The challenges of measuring the short-term rental market: an analysis of open data on Airbnb activity

The past decade has seen the growth of Short-Term Lets (STLs) through Airbnb and other platforms. Measuring the scale of this activity is challenging as platforms appear unwilling to share data. Most research on Airbnb uses data from commercial sources but this raises issues of equity in access and transparency. Open data exist, but geographic and temporal coverage is limited. We consider whether these open data can be used to study the STLs sector, using a city in Scotland. Using 2017 data to construct: (i) property-level estimates of income; and (ii) through comparisons with rents in the long-term rental market, an area-level vulnerability index to identify neighbourhoods at greatest risk of properties switching from long-term to short-term renting. This index is strongly associated with the growth of Airbnb listings over two years. We conclude that open data can provide a valuable basis for research and policy. We discuss strategies for improving knowledge about this sector including through new data collection.