Edinburgh vs London: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Edinburgh edges ahead of London on higher occupancy (34.5% vs 17.5%), stronger RevPAR (£71 vs £31).

Head-to-head metrics

	Edinburgh	London
Median occupancy	34.5%	17.5%
Median daily rate	£213	£173
Median RevPAR	£71	£31
Active listings	5,555	47,121
YoY occupancy	-3.3 pts	+1.1 pts
YoY daily rate	+36.5%	+34.3%
Regulation risk	—	medium
Annual night cap	None	90
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Edinburgh vs London

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — Edinburgh finishes decisively ahead of London. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 130.3% higher in Edinburgh: £71 against £31. Edinburgh sells 17 more points of its calendar — 34.5% median occupancy against 17.5% in London. That is not a rounding difference, and it compounds over a hold period.

Edinburgh takes both halves of the yield equation, which is less common than it sounds. It charges more per night — £213 against £173 — and still fills more of the year, 34.5% against 17.5%. A market that leads on price and utilisation at once is normally one where demand has outrun supply, rather than one where hosts are discounting to keep the calendar busy. RevPAR reflects the double advantage at £71 against £31.

That verdict needs a caveat, because London is not simply the weaker market of the two. London is the deeper market at 47,121 active listings against 5,555, which usually means better comparables going in and a wider buyer pool coming out. The twelve-month direction favours London too: occupancy there moved +1.1 points while Edinburgh moved −3.3 points. If your model leans on that dimension, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

We hold a verified regulation record for only one side of this pairing. London caps entire-home letting at 90 nights a year and requires neither a licence nor registration, on a medium risk rating. Edinburgh should be read as unverified rather than unregulated: check the local authority's own register before you underwrite anything there.

The two calendars also behave differently. Edinburgh peaks in September at 73.2% and bottoms in January at 48.5%; London runs from 67.9% in September down to 50% in February. London is the steadier of the two at 17.9 points peak-to-trough against 24.7 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Edinburgh concentrates its return into a shorter window and rewards operators who price the peak aggressively instead of holding a flat rate all year.

Who each suits, then. Edinburgh suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry. It is the contrarian side: buying it means buying a market that has cooled. London suits an owner who expects to use the property personally for part of the year, or to run a hybrid calendar around the 90-night ceiling. It is also the momentum side of this pair. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, dated 2026-09, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 5,555 active Edinburgh listings and 47,121 in London.

Frequently asked questions

Is Edinburgh or London better for Airbnb investment?

Edinburgh, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£71 vs £31), higher occupancy (34.5% vs 17.5%), and a higher nightly rate (£213 vs £173). London is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on a deeper market (47,121 vs 5,555 active listings).

Which has higher occupancy, Edinburgh or London?

Edinburgh, at 34.5% median occupancy against 17.5% in London — a gap of 17 points. That is a wide spread by short-term rental standards and usually reflects a structural demand difference rather than better hosting. Over the last twelve months Edinburgh shed 3.3 points and London gained 1.1 points, so the gap is closing.

Which has higher nightly rates, Edinburgh or London?

Edinburgh, at £213 a night against £173 in London — roughly 22.9% more. Revenue per available night agrees rather than contradicts: £71 in Edinburgh against £31, so the rate premium survives contact with the occupancy figures.

Is Edinburgh or London riskier for Airbnb regulation?

We hold a verified regulation record for London only, so we will not rank the two. London caps entire-home letting at 90 nights a year and requires neither a licence nor registration, and it is rated medium risk. Treat Edinburgh as unverified rather than unregulated, and check the local authority directly before committing.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Edinburgh or London?

London, on occupancy: +1.1 points over the last twelve months against −3.3 points in Edinburgh. Nightly rates rose 36.5% in Edinburgh and rose 34.3% in London over the same window. One year of movement is a direction, not a trend — weigh it against the regulation picture before treating it as momentum.

Which is the bigger Airbnb market, Edinburgh or London?

London, with 47,121 active listings against 5,555 in Edinburgh. Size cuts both ways: a deep market gives you comparables, contractors and an exit, while a thinner one means fewer near-identical rivals competing for the same search results.

Go deeper on each city

Market guide

Airbnb in Edinburgh →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in London →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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