Calculate Break-Even occupancy

Find the occupied share of a year needed for collected rent, after percentage fees, to cover fixed property costs.

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ToolBreak-Even Occupancy Calculator
Input
Output
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How it works

At occupancy O, collected rent is full monthly rent multiplied by O, and a booking or management percentage removes the same share from that collected amount. Dividing fixed monthly cost by rent left after the percentage fee gives break-even occupancy; the yearly day figures use 365 days, and the fee defaults to 0 when none applies.

Formula
break-even occupancy = fixed cost ÷ (full rent × (1 − variable-cost percentage))
  • An answer above 100% means the entered rent cannot cover the costs even with no void days.
  • Zero fixed cost gives 0% required occupancy because there is no fixed amount to recover.

Worked example

A 1,000 a month rental with 600 of fixed costs
A 10% booking or management fee is charged on rent actually collected
Input
											Fully let monthly rent: 1000
Monthly fixed costs: 600
Variable cost percent: 10
Output
												Break even occupancy percent: 66.67
Break even occupied days per year: 243.33
Break even void days per year: 121.67

When to use this

Short-term accommodation budgets use occupancy with booking commission, buy-to-let underwriting tests allowable voids, and serviced-apartment plans compare fixed rent, insurance, and standing charges with net booking revenue.

Edge cases

  • If fixed monthly cost exceeds rent after percentage fees, required occupancy exceeds 100% and the negative void-day allowance exposes an infeasible setup.
  • A 100% variable fee is rejected because no collected rent remains to cover fixed costs and the formula would divide by zero.
  • Cleaning charged once per booking is not a percentage of rent, so it belongs in a per-stay model rather than this fixed-plus-percentage calculation.