Airbnb and the COVID-19 pandemic: a geospatial analysis of Greater London

This paper examines the response of the Airbnb ‘market’ to the shock of COVID-19, exploring the spatio-temporal variations in Airbnb listings, revenues, and hosting patterns in Greater London over the pre-lockdown, lockdown, and post-lockdown periods. At an aggregate level, Airbnb listings and revenues were found to have declined during the pandemic with disruptions differentiated according to the professional or amateur status of hosts. We then disaggregate these global trends to neighbourhood level. We explore the relative importance of socio-demographic, accessibility and neighbourhood amenities to Airbnb revenue levels across the Capital over the course of the pandemic. In doing so, we expose patterns in the Airbnb market as a result of the COVID-19 shock, revealing a geography of spatial clustering in Airbnb revenue levels over time and variations and volatility based neighbourhood deprivation. While COVID-19 certainly delivered a disruptive effect on Airbnb in Greater London, the pandemic did not de-stabilise existing geographies of Airbnb, especially in Inner London, where Airbnb remains spatially entrenched and challenges around housing affordability and neighbourhood gentrification are acute.