The short-term letting industry has changed how people worldwide choose to travel. No longer are you confined to traditional tourist spots; it’s easier than ever to stay in almost any city, town or village and live like a local. One company that has been instrumental in driving this change is Airbnb.
Launched amid the 2008 financial crisis, Airbnb has given everyday families the chance to earn extra income for more than a decade. In a recent survey, more than a third of UK hosts on Airbnb say they use the income from sharing their own homes to help with rising living costs.1
As a new cost-of-living crisis bites, the UK government has a critical opportunity to make it easier, not harder, for regular families to share their homes and make a little extra money. Airbnb has been supportive of the government’s call for evidence on developing a short-term lets registration scheme and believes it offers a great chance to develop clear and modern rules for hosting.
The ability of hosts on Airbnb to offer diverse accommodation options for guests, as well as enabling them to make ends meet, has never been more important
Yet, despite the benefits of short-term lets (commonly known as ‘holiday lets’), there are concerns surrounding their impact on communities. New rules could offer a sensible solution to protect both tourism and communities.
Amanda Cupples, general manager for Northern Europe at Airbnb, says: ‘We want to see a homesharing sector that works for everybody – that’s why it’s vital that any new rules strike the right balance between the needs of local communities, hosts and guests. We believe this is a great opportunity to develop a clear and modern framework that would do just that.’
Last year, Airbnb called on the UK government to create a simple, online nationwide registration system, giving local authorities a clear understanding of short-term letting activity in their area without negatively impacting the opportunity for everyday families to earn additional income.
As everyone works together to tackle the most challenging economic crisis since The Great Recession, the ability of hosts on Airbnb to offer diverse accommodation options for guests, as well as enabling them to make ends meet, has never been more important.
An online registration system that makes it easier for regular people to use their homes to boost their income while diversifying tourism is vital, according to Airbnb.
For more information, visit Airbnb.com/ukwhitepaper
1 Internal Airbnb data sourced from the 2021 Compact Survey, which surveyed hosts between February 2022 – March 2022. This question had 5,018 respondents with 1.3% margin of error.
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