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Serviced apartments in Birmingham have been named the sector’s top performer in the first quarter of 2015, achieving occupancy of 83.1%.
According to the Association of Serviced Apartment Providers (ASAP), a strong corporate market together with a lack of supply was cited for the city’s successful quarter, where occupancy was up 26.8% on the same time last year.
Liverpool also reported a strong performance achieving an occupancy rate of 77.9% – an 11.7% increase on the first quarter of 2014.
Thomas Emanuel of STR Global, which compiles the monthly occupancy report, said that the UK as a whole, excluding London, performed well achieving occupancy of 78.2% – representing a “strong” 7.6% increase on 2014. He cited the “general improvement in the economy, coupled with flat supply”.
The average daily rate across the UK of £83.13 represented a small 1.4% increase on last year.
Emanuel said: “By contrast the occupancy level for serviced apartments in London dropped marginally by 2% to 77.8% for the first quarter, purely down to an increase in supply. Demand is still showing positive growth, as are rates, but the supply is impacting occupancy.
“However the sector commanded a very strong average daily rate, achieving £160.55 which represents a 7.7% increase on 2014, compared to the hotel sector which achieved an ADR of £127.96.”
James Foice, managing director of ASAP, said: “It is very encouraging that, despite the increase in supply particularly in London, demand is strong with the consumer clearly continuing to see the many advantages of using serviced apartments in particular appreciating the greater flexibility, more space and the home-from-home experience.
“The ADR performance is very positive and we remain optimistic that the rest of the year will be another record breaking year for the sector across the UK.”
