London Airbnb Data: Average Occupancy Rates, Best Locations, and More

Airbnb rental opportunities abound in and around London. While not immune to the holiday let slowdown that plagued major cities across the globe in 2020 and much of 2021, London has always been—and will remain—one of the most-visited cities in the world. That’s a promising proposition for hosts; London holiday let data show that purchasing an Airbnb property is an excellent investment. However, not every neighbourhood offers the same return on that investment.

In Q3 2021, the number of listing nights booked was still 64% lower than at the same time in 2019, which is typically the peak season for guests visiting the streets of London. This was the lowest of the 53 markets that cover all of the United Kingdom.  But even with low overall performance, there were pockets of high performing areas within the city.  

Before buying or renovating a property to rent on Airbnb, you need to explore a few metrics to ensure you’re setting yourself up for success in the short-term holiday let space. This index provides some of the essential Airbnb data London hosts need to make confident decisions about investing in London over other important destinations, including:

Average Airbnb Occupancy Rate: London neighbourhoods and City

London Airbnb Seasonality and Booking Lead Time

Despite London being one of the most popular tourist destinations, it felt the pandemic’s brunt just as acutely as many other major cities. While supply remains in recovery, we can see just how deep COVID cut into existing supply—and the livelihoods of Londoners. 


Despite a sluggish return to pre-pandemic supply levels, new hosts can take advantage of this limited supply, because limited supply means limited competition. There’s now more space for new listings across entire homes, private rooms, and shared rooms, giving more opportunities to enter the holiday let space than in recent years. 

Of London’s more than 32,000 active listings, 61% are entire homes. But not every entire home listing is the same. Guests who can afford one- or two-bedroom properties may fare better than others in the short-term holiday let space. Similarly, there’s more room for hosts who offer a private or shared room, too. Across the board, there’s less competition and more opportunities for hosts with diverse properties to offer Airbnb rentals in London. 

London Airbnb Rentals Dwarf Vrbo Listings

There's no question: London Airbnb hosts prefer to list on Airbnb over Vrbo/HomeAway. 81% of all hosts list only on Airbnb—that’s in stark contrast with the 10% who list only on Vrbo. Only 9% choose to list on both platforms. 

Should You List Your London Holiday Let on Airbnb and Vrbo?

While most guests don’t list on both platforms, there’s something to be said about a solid multi-channel distribution strategy. The basic idea is that, by listing on both platforms, more people see your listing, leading to more bookings. However, keeping up with the listing, it’s booking calendar, pricing, and other must-dos can quickly become overwhelming. 

Fortunately, there’s a simpler way to sync your property on multiple platforms. AirDNA’s Smart Rates now feature Futurestay integration, enabling you to push Smart Rates’ pricing recommendations to both Airbnb and Vrbo listings—as well as Booking.com and Google Vacation Rentals, if you choose. Save time, sanity, and ensure your listing has the right price every time, no matter which neighbourhoods you’re in. 

Because London is a massive city, you can’t expect Westminster rentals to perform the same as Camden listings or properties in Southwark. That’s why you need to explore multiple neighbourhoods to get a clear sense of just how widely London’s average Airbnb occupancy rates vary. If you don’t, you could miss out on an excellent second home investment opportunity. 

Specifically, you should take Airbnb occupancy rates  into consideration. Even if you think you’ve found an amazing property in a bustling neighborhood, it may not be the neighbourhood Airbnb guests visit; just because Londoners spend time in a certain borough doesn’t mean travellers do.

But what about London overall? Here’s how the entire city has fared over the past three years in terms of occupancy rates, booking lead times (how far in advance guests book a stay), and the number of properties booked, filter for four percentiles. 

Unlike the above list, this chart considers each listing, no matter its room count, the number of guests it accommodates, or whether it’s a listing for a shared room, private room, or entire home. If you want to filter for these factors, it’s easy to toggle in MarketMinder.

Occupancy rates are a great place to start when choosing the right neighbourhood. However, occupancy doesn’t tell you how much Airbnb hosts earn in those neighbourhoods. For example, a neighbourhood or listing might have a high occupancy rate, but each could have relatively low average daily rates, which is the total revenue divided by the number of booked nights. 

This figure will vary significantly between neighbourhoods, postcodes, and properties. Again, that’s why it’s well worth your time to compare average daily rates and other metrics in your target neighbourhoods. (The Airbnb rental price index reveals London holiday let data based on your specified filters.)

Below, we’ve filtered the top London neighbourhoods by average daily rates. Notice how the rank changes compared to occupancy rates. 

When we look at London as a whole, however, we see how average daily rates fluctuate across the past few years. Most notably, we see how lockdowns impacted holiday rental activity in summer 2020.  

The Best Months for Airbnb in London: Seasonality and Booking Lead Time

But pandemics are far from the only factor that affects occupancy rates and London’s holiday let space. Seasonality is a key metric in understanding when properties perform best—and worst. Because London draws travellers year-round, it’s only moderately impacted by the seasons. Still, May to August tend to be the most lucrative months for Airbnb hosts. 

Seasonality doesn’t impact London (and other major metros in the UK and beyond) nearly as much as it affects destination markets like beach towns, ski resorts, fishing villages, and hard-to-reach climes. 

But beyond knowing which months perform the best, hosts can and should pay attention to how far in advance guests book properties. London’s size and popularity mean it has lengthy lead times; on average, guests book their stays upwards of 182 days in advance for peak summer months.  

While that’s the average number of days guests book in advance across all listings, top properties may be booked well into the future. 

It’s important to get a sense of what the top Airbnb properties in London look like. Exploring leading properties helps you understand what guests are looking for, and which properties may be your top competitors. 

Remember, too, that just because a top property stands out from all others in the city, you may not need to compete with it; if you plan to list a one-bedroom apartment in Greenwich, there’s little use in looking at the top Airbnb rental properties with two bedrooms in Wandsworth. 

If you already have a property (or are quite sure you know which property you’ll purchase based on London holiday let data and additional research, streamline your search and filter by your type of property. 

For comparison, notice just how different the top properties look when we don’t add any filters and include only the top properties across London. 

Airbnb Rental Data: London Compared to Cornwall, Edinburgh, and Manchester

While London remains the most-visited city in the UK, other attractive areas lure droves of tourists each year. Cornwall, Edinburgh, and Manchester are some of the UK’s most attractive areas and may be well worth your consideration for a holiday let if the data makes sense for your goals.

Below, we compare Cornwall, Edinburgh, and Manchester to London to highlight how each compares to Britain’s capital. While we’ve captured a broad view, remember that, in MarketMinder, you can easily filter by:

This will give you a detailed sense of how your London holiday let investment stacks up to others in these three markets.

Find the Best Neighbourhood for Your London Airbnb Rental With MarketMinder

Discover all there is to know about London vacation rentals and london Airbnb data. For the latest updates on the London rental market, use MarketMinder.

Blog

London Airbnb Data: Average Occupancy Rates, Best Locations, and More