Short-term or long-term letting in Prague: comparing returns honestly

The pitch for short-term letting is a screenshot: a nightly rate multiplied by thirty, set beside a monthly rent. It is a flattering comparison because it assumes every night is booked, every guest pays that rate and nobody cleans the flat. Real owners find out in the second quarter, when the calendar has holes and the cleaning invoices are larger than expected.

This article builds a plain model of one flat let both ways. Every number is hypothetical, chosen to show the mechanism, and none is a market rent or a nightly rate. Replace them with quotes from your own building and a manager you trust. For the legal side of short lets, see Airbnb in Prague: what is legal and what is not and the rules for apartment owners.

The assumptions

Take a flat that could be let either way. For the long let: CZK 25,000 a month, with one month empty in the year while the tenant changes. For the short let: CZK 2,000 a night, an average stay of three nights, a platform commission of 15% of the booking, cleaning and laundry of CZK 500 per stay, extra utilities, internet and consumables of CZK 4,000 a month, and CZK 30,000 a year to replace and refresh furnishings. The building's charges, the annual property tax and insurance are the same either way and are left out of both columns, as is income tax.

The long let

Eleven months at CZK 25,000 gives CZK 275,000 a year. The tenant pays their own utilities. There is little to do except answer the occasional call. The costs unique to this route are small: a deposit held, a lease drafted, and periodic redecoration.

The short let at three occupancy levels

Occupancy is the number that decides the result, so the model runs three.

At 60% occupancy, a figure that sounds good to a host, the short let leaves about CZK 257,800 against CZK 275,000 for the long let. At 45% it falls well short, and at 75% it leads by about CZK 66,750. The break-even is about 63% occupancy, or roughly 230 nights a year, under these assumptions. The same result as a formula: every extra percentage point of occupancy adds roughly CZK 5,600 to the short let's result.

Arithmetic check for the middle column: 219 nights at 2,000 is 438,000. Commission of 15% is 65,700. Cleaning for 73 stays at 500 is 36,500. Subtract utilities of 48,000 and furnishings of 30,000, and 257,800 remains.

The moves that change the conclusion are easy to name. A higher nightly rate shifts the break-even down, a higher commission or cleaning cost shifts it up, and a shorter average stay raises cleaning costs per night. A winter with long empty spells hits occupancy more than the average suggests, because occupancy is lumpy.

Change one assumption at a time to see what the result depends on. At 60% occupancy, a nightly rate of CZK 1,600 instead of CZK 2,000 leaves about CZK 183,340, well below the long let. A rate of CZK 2,400 leaves about CZK 332,260, well above it. Rate and occupancy do most of the work, and both are guesses until the flat has run for a year.

Now suppose a manager runs the flat and takes 20% of booking revenue, a plausible shape of fee but only an assumption here. At 60% occupancy that is CZK 87,600, which takes the result from CZK 257,800 to CZK 170,200. The break-even occupancy rises from about 63% to about 85%. For an owner who does not live in Prague, or does not want the calls, this is the version of the model that applies.

What the table leaves out

Your time. A long let is a few hours a month. A short let is messages, check-ins, restocking, reviews and a phone that rings at inconvenient moments. Owners either do it themselves or pay a manager, which is the 20% scenario above. The hours you spend yourself have a value too, even if no invoice shows it.

Regulatory exposure. A short let sits under rules that are still moving. EU Regulation 2024/1028 on short-term rental data applies from 20 May 2026, and the Czech approach to registration needs checking with the Ministry for Regional Development (as of 2026). A building's rules, the lender's consent and the municipal fee all apply to short lets and not to a long tenancy. Treat the possibility of tighter rules as a risk to the income.

Taxes. A private landlord's long-term rent is taxed with a choice between actual expenses and a 30% flat-rate deduction capped at CZK 600,000 of expenses, with no social or health insurance due on private rental income (as of 2026; check the Financial Administration). Short lets with services may be treated as a business, with a different tax and insurance position, a trade licence and, past the VAT threshold of CZK 2,000,000 of turnover in a calendar year, VAT registration. We cannot say which applies to you, and the difference can move the result either way. Our guide to tax on rental income sets out the basics.

Wear. Furniture, linen and fittings age faster under constant turnover. We assumed CZK 30,000 a year, and the real number depends on the flat and the guests.

Vacancy risk is different. The long let loses a month when the tenant changes, and a bad tenant loses more. The short let loses a night at a time, and spreads the risk, which is a real advantage. A tenant who stops paying is a bigger event than an empty week.

Where each route fits

The rental yield calculator on Hypoteky.com works out yields for either path from your own price, rent and costs, and the ROI and IRR calculator adds financing and exit. For the full investor view, see our guides to rental yields in Prague and how to calculate ROI on a Prague flat.

Frequently asked questions

Does short-term letting earn more than a long let in Prague?

Only if occupancy and nightly rates are high enough to cover commission, cleaning, utilities and wear. In our hypothetical model the break-even is about 63% occupancy.

Do I pay more tax on short lets?

It depends on scale and services. Private rental income has a 30% flat-rate option capped at CZK 600,000, but regular letting with services may be treated as a business. Ask the Financial Administration or an adviser.

Can I switch between the two?

Usually, but check the lease, the building rules and the lender. A long tenant is in place for the lease term.

Do short-term guests have to be reported?

Yes. The accommodation provider reports every foreign guest, EU citizens included, to the police within 3 working days (as of 2026). The city's accommodation fee is collected on top.

A practical next step

Copy the table into a spreadsheet and replace each assumption with a real quote: a nightly rate from three comparable listings, a cleaner's price, your building's rules. Then find the break-even occupancy and ask yourself honestly whether you would reach it in January.

This is a general explainer, not legal, tax or mortgage advice.