New app will allow short-term rental landlords to close price gaps
The UK short-term rental sector can now access the same aggregated data used by major hotel chains, takeaway food brands and ride-sharing companies to understand when major events are happening in their area and raise their pricing as a result.
Major music and sporting events can provide Average Daily Rate (ADR) increases of 30-300%, according to Money.co.uk, but new specialist HostAlert says that busy hosts managing the UK’s 450,000 holiday often don’t adjust their pricing fast enough to take advantage.
With the launch of its new app, HostAlert says the same tools and data used by hotels can be used by short-term rental hosts to set pricing based on demand predictions.
Unlocking £2billion+
HostAlert says the intelligence could help such property owners unlock the £2 billion to £4.5 billion estimated loss in annual revenue caused by lack of access to demand data and allow them to close the price gaps between AirBnBs and hotels.
HostAlert CEO and co-founder, Paul O’Donoghue said: “For too long, short-term rental hosts have been operating their businesses by looking in the rear-view mirror. Pricing platforms act on historic data and cannot see the golden opportunities that lie ahead in the calendar.
“Whilst big hotel companies have benefited from verified event data for years, independent operators have had a huge pricing blind spot and that is about to change. By creating a single source of verified industry-grade event data with the ability to adjust pricing at the same time as hotels, time is literally being called on ‘cheap’ AirBnB rooms.”
AirBnB accommodation in London, for example, ranges between around £80–£120 per night compared with £100–£150 for a mid-range hotel room, but prices can escalate during major events. HostAlert says that Oasis playing Cardiff in 2025 prompted a price surge of 354% with hotel rooms increasing prices to £1,000.
HostAlert shares the same data source used by IHG hotels, Uber, Dominoes and Amazon Alexa in a real-time dynamic event listing tool, linking to booking platforms including AirBnB, Vrbo and Booking.com or enabling users to set tailored reminders to prompt action at a later date.
This will enable them to realise typical ADR uplifts of 20–40% during major demand event spikes it says, without relying on algorithms to detect movement.