Cornwall – holiday rentals and Airbnbs

Cornwall is a major holiday destination, which has resulted in a significant number of properties being used for second homes or holiday, lets.  This impacts on house values and access to the housing market for residents.  Various reports have been published about holiday rentals. 

 

Not only is Cornwall a favoured destination, some reports have suggested that holiday rentals are lucrative.  Average rentals have been estimated at around £27,000. 

 

Airbnb data usually covers both dwellings and rooms so that any figure is an over-estimate of how many properties are used as holiday lets.  Figures from the Valuation Office Agency indicated a total of 11,450 properties used as holiday lets.  There may be other dwellings not captured in the VOA data also used as holiday lets. Some of these may be second homes. [To be included the property should be used as a holiday let for 140 nights or more and was actually let for 70 nights or more, in the last 12 months].

 

Cornwall has emerged as the undisputed champion of UK holiday rentals, according to a study.

“The findings from Wealth of Geeks found that a Cornish seaside haven raked in a staggering £40 million during last year’s summer season to be crowned as the most lucrative holiday rental market. The study analysed booking data from Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia, calculating revenue based on nightly rates and total nights booked.  Cornwall’s success stems from a combination of factors: high tourist influx which is three times the size of its population, affordable room rates (£84 per night), and a strong presence of holiday homes (£117 per night on average)."

 

[https://www.property118.com/cornwall-tops-uk-holiday-lets-profit-chart/, April 2024].

 

“A typical short-term rental listing in Cornwall is booked for 226 nights a year, with a median occupancy rate of 62% and an average daily rate of £121. In 2023, a typical host income (annual revenue) was £26,848. As of 6th November 2024, there are 13,305 active Airbnb listings."

https://airbtics.com/annual-airbnb-revenue-in-cornwall-uk

 

 

Airbnb Revenue in Cornwall, The United Kingdom: 2025 Short-Term Rental Data & Insights

"A typical short-term rental in Cornwall is booked for 219 nights per year, generating a medium Airbnb occupancy rate of 60% and an average daily rate (ADR) of £128 ($161). In June 2024 - May 2025, the average annual short-term rental revenue in Cornwall was £27K ($33K). As of 4th July, 2025, there are 13,374 active Airbnb listings in Cornwall.”

 

[https://airbtics.com/average-rent-cornwall-gb/]

 

https://www.cornishcottageholidays.co.uk/blog/thinking-of-buying-a-holiday-home/

 

Cornwall Airbnb Short Term Lets

“Following a survey by the author of all Airbnb listings for Cornwall during October 2021, there were a total of 11,600 listings on their website.  These comprise a mixture of property types: whole houses to let (short term lets), rooms in private houses, hotels and guest house rooms, chalets, glamping pods and other various other types.  This post for the first time differentiates between all Airbnb listings and short term lets of whole houses and flats, properties that could house local families. Of the 11,6 00 listings over half, 6,570, were identified as short term lets for whole properties.”

 

https://datamap-scotland.co.uk/2021/10/cornwall-airbnb-short-term-lets/

 

Conclusion

The holiday lets sector is a significant part of the housing sector in Cornwall. Although it may be beneficial to the owners of such property there are serious downsides to Cornish society.

 

There is a problem acknowledged by various commentators that there is no reliable database of how many properties are actually used as holiday lets. There is the information collected by local authorities under the business rates system but this excludes a significant number of properties, which quite legally are used as lets.  It is essential that a system be established to record the number of properties used as second homes and/or holiday lets.