Overview of the Airbnb Community in the UK

Over the last year1, residents from 2,600 villages,towns and cities have welcomed 8.4 million guestswho have travelled on Airbnb. This activity stretchesacross the whole of the UK, from big cities to ruralvillages, with 223,200 active listings on Airbnb inEngland, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland helpingvisitors travel in a more flexible way. This, in turn,has provided a significant economic boost to localresidents, and their communities.1 Hosts on Airbnb in the United Kingdom have been welcoming guests into their homes since 2009.This page captures the activity of the Airbnb community in the UK over a year-long period between 1 July 2017 and 1 July 2018.Meanwhile, the number of UK residents choosingto travel using the platform is increasing. Over thelast year, 11.1 million people in the UK have usedAirbnb to travel to other parts of the UK, or abroad,thanks to a variety of unique, affordable and flexibleaccommodation options that help facilitate authenticand reliable travel.

There are a variety of ways that UK residents canchoose to host on Airbnb. Just over half of hosts onthe platform choose to rent out their entire home;this may be their primary residence that they makeavailable to Airbnb guests when they themselvesgo on holiday, or it may be a second home in a cityor a more rural location, which would not be utilisedotherwise.A large proportion of hosts on Airbnb share theirhome by listing a private bedroom in their primaryresidence. This allows hosts the flexibility to maximisespace in their home, benefiting from the additionalincome, and social interaction, without having tocommit to a full-time tennant.

To find out more, please click here to download the report.