old-fashioned way, through word-of-mouth, either online or offline.

So I recommend – at first – using Facebook community groups or local property forums (or asking around your neighbourhood or workplace) to find a local airbnb owner.

You can then manage your first property under a simple written agreement with the owner.

They can add you as a co-host to their listing. Once that listing runs through Airbnb under their account, you’ll start building a track record you can later use to join the network.

There’s another potential way in, too…

If you happen to have a spare room or annexe you could consider joining Airbnb as a host for a short while to get a few reviews in.

How you get paid

If you are not yet on the co-hosting network, I recommend using Chat GPT to help you craft a written agreement between you and the owner.

This could include…

• What tasks you’ll handle (e.g., guest messaging, check-ins, cleaning coordination).
• How much you’ll be paid (percentage or fixed fee).
• When and how you’ll be paid.
• How costs like cleaning, repairs, or supplies will be covered.

Once you’ve agreed your fees, you can also ask Chat GPT to make you an invoice that includes:

• Your name or business name.
• The host’s name and property address.
• The service period (e.g., “Management for October 2025”).
• Amount owed and payment due date.
• Your bank or PayPal details.

If you become an official co-host on Airbnb’s network, you can get paid directly through their system.

The property owner adds you as a co-host and allocates you a percentage or flat fee. Once the booking is completed and the guest checks in, your share is automatically sent to you.

My Verdict…

Okay, so this isn’t a business that will make you millions, or allow you to sit back and do absolutely nothing while passive income rolls in.

But if you want a solid and reliable side income doing basic tasks that require little skill – and no qualifications or experience – then this could be for you.

How much you earn, and how much work is available will depend on where you live in the UK.

Airbnb’s are pretty much everywhere these days, but there are more intense areas with higher demand and higher profits – like the big cities, or popular holiday towns.

However, there’s no risk in trying this out…

Because the start-up cost is literally ZERO!

The only challenge is in finding an airbnb owner locally to get those first few reviews locked-in, so that you can join the co-host network.

If you have ever tried being a co-host and want to share some insights with me (and your fellow readers), do get in touch!