If you book accommodation on behalf of a crew, the hard part is rarely finding the beds. It is making the stay reconcile cleanly afterwards: a VAT figure your accountant accepts, an invoice your finance team can match to a purchase order, and a total that lands inside the project budget you committed to. This page deals with that side of a Bromley team booking. For the practical detail on rooms, rates and what is included, start with our guide to serviced accommodation for contractors in Bromley; here we stay on the money and the contract.
Length of stay changes the contract, not just the price
Most providers price in three bands: nightly, weekly and monthly. The bands are not only a discount ladder. They usually change the terms behind the booking as well, which matters when you are committing company money across a project.
- Nightly suits a few days of inspection or commissioning work. Cancellation tends to be flexible, but the per-night rate is the highest and the admin per stay is the heaviest.
- Weekly fits a fixed-length package or fit-out phase. You get a lower rate in exchange for committing to the block, and billing settles into a cleaner rhythm.
- Monthly is built for medium-to-long project stays. The rate drops again, the contract usually carries a minimum term with a notice period, and, past 28 days, the VAT treatment changes (more on that below).
Two contract points are worth pinning down before you sign anything. First, the minimum term and the notice you must give to end or extend, because a project that slips by a fortnight should roll on without a fresh negotiation. Second, who carries the booking: a stay held continuously by one named person is treated differently for VAT than the same apartment passed between several short-stay guests. We unpack the long-stay economics in detail on our monthly serviced accommodation for contractor teams page.
The 28-day rule: how VAT drops on a long stay
Serviced accommodation is a standard-rated supply, so VAT is charged at 20% in the normal way. For long stays, HMRC operates what the trade calls the 28-day rule, or more formally the reduced value rule. It is set out in VAT Notice 709/3.
The mechanics are specific. VAT at the standard rate applies in full up to and including the 28th day of a continuous stay. From the 29th day, the provider charges VAT only on the part of the payment that is not for the accommodation itself. HMRC requires that at least 20% of the remaining charge is still treated as being for facilities and services, so VAT does not disappear entirely; it falls to apply to a reduced value, which works out at an effective rate close to 4% on the accommodation element for the period beyond day 28.
The reduction is counted per individual guest, and the stay must be continuous. Occasional absences, such as a long-term resident taking the odd weekend away or paying a retaining fee, do not break that continuity. But if you cycle different members of a crew through the same apartment in short blocks, each new person restarts the clock and the reduction is never reached.
The practical lesson for a team booking is simple. If one named worker holds an apartment for the whole project, that unit can move to the reduced value from day 29. If you rotate people in and out every week or two, you keep paying full-rate VAT on each fresh stay. When you set the booking up, decide which apartments will be held by a single person for the duration, and tell the provider, so the billing is applied correctly rather than fixed up after the fact.
What a clean consolidated invoice should itemise
A single team booking can throw off a pile of paperwork: several apartments, overlapping dates, extras, and a VAT figure that shifts mid-stay. The fix is to agree one consolidated invoice up front and tell the provider exactly what it must carry. A document that reconciles in one pass usually shows the following.
| Line | Why your finance team needs it |
|---|---|
| Purchase order (PO) reference | Lets the invoice be matched to the commitment already raised, so it clears without a query. |
| Project name or cost centre | Books the spend against the right job rather than a general overhead. |
| Apartment and occupant per line | Shows which unit and which person each charge relates to, which is what the 28-day count hangs on. |
| Dates and nights per stay | Makes the day count auditable and flags where the reduced value starts. |
| Net, VAT and gross, shown separately | VAT must be a distinct line at the rate applied, never buried in a single figure. |
| Split for the reduced value period | On long stays, the first 28 days at the standard rate and day 29 onward at the reduced value should be visible. |
| Extras and any deposit | Parking, additional cleans or a damage deposit listed on their own so they reconcile and, where relevant, are treated correctly for VAT. |
If your systems prefer one invoice per apartment rather than a single consolidated bill, say so at booking. Either works, but switching format halfway through a project is where reconciliation errors creep in.
