A sharp increase in the number of Airbnb listings in coastal areas of England and Wales has raised fears that some seaside areas could become ‘theme parks for the rich’.
The number of “full places” for rent in coastal spots in England and Wales increased by 56% between 2019 and 2022, compared to 15% in non-coastal areas, according to the analyses.
The increase means coastal areas now have three times the rate of Airbnb listings per dwelling than in non-coastal areas, compared to twice the pre-pandemic rate.
Housing activists say the trend indicates landlords in popular beach towns and quiet coastal getaways may favor tourists over renters at a time when many such communities are being hit by rising costs of living, mortgages and real estate prices.
“Tourists don’t want to visit ghost towns. And most people can’t afford to live in a theme park designed for more affluent visitors,” said Will McMahon, director of the charity Action on Empty Homes, which coordinated the Action on Short Lets campaign. .
He added that the current situation is “ultimately killing the very communities that were once considered part of the visitor attraction.”
The analytics, which calculates the number of Airbnb listings advertised as an “entire place” for rent — as opposed to a room in a house or a shared room — as a local housing stock rate in statistical reporting regions known as mid-tier super production areas, found that in May 2019, one in 105 accommodations in coastal areas of England and Wales was advertised as Airbnb.
In May 2022, it was one in 67 coastal dwellings, while inland it was one in 196 properties, according to Inside Airbnba non-commercial project that aims to highlight the impact of the service on residential housing markets.
The data also showed that certain beachfront locations had a much higher proportion of Airbnb listings.
One in four houses and apartments in Woolacombe, Georgeham and Croyde in North Devon were listed on Airbnb in May this year, up from one in six in 2019, as were houses in the Scores, overlooking the sea in St Andrews , in Scotland. And one in five homes in St Ives & Halsetown in Cornwall have been listed while one in six properties in the Cornish town of Newquay and Whitby in North Yorkshire have been advertised on the site.
Dan Wilson Craw, deputy director of Generation Rent, said one of the drivers behind the increase in Airbnb listings was the lack of taxes and regulations for vacation rentals.
“For the past seven years, the government has taken mortgage interest tax relief away from homeowners, but left the vacation rental industry untouched. This has encouraged vacation spot owners to transition their properties from renters to tourists. As a result, there are fewer listings in the rental market and rents have skyrocketed, pushing people out of the towns and villages they grew up in.
The Airbnb listing rate in coastal areas of Britain increased by 40% over the three-year period, compared to 17% in inland areas. Of the 50 areas with the highest proportion of Airbnb listings per dwelling, two-thirds were in coastal areas, although coastal areas only account for a quarter of the small areas covered in the analysis.
The analysis only looked at Airbnb listings advertised as an “entire place” for rent, as opposed to a room in a house or a shared room, and did not distinguish between properties that were rented full-time. , and included Caravans, Pods, and Mansions. , which represent a fraction of the ads.
Airbnb questioned the accuracy of the results, pointing out that unusual listings such as caravans or large mansions, used for events, may not affect local housing stock.
A spokesperson said: “The pandemic has changed the way we travel and shifted demand from densely populated cities to coastal and rural communities, creating new economic opportunities for local families to supplement their income by renting occasionally their house.
“The typical UK host only rents out their own home for a few nights a month to supplement their income, and more than a third say the extra income helps them cope with the rising cost of living. Airbnb welcomes new rules and we have proposed a host registry to the UK government, and we continue to support their consultation on the matter.
McMahon pointed to potential solutions in other countries: “In Scotland councils have the power to limit short-term rentals, in Wales new powers come into play to ensure that short-term rentals and second homes separate planning classes from homes for normal residential use.
“It is time to ensure that a decent supply of affordable housing for locals is maintained, which means ensuring that all local housing is not taken up by deeper-pocketed investors who then rent it out on Airbnb for huge profits.”
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