Short-term lets in the UK surpassed 100 million guest nights in 2025, according to official ONS data, with the sustained growth raising fresh concerns about the impact on private rental supply.
A market on the rise
The figures show 100,911,620 guest nights were recorded across the year, an 11.5% increase on the 90,507,070 logged in 2024. The rise was broad-based across all UK nations, though Wales saw the sharpest uplift, with guest nights climbing 17.4% from 6,282,250 to 7,374,780. England grew by 11.1%, Scotland by 10.9%, and Northern Ireland posted the smallest increase at 10.8%.
At a regional level, the North East recorded the biggest percentage rise, with guest nights jumping 22.2% year-on-year to 2,753,800. The shift in domestic travel patterns was also notable: visitors from within the UK accounted for 67.2% of all guest nights, up 3.0 percentage points on the previous year.
Monthly patterns were partly shaped by the timing of Easter. March was the only month to record a decline, with guest nights falling 5.9%, while April saw the largest single-month increase at 29.3%. The ONS noted that the Easter bank holidays fell in late March and early April in 2024, but shifted to mid-to-late April in 2025, redistributing demand between the two months.
Combined, March and April showed a 12.7% increase across the two years, broadly in line with the annual trend. January remained the quietest month, with 4,344,890 guest nights, though even that represented a 19.0% rise on January 2024. August was the busiest, accounting for 14.0% of the annual total at 14,143,560 guest nights.
Pressure on rental supply
For the private rented sector, the direction of travel is a concern. "The latest ONS data highlights the continued growth of short-term lets but also reinforces concerns about the impact they can have on the supply of homes available in the private rented sector," said Nathan Emerson, CEO at Propertymark.
"While short-term lets support tourism and local economies, an increasing number of properties being diverted from long-term rental use can reduce housing availability and place further pressure on affordability, particularly in high-demand areas."
Propertymark has used the figures to renew calls for stronger oversight. "These figures demonstrate the need for local authorities to have access to robust data and appropriate powers to address imbalances where short-term lets are affecting housing supply," Emerson added.
"Propertymark continues to call for greater parity between the short-term lets sector and the private rented sector, ensuring communities can benefit from tourism without compromising access to homes for local residents."
The data covers short-term lets booked through online collaborative economy platforms and was compiled by the ONS as part of its ongoing monitoring of the sector.
