Short-term lets

Main points

From January to December 2025, there were 100,911,620 guest nights spent in short-term lets in the UK.

 

There was an 11.5% increase in guest nights in 2025 from the previous 12-month period, January to December 2024 (90,507,070).

 

Wales had the largest increase in guest nights among individual UK countries, rising by 17.4%, from 6,282,250 in 2024 to 7,374,780 in 2025.

 

The North East saw the biggest percentage rise in guest nights, increasing by 22.2%, from 2,253,220 in 2024 to 2,753,800 in 2025.

 

The share of guest nights from domestic visitors to the UK increased by 3.0 percentage points to 67.2% between 2024 and 2025.

 

Germany had the largest growth in the number of international guest nights contributing to the UK total, rising by 8.5% between 2024 and 2025; the other three countries in the top four experienced declines (United States, France and "Asia other").

 

Cornwall compared

The three tables below compare Cornwall with other areas including the UK and England. 

 

Cornwall saw an increase of 13% in the number of guest nights between 2024 and 2025.  This compared to an 11.5% increase across the UK and 11.1% across England.

 

Guest nights	2024	2025	Change
Area	Nos	Nos	Nos	%
United Kingdom	90507070	100911620	10404550	11.5
Great Britain	88337820	98508260	10170440	11.5
England	70595220	78428590	7833370	11.1
South West	13032000	14579310	1547310	11.9
Cornwall	3450100	3899550	449450	13.0

 

Cornwall saw an increase of 12.5% in the number of nights between 2024 and 2025.  This compared to a 10.1% increase across the UK and 9.7% across England.

 

 

Nights	2024	2025	Change
Area	Nos	Nos	Nos	%
United Kingdom	31883820	35101220	3217400	10.1
Great Britain	31189410	34337480	3148070	10.1
England	25289010	27734300	2445290	9.7
South West	4301920	4782930	481010	11.2
Cornwall	1096960	1233670	136710	12.5

 

Cornwall saw an increase of 9.7% in the number of stays between 2024 and 2025.  This compared to a  9.4% increase across the UK and 9.3% across England.

 

 

Stays	2024	2025	Change
Area	Nos	Nos	Nos	%
United Kingdom	9317440	10191430	873990	9.4
Great Britain	9059010	9911310	852300	9.4
England	7204280	7872220	667940	9.3
South West	1259900	1366250	106350	8.4
Cornwall	266930	292920	25990	9.7

 

Cornwall had the highest had the longest period for length of stays in both 224 and 2025 at 4.1 and 4.2 nights compared to 3.5 across England.

 

 

Length of stay
	2024	2025
United Kingdom	3.4	3.4
Great Britain	3.4	3.5
England	3.5	3.5
South West	3.4	3.5
Cornwall	4.1	4.2

 

 

 

2 . Guest nights, nights and stays

In this bulletin, "short-term lets" refers to rentals, such as apartments or rooms, booked through Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia Group, excluding other forms of accommodation, such as hotels or campsites.

 

This analysis provides aggregated data booked through the three large online collaborative economy platforms on the number of guest nights, nights, and stays spent in short-term lets offered via online platforms.

The "number of guest nights" accounts for the number of nights spent during a stay multiplied by the number of visitors in the travel party. This can be influenced by guest group size and length of stay. For example, a group of

four staying for two nights would be eight guest nights, but one guest staying for two nights would be two guest nights. The "number of nights" refers to the number of nights a property or room offered by the platforms was occupied during a stay. However, the "number of stays" refers to the number of times a facility offered by the platforms was occupied by a single booking, regardless of length of stay.

 

 

Source

Office for National Statistics (ONS), released 24 June 2026, ONS website, statistical bulletin, Short-term lets through online collaborative economy platforms, UK: July 2023 to December 2025.