If you are pricing up a Bromley project, the contractor accommodation cost is one of the first lines you want a figure for, and the natural question is what it costs per night. As a guide, contractor serviced accommodation in the Bromley area typically works out around £40 to £75 per person per night, but the honest answer is that the per-night number is rarely how these stays are actually sold. The price you pay depends on how long the team stays, how many people share, and the property, so this page explains what a night really costs, why a flat weekly or monthly rate beats night-by-night for a work stay, and how to bring the cost per head down. For the full weekly and monthly breakdown, our contractor accommodation cost guide sits alongside this one.
What a night actually costs
Across the UK market, serviced houses and apartments aimed at work stays sit in the region of £40 to £75 per person per night, against roughly £60 to £90 or more for a budget hotel that holds the same nightly price whatever the length of stay. Bromley sits outside central London in travel zones 4 and 5, so rates here are more affordable than a comparable apartment in the centre while keeping a fast train link into London Bridge and Victoria.
We do not publish a single fixed nightly price, and you should be wary of anyone who does, because the real figure depends on your dates, your headcount and the length of the booking. The number above is a sense-check for budgeting, not a quote. The accurate way to know your cost is to price the actual job.
Why per-night is the wrong way to book a work stay
A hotel sells you a room one night at a time, and that nightly price moves with demand. Serviced accommodation works differently. It is normally quoted as a flat weekly or monthly rate set for the whole booking, with a nightly figure used mainly for short stays of a night or two. For a contractor assignment that runs into weeks, the per-night model is the expensive way to do it, for three reasons:
- The nightly rate is built for one or two nights, not for a fortnight, so it never reflects the discount a longer commitment earns.
- There is no kitchen in a hotel room, so the team buys every meal out, often £25 to £50 a head a day on top of the room.
- The extras add up, parking, breakfast and laundry are all separate lines on a hotel folio that a serviced flat folds into one rate.
Put those together and a well-chosen serviced apartment commonly lands 30 to 50 per cent below a comparable hotel stay once meals, parking and laundry are counted in. The self-catering kitchen does a lot of that work.
How length of stay lowers the nightly figure
The single biggest lever on the per-night cost is how long the team stays. Serviced operators routinely discount as the booking lengthens: a weekly rate beats a string of nightly rates, and a monthly rate beats the weekly. The effective day rate, the total divided by the number of nights, keeps falling the longer you book, which is exactly why a per-night headline figure flatters a short stay and overstates a long one.
There is also a tax point worth knowing for longer contracts. Under HMRC's reduced value rule, when a guest stays for a continuous period of more than 28 days, from day 29 onwards VAT is no longer charged on the accommodation part of the price, only on the services element. This is set out in the government's VAT Notice 709/3 and can lower the effective nightly cost of a multi-week assignment. If your project runs past four weeks, ask how the rate reflects this.
How the cost per head scales with the team
The per-person figure usually falls as more of the team shares one property, and there is normally more than one sensible way to house people.
- A solo contractor or site manager suits a one-bedroom flat: one weekly or monthly rate for a private base with a kitchen and laundry. Our 1-bedroom flat in Bromley is set up for this.
- A small crew of two to four often comes out cheaper, and more comfortable, in one larger property than in separate hotel rooms, with a shared kitchen and a single invoice. Our 2-bedroom house in Petts Wood works well for a pair or small team.
- A larger team can split across more than one property near the site. Whether one bigger place or a couple of flats works out cheaper depends on the headcount, so it is worth pricing both ways.
Sharing is where the per-night cost drops most: splitting a multi-bedroom house between three people generally costs well under three separate hotel rooms, while giving each person more space.
What the nightly rate includes
A serviced rate is close to all-in, which is part of why it is easier to budget than a hotel folio. A typical booking with us covers utilities, WiFi that holds up for video calls and uploads, a weekly clean with fresh bedding and towels, a fully fitted kitchen so the team can self-cater, and a washing machine on site. Parking is included or arranged nearby at most of our properties, which matters if the crew drives to site. There are no separate nightly extras for the things hotels routinely charge for. For the side-by-side on the practical differences, see why a short-term rental beats a hotel.
Get an accurate per-night figure for your project
Use the £40 to £75 per person per night range as a sanity check, then get a real number for the actual job. Tell us your project dates, how many people you need to house and roughly where the site is, and we will set out what we have and the weekly or monthly cost, with the effective nightly figure for the length of the assignment. Start from our homepage or send the details through our contact page.
Frequently asked questions
How much does contractor accommodation cost per night in Bromley?
As a guide, contractor serviced accommodation in the Bromley area typically works out around £40 to £75 per person per night, depending on the property, the number of people sharing and the length of the stay. The per-night figure falls as the booking lengthens, because most stays are priced as a weekly or monthly flat rate rather than night by night.
Is per-night the cheapest way to book contractor accommodation?
Usually not. Per-night pricing suits a one or two night stay, but for a work assignment a weekly or monthly flat rate brings the effective nightly cost down and does not spike on busy weekends. The longer the booking, the lower the price per night, so most contractor stays are quoted weekly or monthly.
What changes the nightly price?
The main factors are how many people are sharing, the size and type of property, and the length of the stay. More people sharing one property lowers the cost per head, and a longer booking lowers the effective day rate. Dates matter less than with a hotel, because a flat rate does not move with demand.
What does the nightly rate include?
A serviced rate is close to all-in: the furnished flat, utilities, WiFi, a weekly clean with fresh bedding and towels, a fully fitted kitchen and laundry, with parking included or arranged nearby at most properties. There are no separate nightly extras for the things hotels often charge for on top.
How do I lower the cost per night for a crew?
Share one larger property where the team is happy to, book for the full length of the assignment in one go to unlock the weekly or monthly rate, and use the kitchen rather than eating out every night. Sharing a multi-bedroom house between three people usually costs well under three separate hotel rooms.