Remarkable 150-fold rise in London lettings listings on Airbnb

JLL says there has been a remarkable 150-fold rise in the number of London residential properties listed on lettings website Airbnb over the past five years.

The analysis of Airbnb data shows 25,357 homes in the capital were listed on the site at the end of 2015, compared with just 171 at the end of 2009.

London now has the third highest number of Airbnb listings in the world behind Paris on 35,424 and New York on 30,480. 

JLL says 75 per cent of people who have made their homes available on sites such as Airbnb have been drawn to do so by specific events - so for example there was a spike in listings during the 2015 Rugby World Cup around tournament venues.

The research further reveals the most common reason for listing homes on Airbnb was simply to raise extra income. The second most common reason was to fill a vacant home between tenancies, suggesting an increase in the use of Airbnb by private rental landlords.

The most common length of stay in properties listed is three to seven nights.

“Homeowners are thinking ever more progressively in terms of how their property can make them some extra money. Typically we have seen big increases in homes available to let in the immediate vicinity of an event, with pricing adjusted upwards in line with the increased demand” says a JLL spokesman.