Renting leads to refurbishment
Forty percent of those who rent out their homes on ‘Airbnb-style’ websites reinvest their earnings in home improvement projects, according to new research by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).
The key results from the FMB’s research into the spending patterns of landlords who use short-term holiday rental sites are as follows:
- 43% spend the money on holidays
- 40% spend the money on home improvement work
- 25% put the money towards a new car
- 23% spend the extra cash on entertainment, such as ticketed events
- 23% save the money
- 17% use the money to make ends meet
- 10% spend the extra cash on new clothes
Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, said: “The explosion of the sharing economy is helping homeowners fund their refurbishment projects. In fact, home improvement work is the second most popular way in which ‘Airbnb-style’ landlords are choosing to spend their extra cash.
“Our same research shows that currently 3% of British homeowners are renting their own homes out on ‘Airbnb-style’ websites. In the UK, this equates to around 800,000 homes. What’s more, 16% of homeowners are interested in renting their homes out in this way in the future – this would equate to more than three-and-a-half million additional properties.
“Money that was previously channelled into the hospitality industry is now lining the pockets of homeowners, providing them with much-needed cash for home improvement work. This is good news for the UK’s builders and helps explain why small construction firms are reporting strong growth in the domestic refurbishment despite Brexit jitters.
“Airbnb says that globally, it gains 14,000 new landlords each month on its own platform alone. If this trend continues, and if homeowners remain committed to investing the extra cash in repairing and maintaining their properties, rather than blowing the money on cars and clothes, it will stand the construction industry in good stead in the future.”