Latest / STR Unpacked / The Turn Happened In Spring
Transcript
- Ben: Good morning and welcome to your short term rental bulletin on the 10th of August. So, record rates, record supply, and a market that looks different depending on which data set you read. So, Lighthouse figures published this month by Visit Britain and Visit England show that in June, the UK short term rental average daily rates hit a new June peak, exceeding both 2025 and 2024. Average revenue per property did the same. And I really think that matters because if you look back to January and February of this year, rates were still falling year on year, and in spring we saw that turnaround. So supply also hit a new peak in June, growing across all UK regions, with Yorkshire and Humber, the North East, the Northwest and Wales growing the most. Nights reserved and occupancy held stable year on year. One caveat you should know. Lighthouse did change how it de-duplicates listings in July, and Visit Britain revised how it calculates its occupancy in the same month. So these are their own published notes, and they sit underneath the numbers. Now, key data, which tracks more than 92,000 UK properties through property management system integrations, published its UK summer index on Friday. On the books, as of the 20th of July, August rates are pacing 3% ahead at £218 and September at 5% ahead at 146. But forward occupancy 5% behind last year, in both months. Redpar is pacing only 2% behind for August and 1% for September. Rate discipline is absorbing nearly all of it. Regionally, key data has the southeast of England as the only region with second quarter occupancy growth up 2%, the Northwest weakest, occupancy down seven percent, and red par down five. Now, Lighthouse separately has the Northwest among the fastest growing regions for supply. So we're looking at two different data sets, no formal link between them, but worth watching if you operate there. Key data puts Direct at 58% of UK reservations and 66% of revenue, down from 67% of reservations two years ago. And in the US index, Direct is 21%. And these are forward bookings, not final number. They will move. So rate discipline is holding your revenue up this summer, not demand. Thank you for watching, and I'll see you tomorrow.