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If you’re considering offering your London home for short lets, we’ve compiled some brief information to help you better understand the current market. This article is part one of a two-part series kicking off with a look at the demand and competition for short lets in London.
High demand and healthy competition
London attracts over 15 million visitors a year, who require accommodation in the UK capital. The latest numbers published by VisitBritain show that occupancy figures and average daily room rates are up year-on-year in the Greater London region.
According to the CEO of Magnuson Hotels, Airbnb has so many rooms that if it were classified as a hotel chain, it would represent approx. 22% of the UK’s total hotel inventory. When you add in all the properties listed on other platforms such as Booking.com, Expedia etc. it adds up to a vast marketplace.
According to Inside Airbnb, there are over 77,000 listings in London, the majority of which are entire properties (55.5%). This means that besides the big opportunity, there is also significant competition.
Rapid growth in bookings
While the amount of London listings is rapidly growing, so are the bookings. Airbnb was approaching 20,000 rental bookings per week in 2018, up from 1,000 back in 2013, according to data scraped from its site. Airbnb has exceeded one million London bookings.
A study based on commercial analysts AirDNA‘s data suggested that Airbnb’s market share in London nearly tripled in 2017, jumping from 2.8% to 7.6% of all overnight stays.
With more London visitors favouring the comforts of a home rental over a hotel stay, the outlook is positive for those choosing to short-let their property.
Keep an eye out for the second part of this two-part series where we will cover rates and the regulations of short letting in London.
If you are interested in becoming a host, we would love to hear from you. Click the button below, and fill out the short form to find out how much your property could be earning for you.
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