Corporate Housing UK: Everything Your Business Needs to Know
Corporate housing is one of the most cost-effective and welfare-positive decisions a business can make for employees on temporary assignments. Yet most companies default to hotels out of habit, paying 40–60% more than they need to. This guide covers what corporate housing is, how much it costs, how to find it, and what to look for when booking.
What Is Corporate Housing?
Corporate housing is fully furnished, self-contained accommodation booked by a business on behalf of employees who need to work away from their usual base. It covers everything from individual serviced apartments for secondments and relocations to whole managed houses for project teams.
The key features that define corporate housing: bills are included in the rate, the property is furnished and equipped to live-in standard, and the agreement is in the company's name with a single monthly invoice for the accounts department. Stays can run from one week to 12 months or more.
Corporate housing is also called corporate apartments, serviced apartments for business, extended stay accommodation, or workforce housing depending on the sector. The term is interchangeable, the product is the same: professional-grade accommodation that removes all the administrative and welfare friction of placing employees away from home.
Corporate Housing vs Hotels: The Real Cost Difference
The most common reason companies switch from hotels to corporate housing is cost. The numbers are stark once you account for all the hidden extras that hotel stays generate.
For a single employee on a four-week assignment in a regional UK city: a three-star business hotel averages £89 per night. Add breakfast (£12/day), evening meals at restaurants (£20/day, replacing the hotel room's missing kitchen), parking (£12/night), and laundry (£25/week). Total: £4,291 for the month.
A corporate apartment in the same city averages £55 per night all-inclusive. Add a modest self-catering food budget of £50 per week. Total: £1,850 for the month.
That is a saving of £2,441 per person per month, 57% less. For a team of six on a three-month project, corporate housing saves over £40,000 compared to hotel stays. The saving scales with every additional person and every additional week.
Hotels still win for stays of one to three nights, last-minute same-night bookings, and situations where hotel brand and facilities are a requirement. For everything else, corporate housing delivers better welfare and substantially lower cost.
Types of Corporate Housing in the UK
Not all corporate housing is the same. The right type depends on team size, location, duration and the specific requirements of your employees.
Serviced apartments: The most common format for individual corporate housing placements. A self-contained apartment with living area, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. All bills included. Weekly cleaning and linen change provided. Best for individual secondments, relocations, and employees on solo assignments of one week or longer.
Managed houses: Whole residential properties booked for a team. Each team member has their own bedroom; the kitchen, bathrooms and living areas are shared. Best for crews of 4–10 on project-based assignments. Managed houses cost less per head than individual serviced apartments and create a shared base that works better for team morale on long projects.
Corporate apartments (purpose-built): Apartment blocks or complexes built specifically for the corporate extended-stay market. Higher specification, often with on-site management, gym access and business facilities. Premium option suited to senior hires, executive secondments, and companies with a specific welfare standard to maintain.
Short-let properties: Residential properties furnished to high standard and let on short-term corporate terms. Offer more variety of size and location than purpose-built corporate apartments. Overnightly sources and manages this type extensively across the UK.
HMO-style contractor accommodation: Rooms in managed shared houses. More economical option for larger workforces where per-head budget is tight. More common in the contractor and construction accommodation market than in the senior corporate segment.
Corporate Housing Rates in the UK (2026)
Corporate housing costs vary by location, property type and stay duration. Monthly rates are significantly lower than equivalent nightly rates, typically 20–30% less per night for stays of 28 nights or more.
London: serviced apartments average £120–£200 per night for individual occupancy. Managed houses for teams of 4–6 average £350–£600 per night for the whole property.
Major regional cities (Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol): serviced apartments average £70–£120 per night. Managed team houses average £150–£280 per night.
Mid-size cities (Nottingham, Sheffield, Leicester, Derby): serviced apartments average £55–£90 per night. Managed houses average £110–£200 per night.
These rates are all-inclusive: utility bills, broadband, linen, weekly cleaning, and company billing. There are no additional charges for gas, electricity, council tax (on stays under six months), or internet.
For long-term corporate housing of three months or more, negotiated monthly rates can reduce costs further, particularly for multi-property bookings where a company is placing several employees simultaneously. Overnightly manages this negotiation on your behalf.
What Is Included in Corporate Housing?
A well-managed corporate housing arrangement includes everything your employee needs to live comfortably without any additional setup or admin. What should be standard:
Full furnishings: beds (with quality mattresses and linens), sofas, dining table and chairs, wardrobes, desk if required, television. The property should be move-in ready from day one.
