London Short-Term Rentals End 2020 On Low Note

LONDON - London's short-term rental sector reported its lowest levels in occupancy and revenue per available room (RevPAR) since the summer, according to December 2020 data from STR.

December occupancy for the sector was 52.1%, a decrease of 11.5% from November (58.8%) and London's lowest level in the metric since August. The December absolute level, however, was significantly higher than the 22.3% occupancy level for hotels in the market.

December RevPAR for the short-term rentals fell 7.9% month over month to GBP49.61, which was London's lowest level in the metric since June. London hotels, on the other hand, saw a month-over-month increase in the metric (+19.6% to GBP19.38).

December average daily rate (ADR) for London short-term rentals rose 4.0% to GBP95.21. Hotels in the market saw a larger increase in the metric, +18.5% month over month to GBP86.94.

STR, the leader in global hospitality benchmarking and analytics, maintains the world's largest hotel performance database. London is the first international short-term rental market where STR is expanding its benchmarking offerings via a pilot study. Included in STR's short-term rental sample are both multi-family and single-family short-term rentals.