Every year, Sykes Holiday Cottages produces a Holiday Letting Outlook Report using its own booking and income data to analyse industry trends and opportunities and help the UK’s holiday let owners plan for the future.

The 2024 report covers everything from the top destinations and amenities to the state of the UK staycation market.

We thought we would share some of the best bits and good things to know below:

Profitability

65% of holiday let owners said they worried about changes to the sector.

Understandably, holiday let owners are concerned about a wave of new Government changes right now. With 87% of owners planning to increase their prices to cover any additional taxes they incur and 74% claiming to make fewer improvements to the property.

However, according to Syke’s report, short-stay accommodation will continue to be a profitable and fulfilling business venture.

The data concludes:

8% of bookings saw an increase year-on-year in 2023
The average turnover of a holiday let in the UK was £24,500 in 2023, up from £24,000 in 2022

What about Airbnb ?

Airbnb had a strong first quarter in 2024, reporting that the nights and experiences booked in Q1 grew to 133 million. Revenue of $2.1 billion increased 18% year-over-year, and net income of $264 million made it Airbnb’s most profitable first quarter ever.
This does not translate always to owners, as much as Airbnb’s revenue is growing, so is the amount of listings on their platform, probably more so then the revenue, causing a squeeze for hosts.

What Current Owners Had To Say

Sykes spoke to holiday let owners first-hand to discover what motivates them and how the cost-of-living crisis might have impacted their business.

Surveying 500 UK owners across the market, here’s what they had to say:

Enquiries in 2023 were more than double the 2019 volumes, with 60,000 enquiries from new owners.
Half of owners suggested that despite recent changes, they’re likely to buy another holiday let in the future.
86% of owners said they will likely continue renting their property or second home.

Sykes saw a huge influx of enquiries during this time and a big difference from levels in 2019, highlighting that homeowners across the country are considering letting out their property to acquire a second income or boost their current funds.

Property managers here at Stayful have noticed a huge increase in enquiries from owners looking for help managing their property on sites like Airbnb.

Reasons people decided to rent their properties to holidaymakers:

Supplement existing income (29%)
Investment for future finances (29%)
Generate income during retirement (25%)

Areas With Hot Demand

Sykes, within the report, analysed their income data to show the areas in Britain’s staycation market that are currently thriving.

Destinations with the most significant income growth between 2022 and 2023:

Costwolds – £28,500 per year (£46,300 for 4 bed property)
Cumbria and the Lake District – £21,300 (£44,200 for 4 bed)
Dorset – £27,000 per year (£38,300 for 4 bed)
Cornwall – £26,500 per year (£34,300 for 4 bed)
Peak District – £26,500 per year (£41,100 for 4 bed)

1 bedroom properties, according to Sykes have a gross income of £16,300, with five+ bedrooms earning £57,600, proving that the bigger the property the more likely you are to be profitable.

The three amenities that generated the most income were:

Hot tubs.
WiFi.
Pub proximity.
Child or pet friendly.

The top property for income were unique properties, detached houses, a farm stay, barn conversion or a cottage, and the five main amenities searches included a hot tub, garden and swimming pool.

Stayful’s Opinion

When starting Airbnb in 2024, you need to factor in some key things if you want to stand out in this busy market, i am going to summarise and list these for you.

Have a big property - The smaller you are, the more likely you are to compete with more people and even hotels, which is a zero sum game, you have to go big and raise your barrier to entry to be successful.
Be unique - just as Sykes data shows, unique properties are still performing, this is because these properties have a MOAT around their business, not everyone can come in and compete directly with them, meaning they can charge more and be much more consistent when it comes to profit.
Have good amenities - Pet and child friendly are great options, but review Airbnb and your competitions amenities list, the more you can offer the higher you will rank and the better value you will be able to offer your customers.
Find good area’s - Location is king when it comes to Airbnb, so make sure you research the right place to invest, we have many free tools on our website and online to help with this but doing proper area research is vital to success in Airbnb.

Airbnb management

To help with these things, it might be worth while partnering with an Airbnb management company.

Stayful provide Airbnb management nationwide and will provide all of these essential things that you need to make your listing stand out including:

Finding quality cleaners
Chasing for reviews
Listing optimisation
Key management
Pricing strategy.

Making your Airbnb investment passive, if you are interested then let’s have a chat!

Airbnb Management

Summary Of The Holiday Letting Outlook Report 2024