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Increase in London Airbnb Properties Shows the Need for Short-Term Lettings

As Airbnb, the largest online marketplace for hospitality around the world, continues to grow in London, hosts have the opportunity to earn even more. In other words, hosts can have more properties listed on Airbnb for a short-term letting.

Airbnb allows hosts in London to offer their properties for short-term letting across multiple platforms such as individual and commercial lettings. And due to this fact, there has been a rapidly increasing number of listings on Airbnb in the capital city. In fact, Airbnb data shows that over 2.2 million bookings are made annually by guests in London.

Among the cities where Airbnb operates in, London has been a great place for guests. A lot of factors have contributed to this development such as the favorable weather condition in London, especially in the summer. Additionally, interesting summer festivals such as the Notting Hill Carnival and the Greenwich+Docklands International Festival also contributes to the increase in bookings on Airbnb.

“While the travel and tourism industries continue to grow faster than most of the rest of the economy, it is critical that residents and communities are benefiting from often record numbers of visitors to their cities,” an Airbnb representative said.  (www.bbc.com/news/amp/buisness-45083954)

It offers many benefits such as diversifying tourism, reducing overcrowding in tourist hotspots and serving as a means of income for hosts in the capital city. To every Airbnb host in London, the summer is often regarded as the favorite season because there’s usually an upsurge in demand for short-term lettings during these periods – the peak period.

Statistics on Short-Term Lettings

When Airbnb started 2008 in London, just like every other innovation, it sluggishly gained recognition. Interestingly, it has flourished exponentially and now regarded as the market leader of the online peer-to-peer platforms that provide listings for short-term lettings in London.

Analysis from the database of Airbnb in 2012 shows that Airbnb only recorded about 100 rentals every week. Precisely in 2014, an upscale in statistics was recorded and approximately 90,000 bookings were made by visitors in the capital city. Also according to Airbnb in 2015, it recorded over 215,000 bookings on all properties listed by the hosts. And between July 2016 to July 2018, around 75,700 properties were listed for Airbnb in London and simultaneously, about 2.2 million bookings were made by guests.  (www.airbnbcitizen.com, Airbnb Insights Report, September 2017)

Worries around the Growth in Short-term Lettings and Airbnb

While it true that the rapid growth in London Airbnb has transformed short-term rental market, a range of organizations and local authorities have raised concerns about the negative impacts of this platform. Their worries include violating of planning rules, impacts on local housing markets, taxation compliance and its implications on traditional accommodation businesses such as hotels.

 

Concluding Remarks

It’s convincingly true that the need for short-term lettings in London has increased greatly over the years, especially due to the development and acceptance of the ‘peer-to-peer’ accommodation services offered by Airbnb.

External organizations, using data taken from Airbnb’s website, gives supporting evidence of the growth in short-term lettings. A lot of factors may have contributed to this growth such as favorable weather condition and the summer festivals that attracts lot of visitors annually. In fact, over 85% of Airbnb guests have said that they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their short-term vacations.