United Kingdom short-term rentals, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026.
These are market numbers, not ours: the average across the PriceLabs comp sets of the United Kingdom listings we price (up to 675 in a month), each month set against the same month a year earlier. A comp set is the group of competing listings a property is priced against, so this is what operators across the market saw.
| Month | Market occupancy (last year → this) | Market nightly rate, GBP (last year → this) | Market RevPAR vs last year | Booking window | Average stay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | 59% → 60% | £140 → £135 | −3% | 33 days | 3.4 nights |
| Nov 2025 | 57% → 54% | £135 → £132 | −7% | 33 days | 3.4 nights |
| Dec 2025 | 54% → 52% | £140 → £139 | −3% | 37 days | 3.4 nights |
| Jan 2026 | 46% → 45% | £122 → £123 | −1% | 23 days | 3.9 nights |
| Feb 2026 | 52% → 52% | £123 → £128 | +2% | 25 days | 3.5 nights |
| Mar 2026 | 51% → 52% | £125 → £130 | +5% | 26 days | 3.4 nights |
| Apr 2026 | 58% → 56% | £134 → £138 | +0% | 32 days | 3.4 nights |
| May 2026 | 58% → 58% | £140 → £144 | +3% | 36 days | 3.3 nights |
| Jun 2026 | 59% → 58% | £140 → £146 | +2% | 39 days | 3.4 nights |
| Jul 2026 | 68% → 64% | £152 → £154 | −4% | 44 days | 3.6 nights |
| Aug 2026 | 67% → 64% | £148 → £152 | −1% | 40 days | 3.5 nights |
| Sep 2026 | 62% → 60% | £136 → £139 | −2% | 32 days | 3.7 nights |
Source: PriceLabs comp-set data for RevOpt-managed United Kingdom listings, Oct 2025–Sep 2026. Booking window and average stay are this year's market averages. Months still being booked are not shown.
Areas in this data: Greater Manchester, Manchester, West Midlands, west midlands, Milton Keynes, milton keynes, Bristol, bristol.
What moves revenue in United Kingdom.
1. Summer carries the year, but not by as much as you think
Market occupancy ran about 64% at the July–August peak against 45% in Jan. In most UK cities the gap between peak and quiet months is smaller than in leisure markets, so year-round demand from contractors, hospitals, universities and corporate stays decides the result. Pricing that only chases summer leaves the other nine months under-managed.
2. Guests book three to six weeks out
The market's average booking window sat between 23 and 44 days. Rates set a month ahead decide most of the result, so pace has to be checked weekly against forecast: early enough to fix a slow week while guests are still booking it.
3. Contractor and leisure guests need different rules
The market's average stay was 3.3–3.9 nights, but contractor and corporate stays usually run far longer than a leisure weekend. Weekly and monthly discounts, minimum stays and mid-week gap rules should be set for the guests each property actually attracts, not copied across the portfolio.
4. Events move cities, not the whole country
A big concert, football weekend or race meeting can double demand in one city for two nights and leave the next town untouched. Event calendars need to be city-level, and the premiums set weeks ahead.
5. Booking.com matters more in the UK
For many UK portfolios Booking.com is a large share of bookings, so Genius, mobile and country rates, and how they stack with Airbnb promotions, can swing the effective rate by more than the base price does.
What the wider United Kingdom market says.
PriceLabs comp sets show the listings ours compete with directly. Airbtics tracks every active short-term rental in each market, so it's a useful cross-check on the whole picture: median occupancy and nightly rate for Sep 2025–Aug 2026 against the twelve months before, and the change in the number of active listings.
| Market | Median occupancy (prior 12 mo → last 12 mo) | Median nightly rate, USD | Active listings, year on year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | 62% → 55% | $137 → $156 (+14%) | +4% |
| Birmingham | 60% → 52% | $122 → $138 (+13%) | +4% |
| Bristol | 71% → 65% | $136 → $151 (+11%) | +14% |
| Liverpool | 55% → 48% | $129 → $148 (+15%) | +4% |
| London (1–2 bed) | 81% → 75% | $240 → $264 (+10%) | +8% |
Source: Airbtics market data (Sep 2025–Aug 2026; averages of monthly medians; nightly rates in USD as Airbtics reports them). More supply (red) means more competition.
+14% on the same listings, against a market at −2%.
Every United Kingdom listing we manage that was live in both periods, April–September 2026 against 2025, set against each listing's own market. Percentages only; client names are withheld. How we measure results →
A revenue manager for your United Kingdom portfolio.
What you get
- A named revenue manager who prices every unit, every day, inside your PriceLabs and PMS
- Revenue projections for every listing, agreed with you up front
- A weekly pacing check for every listing against its market
- Local event calendars, seasonal base prices and minimum stays for United Kingdom
- Monthly reporting in GBP, ready to share with owners
Who it's for
- Operators with 10+ listings, or $1M+ a year in bookings (or the local equivalent)
- Teams that answer to owners or investors for the number
- Under 10 listings? RevBnB, our AI pricing manager, is built for you