Best areas in London for Airbnb: which boroughs earn the most?

Ask which London borough is best for Airbnb and you usually get a list of the most expensive postcodes. That answer is incomplete. Two flats bought for similar money, one in Knightsbridge and one in Canary Wharf, earn in entirely different ways: one on headline rate, the other on weekday occupancy and length of stay. This guide compares the areas we manage across London on the detail that actually decides annual income — type of demand, achievable nightly rate, housing stock, transport and how hard the local council enforces the 90-night cap.

Which areas of London earn the most on Airbnb?

There is no single best area. Central boroughs such as Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea and Camden post the highest nightly rates, alongside the tightest council enforcement and the steepest cost of entry. Inner London boroughs including Hackney, Southwark and Lambeth strike a more workable balance between purchase price and achievable rate. Outer boroughs with strong business or transport links, Canary Wharf and Woolwich among them, trade a lower nightly rate for longer stays and steadier weekday occupancy.

Which one earns the most depends on what you are optimising for: gross nightly rate, return on capital, or exposure to compliance risk. If you already hold one or more London properties, it also comes down to how much personal oversight an area demands. This guide groups the market into those three tiers, with the operating detail behind each.

What actually makes an area good for short lets

A useful comparison between London boroughs runs on more than one number. Five factors do most of the work.

• Type of demand. Tourist, business, medical or university-driven, each with its own length of stay and price tolerance.
• Achievable nightly rate. Best read as a range, since it moves with exact postcode and property specification inside the same borough.
• Housing stock. How much local stock is flats suited to short lets, whether leases restrict subletting, and how likely a block is to generate complaints from permanent residents.
• Transport access. Zone and line connectivity decide how far a property can sit from a demand driver and still let well.
• Council enforcement and planning controls. Some boroughs pursue 90-night breaches far more actively than others, and some fall under Article 4 directions restricting change of use.

Citywide averages are a weak guide here. Two independent trackers put London occupancy at 58% (AirDNA, around 113,000 listings, ADR near $234) and at a 74% median (Airbtics, around 49,000 listings, ADR near £152) for broadly the same period. The gap is methodology, not error, and it is why every figure below is a range rather than a single number. Our occupancy guide explains the difference in full.

Central London: highest rates, tightest enforcement

Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea and Camden hold the highest average daily rates in London. For the same reasons, they hold the highest cost of entry and the most active enforcement of the 90-night rule.

Knightsbridge (Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) sits at the top of the range: £220–£420 a night at 80–86% occupancy, with international guests making up 78% of stays and an average stay of 5.2 nights. Harrods, Harvey Nichols and the surrounding luxury retail draw a segment with very little price sensitivity, while business and diplomatic bookings fill weekdays between the leisure peaks in May–July and September–October.

Notting Hill, also in K&C, runs £175–£280 a night at 83–88% occupancy. Weekend occupancy reaches 93% against 78% midweek, driven by Portobello Road Market and by Notting Hill Carnival in August, still the single largest booking spike in the area.

Marylebone (Westminster City Council) earns £170–£250 a night at 83–87% occupancy. Harley Street's concentration of private medical practices produces steady bookings from patients and the families travelling with them, some running to several weeks. That is why the average stay here, at 4.5 nights, runs longer than in neighbouring Central postcodes.

Camden (London Borough of Camden) sits at £130–£190 a night, 83–88% occupancy, on the back of Camden Market's global pull and venues including the Roundhouse and the Electric Ballroom.

The trade-off is the same across all four. Westminster and K&C pursue 90-night breaches harder than most London councils, and both carry a heavier stamp duty bill at purchase. A Central London property earns more per night, costs more to buy and exposes you to more if the calendar is not tracked properly.

Inner London: where the numbers balance out

Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, Southwark, Lambeth and Islington sit a tier below Central London on nightly rate, and a tier below on purchase price. That is where the balance in this group comes from.

Shoreditch (Hackney and Tower Hamlets) achieves £140–£210 a night at 84–89% occupancy, the highest occupancy band in this guide. Demand runs across all seven days rather than clustering at weekends. Silicon Roundabout and the surrounding tech and creative firms fill weeknights with visiting engineers and conference attendees; the bar and restaurant scene fills Thursday to Sunday.

Bethnal Green (Tower Hamlets) runs £120–£175 a night at 80–85% occupancy and works in part as Shoreditch's overflow market. When E1 is fully booked or priced above budget, guests book E2 as a well-connected alternative. Average stay is the shortest here at 2.8 nights, so turnover is heavier.

Battersea (London Borough of Wandsworth) is £135–£200 a night at 80–86% occupancy. The reopening of Battersea Power Station, the Northern Line extension and the US Embassy's move to Nine Elms have all pushed rates up, and a real diplomatic and corporate segment (34% business travellers) now supports midweek demand.

Camberwell (Southwark Council) runs £115–£185 a night at 73–80% occupancy, the lowest occupancy band in this group. King's College Hospital, the Maudsley and Goldsmiths generate a dependable healthcare and education segment, and proximity to Peckham and Brixton keeps the property connected to South London leisure demand without Zone 1 pricing.

Vauxhall (Lambeth Council) achieves £145–£230 a night at 80–86% occupancy, the strongest rate band among the Inner London areas covered here. Fast links to Westminster, Victoria and the South Bank bring a consultant-heavy weekday segment (46% business travellers) on top of leisure demand from the riverside developments.

Farringdon straddles the London Borough of Islington and the City of London, and the demand profile reflects that overlap: £145–£215 a night at 83–87% occupancy, with 44% business travellers, drawn from the Inns of Court, the professional services firms next door in the City, and the Barbican's arts cluster. Check which council a specific address falls under before you buy.

