The short-term rental sector in London is currently performing better than other accommodation sectors, new figures suggest.

Performance data to the end of June 2021 from a study released by STR appear to show that London short-term rentals had higher levels of occupancy in June than other major accommodation types as average length of stays increased.

The tracking study, conducted in partnership with the UK Short Term Accommodation Association (STAA), measures the three main accommodation sectors simultaneously comparing how London’s short-term rentals, hotels and serviced apartments have performed against each other.

For occupancy, short term rentals were considerably ahead of the others averaging 62.7% for June. Hotels stood at 40.6% and serviced apartments were 39.7%. Year-on-year that’s a 35.7% increase for short-term rentals.

For Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) short-term rentals were ahead again averaging £79.20 in June – a 59.5% year-on-year increase – compared to hotels which averaged £40.40 and serviced apartments which averaged £57.80.

Short-term rentals saw an increase in the average length of stay from 10.6 days in May to 11.0 days in June. In June last year, the average length of stay in a short term rentals was only 9.4 days. There is no comparable data with hotels and serviced apartments for this metric.

Merilee Karr, chair of the STAA and CEO of UnderTheDoormat, said: “It’s great to see that some of the main business indicators for the short-term rentals sector are looking in much better shape now since the UK domestic tourism and hospitality markets opened up.

“Whilst there has been a noticeable absence of international visitors to London, the news that fully vaccinated individuals from Europe and the US will be welcomed back to England from 4 August, should help improve the picture for many operators and drive the recovery for the capital’s accommodation.

“It’s interesting to see that not only is occupancy and RevPAR looking good but the average length of stays has steadily increased since April. Guests are taking fewer but longer trips away because short term rentals can offer them a true ‘home-from-home’ experience enabling people to combine work with time away.

“As the traditional UK holiday destinations fill up, people should turn to see what their cities can offer. Short term rentals enable guests to socially distance themselves from others and offer them the reassurances of high standards of cleanliness and safety. This should appeal to both leisure and business travellers.”