What is and is not VAT-recoverable
A VAT-registered business can normally recover the VAT on accommodation for its own staff or for contractors working away from base on company business, as long as it holds a valid VAT invoice and the cost is genuinely for the business. That is the standard position for housing a working crew on a Bromley project.
Recovery is not automatic in every case. VAT on a private or personal element of a stay is not recoverable, and accommodation provided for someone who is not your worker can fall outside what you can reclaim. The reason for the stay and your own VAT status both matter, so treat the figures here as a working guide and confirm your exact position with your accountant. HMRC's own guidance on this sits in VAT Notice 709/3 on hotels and holiday accommodation.
How to brief a provider so billing matches your budget
Most billing friction comes from briefing the provider on rooms but not on finance. A short brief at booking saves a round of corrected invoices later. Cover these points:
- Format: one consolidated invoice for the whole booking, or one per apartment.
- References: the exact PO number and cost centre to quote on every line.
- Billing cycle: when you want to be invoiced, for example monthly in arrears, and the bill payer's details.
- Length of stay: the expected duration and which apartments will be held continuously by one named person, so the reduced value rule is applied from day 29 where it qualifies.
- Extensions: how a roll-on is handled if the project overruns, so a slip does not become a new booking.
Get those agreed in writing and the invoice that arrives should reconcile against your budget on the first read. To sanity-check the total before you commit, our serviced apartment vs hotel calculator compares the all-in cost against an equivalent hotel run, and the cost guide sets out the nightly, weekly and monthly rates the bands are built from. You can also see exactly how to book a contractor team stay and what arrives as part of the package on the what's included page. For an overview of every option, the Bromley Short Lets homepage links the full set.
Frequently asked questions
Is VAT charged on a contractor serviced accommodation stay in Bromley?
Yes. Serviced accommodation is a standard-rated supply, so VAT at 20% applies for the first 28 days of a continuous stay. From the 29th day HMRC's reduced value rule applies, and the provider charges VAT only on the part of the payment that is not for the accommodation, with at least 20% of the remainder still treated as facilities and subject to VAT.
How does the 28-day VAT rule work for a team stay?
The reduced value rule is counted per individual guest, not per booking. Each person must stay continuously for more than 28 days in the same accommodation before their charge moves to the reduced value from day 29. If you rotate different crew members through one apartment in short blocks, each new person restarts the count and the reduction is not triggered.
Can my company reclaim the VAT on contractor accommodation?
A VAT-registered business can normally recover VAT on accommodation for staff or contractors working away on company business, provided it holds a valid VAT invoice and the cost is for the business. VAT on private elements, or accommodation for someone who is not your worker, is generally not recoverable. Confirm your position with your accountant, since recovery depends on your VAT status and the reason for the stay.
What should a consolidated invoice for a team booking show?
It should carry your purchase order reference, the project or cost-centre name, the booking dates, the apartments used, the nightly or weekly rate, any extras, the net total, the VAT shown separately at the rate applied, and the gross total. For long stays it should also show the split between the standard-rated first 28 days and the reduced value from day 29, so the figures reconcile against your budget.
Does the VAT reduction make a monthly stay cheaper than a hotel?
For stays past 28 days it often can. A hotel resets each guest's stay and rarely brings a working crew within the reduced value, whereas a single apartment held continuously by the same person moves to the reduced value from day 29. Combined with a lower base rate and a kitchen that cuts subsistence claims, a monthly serviced apartment frequently reconciles below an equivalent hotel run.
How do I brief a provider so the billing matches my budget?
Tell the provider at booking how you need to be billed: a single consolidated invoice or one per apartment, the PO number and cost centre to quote, your billing cycle and bill payer, and the expected length of stay. Flag whether the same person will hold each apartment for the whole period, so the reduced value rule can be applied correctly from day 29.