The pattern across Inner London: lower purchase prices than Central, occupancy that holds up well, and lighter enforcement than Westminster or K&C. What varies more than the price band suggests is the demand behind that occupancy — tech in Shoreditch, healthcare in Camberwell, corporate commuters in Vauxhall and Farringdon.

Outer London: business, events and mid-term demand

This is where the case for looking past the most expensive postcode is clearest. Outer boroughs with strong transport links post lower nightly rates than Central London and can still outperform on annual return once occupancy and length of stay are put back into the calculation.

Canary Wharf (London Borough of Tower Hamlets) earns £155–£210 a night at 84–88% occupancy. Lower than Knightsbridge on rate, with a materially different demand structure behind it: 62% of guests are business travellers against 28% in Knightsbridge, and average stay is 5.8 nights, the longest in this guide. HSBC, Barclays, JPMorgan and Clifford Chance base operations here and generate secondments and project teams who book weeks ahead and stay anywhere from two to twelve weeks. Weekday occupancy of 90% outpaces the weekend's 78%, the inverse of the Central London pattern.

Woolwich (Royal Borough of Greenwich) sits at £100–£145 a night, 78–83% occupancy, the lowest rate band and the lowest cost of entry here. The Elizabeth Line puts it a direct, fast journey from Canary Wharf, the City and Heathrow, which pulls in commuter and corporate guests who cannot find availability closer in. Business travellers already account for 40% of stays.

A lower headline rate is not the same as a lower return. A property with a genuine mid-term profile holds occupancy through the months when a purely tourist-driven Central postcode sits empty. If you want the arithmetic on that, our guide to how much you can make on Airbnb in London works through it.

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London areas at a glance

Every figure above is a range, based on Staymo-managed portfolio and market data, 2026. Performance varies with property size, specification and exact location inside the postcode.

The 90-night cap applies everywhere in London

The 90-night limit on entire-home short lets applies identically across all 32 London boroughs and the City of London. It comes from s.44 of the Deregulation Act 2015, which amended s.25 of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973. The count resets on 1 January each year. A council that issues an enforcement notice for a breach can fine you up to £20,000 per offence.

It is not stricter in Knightsbridge than in Woolwich, and demand does not lift it. What differs by borough is how closely the cap is tracked, how quickly a council acts, and how much annual income is at stake if you miss it. Our 90-day rule guide covers the detail.

For a property that should work across the full year rather than sit empty from autumn, mid-term rental is the standard route once the cap is reached. It is also why areas with real mid-term demand, Canary Wharf chief among them, can beat higher-rate postcodes on annual income.

What a property costs before it earns anything

Buying into any of the areas above carries a 5% Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge on top of the standard bands, applying to additional properties from £40,000 upward, in force since 31 October 2024 (GOV.UK). The surcharge scales with purchase price, so it lands hardest in Central London, and a company purchase can face a further 17% rate above £500,000 unless relief is claimed. Furnished Holiday Lettings treatment was abolished from 6 April 2025 and is no longer available on any of this. Our stamp duty guide sets out the bands and the reliefs that remain.

Frequently asked questions

Is the best area for Airbnb always the one with the highest nightly rate?

No. The highest-rate boroughs also carry the highest purchase price and the most active council enforcement. An area with a lower nightly rate but longer stays and genuine mid-term demand, Canary Wharf being the clearest example here, can produce a comparable or stronger annual return once occupancy and length of stay are accounted for.

Does the 90-night rule vary by borough?

No. It is set by the Deregulation Act 2015 and applies identically across all 32 London boroughs and the City of London. What varies is enforcement intensity and, in some areas, additional planning controls under Article 4 directions.

Which London areas have the strongest weekday demand?

Those with a business or medical driver rather than a purely tourist one: Canary Wharf (62% business travellers), Farringdon (44%), Vauxhall (46%), and Marylebone, where Harley Street holds midweek occupancy up outside the leisure season.

Is there a UK-wide registration scheme for short-let hosts?

A national registration scheme for short-term lets in England has been announced but is not yet in force at the time of writing (GOV.UK). London's 90-night cap applies regardless.

I already own a rental property in London. Does a second one in a different area make sense?

Often, yes. A Central London property leaning on tourist demand and a Canary Wharf property leaning on business demand do not dip in the same months, which smooths income across a small portfolio. The trade-off is oversight: properties in different boroughs are harder to run personally, and that is usually the point at which owners move to full management.

Does Zone matter when choosing an area?

Less than most owners expect. Zones 1 to 3 cover every area in this guide, from Knightsbridge, Marylebone and Farringdon out to Woolwich. Zone alone sets neither rate nor occupancy; the connection to the relevant demand driver matters more than the number.

Choosing the postcode, not the headline rate

The borough with the highest advertised nightly rate is not automatically the one that earns the most, once purchase price, enforcement risk and length of stay are back in the picture. Central London rewards owners who can absorb a higher entry cost and manage the calendar tightly. Inner London gives a more workable balance for a first short-let purchase. Outer boroughs with real business or transport-driven demand can outperform on occupancy and annual return on the lowest headline rates in this guide.

If you are adding to an existing portfolio, the area matters less in isolation than in combination with what you already hold. A second property on a different demand cycle is more resilient than a second property in the same postcode.

That is the part we are built for. Staymo manages more than 2,000 London properties at 85.3% average occupancy, has earned owners over £70M to date, and runs full Airbnb property management borough by borough rather than from a national playbook. Your income, our growth.

Disclaimer: This guide is for general information and does not constitute investment, tax or legal advice. Figures are based on Staymo-managed portfolio and market data and on the third-party trackers cited; actual performance varies by property. Confirm your position with your local council, HMRC or a qualified professional before making a purchase or letting decision.