Today in the video-blog post I talk about whether it's worth becoming an Airbnb host in 2021 post-covid. The UK government has announced that it's planning to open borders in the United Kingdom from the 17th of May which means that people will be able to travel outside of the UK and possibly come into the country with lower restrictions, of course some testing will still be required. That's a very promising sign and then they're also planning to lift all travel restrictions from the 21st of June. It's quite likely that we will be allowed to travel even more extensively now that the vaccination program is going ahead successfully, I think that's very likely to happen. So, if you are planning to travel and you're thinking about possibly renting your property out while you're away I want to give you more details on how to do that. It’s not that complicated, if you have a property in central London such properties are in high demand so when you're traveling you can consider creating a listing on Airbnb and renting while you're away. First of all you definitely would need very good photos of the property, the property also needs to be in a good location, ideally zones 1 or 2. You also need to have a good description of your property, it has to be kitted out very well so that guests feel comfortable when they arrive. It's very important to be transparent too, so for example if there are any noise issues you need to make them aware in advance to avoid any bad reviews afterwards. It’s probably the easiest to start listing with Airbnb, it is really the biggest and most user-friendly channel. At StayinLondon we work with all of the major channels and we use software to make sure that you don't have people overbooking. We work with booking.com, Expedia, homeaway also work with medium-term channels for example thehomelike.com and spotahome.com – these channels attract clients that are looking for a longer stay, from one to three months for example. So if you're away for longer that could also be an option for you. Now a very important question is how much money you can make when you rent your property out on Airbnb? From what we have seen in last year, even in covid times we've managed to rent out most of our properties. For example a 2-bedroom apartment in Notting Hill should generate about £3000 pounds after all of the costs per month for the owner. If it’s a slightly bigger property, for example a 3-bedroom house in Islington, this should generate £4500-5000 pounds a month and if it's a smaller property like a one-bedroom apartment in South Kensington I think you should be looking at around £2000 per month after all the costs. If you would like us to give you a more specific calculation please get in touch and I’ll provide a forecast of potential monthly revenue and costs and then you can make a decision whether you think it’s worth renting your London apartment out while you’re away. Shorter-term or medium-term rentals should generate more revenue than a longer term model and very often our clients or customers they still want to use their property so longer term rental option is not really available to them, so this kind of short and medium term rental is a great opportunity to generate extra income while you're not using the property. I can always give free advice if want to start your journey as an Airbnb landlord in London, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
