I run more than 50 Airbnbs and make £5,000 a month – I plan to retire aged 55

For more than a decade Natalia Soner, 52, worked in a job she felt did not suit her. The former HR consultant spent years working with managers involved in hiring and firing at energy firms, making £50,000 a year by 2018. Natalia now makes more money running her own property management business and has early retirement in her sights. While in HR, Natalia had different side gigs, including working as a part-time dance teacher and a weight-loss consultant. Shorts Natalia, who lives in Scotland with her partner, Ian, 50, who works in banking, started thinking more seriously about a career change when she was pregnant with their daughter Molly, seven. “I wasn’t worried about quitting my secure corporate job in HR as I had already been making a little extra money from my existing side-hustles”, Natalia told The i Paper. She adds: “I’d thought about leaving corporate life pretty much every day I was in it. I couldn’t see a way out unless something changed. I felt stuck and that corporate life wasn’t for me. I always felt I should be doing something else or have my own business.” Natalia quit her HR job in 2019 and started looking for work opportunities in the short-term lettings property market. Natalia Soner, with her husband and daughter Molly. She said leaving her corporate job was something she’d thought about often She now runs her own business, Pass the Keys Glasgow, which is part of a wider franchise operation. The business takes care of short-term lets for property owners who do not want to handle the running of their second home or investment themselves. Natalia deals with everything from managing bookings, photographing and advertising the properties to dealing with maintenance and cleaning via third-parties. She had to spend £30,000 setting up the business, paying for a franchise fee and training. As a property manager, Natalia now takes care of 55 properties, mainly flats on Airbnb, in and around Glasgow for their owners. The business makes money from management fees, with property owners charged 20 per cent of the booking value plus VAT. In 2025, the business had about £20,000 to £30,000 a month coming in and Natalia had a total annual net booking value for 2025 of £1.2m, with average occupancy level of around 68 per cent. On average, net booking values came in at around £100,000 per month in 2025. After costs, Natalia takes home between £4,000 to £5,000 a month. She is confident the firm’s net booking value will rise beyond £1.6m this year and is turning over close to £200,000 a month this year. Not everything has been plain sailing for Natalia since she started her business. Natalia’s daughter was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2022. Molly endured two years of treatment before getting the all clear. “While Molly was ill, I had to keep running the business, but needed help. It was at this point I hired a cleaner and operations manager to assist, which have proved invaluable to this day. I had long hospital stays with Molly but kept working. It was a tough time and as a family we had to live in a bubble so we didn’t put Molly’s immune system at risk.” While Molly was ill, another issue struck. New legislation covering short-term lets was introduced in Scotland, meaning a licence is required before any bookings can be made. Natalia says the introduction of new legislation was positive, but applied differently by different councils in Scotland. In Glasgow, for instance, getting a licence for a short-term let on a flat, Natalia says, has become virtually impossible due to the city’s stricter rules. “In 2023, about 45 of the 50 properties I was taking care of were in Glasgow. I lost all 45 properties that year due to the rule changes and was back to square one”, Natalia said. She had to pivot her business and now focuses on locations near Glasgow such as Paisley and Renfrewshire. While working every day and longer hours than she did in HR, the income boost has been useful for Natalia. She has been able to buy and build a garden office for £25,000 and renovate her house throughout. But she has a more pressing ambition. Had she continued working in HR, Natalia believes she would need to have kept working until she was well into her sixties. She is now working towards ensuring her business is a saleable venture within a few years. “So long as I can eventually sell my business, I believe I will now be able to retire early, ideally at the age of 55”, Natalia said. She adds: “There’s no way I could go back to being an employee in a corporate job. I like to be able to be in control of what is happening and make my own decisions. I don’t feel stuck anymore and have room to grow.”