A new lettings service has launched, allowing property owners to maximise the short-stay market without having to find their own way around the likes of Airbnb – or use letting agents.

Hostmaker Essential is aimed at property owners who are new to the short stay market, including both owner-occupiers and landlords with a number of properties.

It aims to keep their lettings calendars full, while taking care of management and admin tasks.

The service will leverage Hostmaker’s existing partnerships with Airbnb, HomeAway and Booking.com, with home owners not having to pay for their own subscriptions.

It will also handle revenue collection and reservations.

An online dashboard will help owners manage their home’s performance and earnings.

Regular updates will be given on a property’s returns and occupancy rates, along with a detailed breakdown of guest acquisition.

Hostmaker Essential has been in beta testing in the London market, and will now roll out to regional cities including Cardiff and Liverpool, where research shows that home owners are particularly likely to consider renting out their properties.

In the same study, Hostmaker surveyed 2,000 Britons who own their own home, and found that just over a fifth (21%) would consider renting out their home to make a bit of extra money, but only 3% have ever done so.

The top concerns for people that prevent them from letting their home include worries about property damage (70%), cleaning up after guests (57%), not understanding legislation and taxation (28%), and not wanting to coordinate logistics (13%) or multiple bookings (12%).

The new Hostmaker product is being introduced in the UK, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain and United Arab Emirates.