Fully equipped kitchen: hob, oven, microwave, fridge-freezer, kettle, toaster, crockery, cutlery, pots and pans. Employees should be able to cook a full meal the evening they arrive.
All utility bills: gas, electricity, water, broadband, and council tax for stays under six months. All covered in a single monthly rate. No meter readings, no bill set-up, no end-of-stay reconciliation.
Weekly cleaning and linen: professional cleaning once a week, with bed linen and towels freshened. This is included in corporate housing, it is not a hotel-style daily service, but it keeps the property in good order throughout the stay.
Parking: at most corporate housing locations, at least one parking space per property is included. City-centre locations may have nearby public car parks allocated instead.
A company invoice: all properties consolidated on a single monthly invoice in the company name, with VAT for reclaim. No individual expense claims.
Corporate Housing for Different Business Situations
Corporate housing is used across a wide range of business scenarios. The common thread is employees who need to work in a location away from home for more than a few nights.
Employee relocation: When a business moves an employee to a new city or region, corporate housing provides a furnished base while they arrange permanent accommodation. Stays of one to six months are typical. The company pays directly; the employee does not have to front costs and claim back.
Project teams: Construction, engineering, IT, and professional services teams frequently deploy across the UK on time-limited projects. Corporate housing for the team is more cost-effective than hotels, and a shared house builds better team cohesion on a long programme.
Secondments: Employees on temporary assignments to another office, client site, or business unit benefit from corporate housing rather than expensed hotels. Lower cost, better daily living standards, cleaner expense management.
International hires and employees relocating to the UK: Corporate housing gives new international employees a professional, furnished base from arrival while they find permanent accommodation. No navigating the UK rental market from abroad, no blank apartment.
Event and production crews: Pre-event build periods can last weeks. Corporate housing near a venue keeps the crew together, reduces commute time, and costs substantially less than nightly hotel bookings.
How to Find Corporate Housing in the UK
The fastest route to quality corporate housing is to use a specialist corporate accommodation agency. They maintain networks of pre-vetted properties across UK cities, handle all the admin and legal agreements, and consolidate everything into a single company account.
What to look for in a corporate housing agency: a clear track record of business lettings (not just consumer short lets), IPRAC certification as a baseline quality indicator, named account management rather than a generic inbox, consolidated invoicing in the company name, and flexibility to extend or reduce stays mid-programme.
Questions to ask before committing: Can you confirm parking? What is the check-in process and who do we call if there is an issue at 11pm on a Sunday? Can the agreement be extended if the project runs over? Is the invoice structure compatible with our accounts system?
Overnightly is an IPRAC-certified corporate housing provider covering 175+ UK cities. We manage everything from initial enquiry to final checkout, sourcing, legal agreements, key handover, maintenance, and billing. Most enquiries receive a property shortlist within one working day. Call 0115 718 1937 or use the contact form.
Corporate Housing for Long-Term Stays
For stays of three months or more, corporate housing unlocks additional benefits and better rates. Landlords favour long-term tenants; accommodation agencies can negotiate directly on your behalf to secure lower monthly rates in exchange for a confirmed term.
Long-term corporate housing also allows more tailored property matching. For a six-month placement, it is worth specifying precise requirements, proximity to a particular office, garden access, extra storage, home-office setup, rather than taking whatever is available.
Corporate Housing Locations Across the UK
Overnightly provides corporate housing across all major UK cities and towns. The highest-demand corporate housing markets by volume:
London: Canary Wharf, City, Battersea, Stratford, Hammersmith and West London for financial services and media. North and East London for construction and infrastructure projects.
Manchester: City centre and MediaCityUK for media and technology. North Manchester and Bolton for logistics and distribution. Greater Manchester broadly for healthcare placements at NHS trusts.
Birmingham: City centre for professional services secondments. Coventry, Solihull, and the broader West Midlands for automotive and manufacturing projects.
Leeds, Sheffield, and Yorkshire: Financial services in Leeds city centre. Steel and manufacturing in Sheffield and Rotherham. Rail and infrastructure across the region.
Bristol and the South West: Aerospace and defence near Filton and Yate. Finance and professional services in Bristol city centre. Hinkley Point C and energy projects in Somerset.
Scotland: Edinburgh for financial services. Glasgow for construction and infrastructure. Aberdeen for energy and offshore rotation crews.
Related Resources
Need corporate housing for your team? Overnightly provides fully managed corporate housing across 175+ UK cities, furnished apartments and managed houses, all bills included, single company invoice, flexible terms. Call 0115 718 1937 or send your requirement and we will have options back to you the same day.
