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Occupancy rates for serviced apartments in the UK have dropped in the beginning of 2018, according to market insight company STR.
STR’s Q1 results for the UK serviced apartments confirm that it has been a more challenging start to the year, with occupancy for the UK as a whole down 1.5% to 74.9% compared with Q1 2017.
Meanwhile, average daily rate (ADR) rose 3.5% to £133.87, resulting in a 1.9% growth in revenue per available room (RevPAR) to £100.31.
Edinburgh’s serviced apartments recorded the sharpest occupancy decline for any UK city in Q1, down 10.4% to 65.1% compared with the previous year, with a more marginal 0.5% decline in ADR.
Birmingham, on the other hand, posted the highest RevPAR growth (+9.1%), with occupancy up 6.9% to 82.2% and ADR up 2.0% to £85.50.
London’s occupancy performance was more in line with the national average, down 1.8% to 77.4%, although RevPAR fell more marginally at 0.4% to £134.25 due to a 1.4% ADR growth to £173.39.
Thomas Emanuel, director of business development for STR, said: “To put these Q1 2018 results into context, 2017 was a landmark year for growth in the UK’s accommodation sector. There was a spike in arrivals after the devaluation of pound sterling following the 2016 Brexit Referendum, but this started to level out toward the end of 2017 as the pound recovered in value.
“Despite the recent decline in demand, it is encouraging to see that serviced apartment operators have managed to maintain steady rate growth, which is important considering there are many new supply developments in the pipeline.”
