I am currently conducting a short piece of research for my undergraduate degree at Nottingham University. I would be extremely grateful if anyone could give me their opinions on any changes to areas in London as a result of airbnb or other companies in the sharing economy.
No I don’t think so, airbnb is part of the larger picture of gentrification in many boroughs.
Asking hosts probably isn’t the most objective source of information. You may want to track one particular, popular neighborhood/area of London (esp. ones that don’t have formal hotels) and scan the listings in that zip code. How many “entire home” units are available year-round? By looking at the calendars and rate of vacancies, you can argue that these represent the displacement of long-term renters and estimate how many tourists are moving in and out of these spaces. You could also try interviewing neighbors to see if they notice the movement of tourists with luggage in/out of adjacent properties. I think neighboring residents are the most immediately impacted by the growing number of AirBNB rentals.
Thanks for your response Kirsty. Would you be interested in a short interview surrounding the topic. I would be extremely grateful if you could help me in anyway and possibly expand on your point a little more.
Google scholar London gentrification