Airbnb claims £3.46bn economic benefit of UK home sharing sector

Airbnb claims £3.46bn economic benefit of UK home sharing sector

Typical UK host earns around £3,000 a year hosting for 36 nights Continue reading

The home-sharing community generates an estimated £3.46 billion in economic activity for local communities across the UK, a new report reveals

The Airbnb data shows that every region in the UK now has at least 2,000 active spare room and entire home listings, with numbers reaching 64,000 in London and 21,900 in Scotland.

And the majority of hosts (76%) rent out their primary home.

The typical UK host earns around £3,000 a year hosting for 36 nights.

This makes the UK the fifth largest home-sharing community on Airbnb globally, in terms of numbers of listings.

Inbound guest growth of has been recorded at 81% spread across all 12 regions since July 2016, according to Airbnb’s first UK Insights Report.

Guests using Airbnb spent an average of £147 a day with 43% of spending taking place in the neighbourhood where they stay – helping to boost local businesses and spread tourism benefits beyond hotel districts.

More than three quarters (79%) of guests said they chose Airbnb because they wanted to “live like a local”, and the vast majority (86%) said they chose a listing on Airbnb because of the specific amenities it offered.

The average age of a host is 43 years, while those aged over 65 make up 22% of hosts in regions such as the south-west.

The fastest growing destinations are Northern Ireland (144%) and the East Midlands (134%).

By choosing Airbnb instead of hotels, guests in the UK contributed to energy savings equivalent to 75,000 homes, water reduction equivalent to 1,200 Olympic-size swimming pools, reduced greenhouse gas emissions that were the equivalent to 217,000 cars and waste reduction of up to 10,800 tons, a study led by Cleantech Group highlighted earlier in the year.

The company’s northern Europe general manager James McClure said: “The UK continues to break records on Airbnb – both as a world-leading destination, and for the benefits that hosting generates for local families and their communities.

“From Exeter to Edinburgh, millennials to seniors, apartments to tree houses, there’s something for everyone on Airbnb and locals have helped countless global guests feel at home in the UK.

“Hosts are ambassadors for their neighbourhoods and we look forward to seeing guests discover more unique, diverse and welcoming communities across the UK.”