Holiday Lets Growing Fastest in the Midlands and North

Ask most people to picture a holiday let and they’ll think of a Cornish fisherman’s cottage or a converted barn in Devon. The South West is still the UK’s holiday let heartland, with more registered holiday lets than any other region.

But it’s not where the growth is. Homefords analysed ONS business counts for all 12 UK nations and regions. The fastest growth since 2019 has come from the Midlands and the North, in places that rarely make the holiday brochures.

Where are holiday lets growing fastest?

The West Midlands had 155 registered holiday let businesses in 2019. By March 2026 it had 300, a rise of 94%. That’s almost double, and two other regions weren’t far behind.

The East Midlands grew from 150 to 285 and the North East from 100 to 190, both up 90%. The North West and Wales followed, both up 79%. Every region grew, and across the UK registered holiday lets rose 60%, as our full research on the UK holiday let boom shows.

Holiday let growth by region since 2019

Here’s how all 12 nations and regions compare. The Midlands and the North are highlighted in teal.

Registered holiday let businesses (SIC 55209), March 2019 and March 2026. Source: ONS UK Business Counts via Nomis.

The bottom of the table is just as telling. The South West grew by 49% and the South East by 39%, both below the UK average. Northern Ireland grew least, up 27%.

The North has caught up with the South West

In 2019 the South West had 860 registered holiday lets. The North East, North West and Yorkshire and The Humber had 715 between them.

Seven years later the North has closed the gap completely. Both now have 1,280. The North added 565 holiday lets over the period, more than the South West’s 420.

The North and the Midlands are combined totals of their ONS regions. Source: ONS UK Business Counts via Nomis.

The Midlands tell a similar story. Together the East and West Midlands went from 305 holiday lets to 585, up 92%. Add the North and the five regions account for 845 of the UK’s 2,445 new holiday lets since 2019, about a third.

Countryside breaks are pulling guests inland

The business counts don’t say why these regions are growing. But booking data points the same way.

Sykes Holiday Cottages found that countryside and year-round destinations are now earning more than traditional seaside spots. Castleton in the Peak District climbed from eighth to second in its ranking of highest-earning locations, as Property Reporter covered. Castleton and nearby Matlock are both in Derbyshire, part of the East Midlands.

The North East is drawing guests too. Northumberland rose from sixth to second in Sykes’ ranking of the most popular holiday let destinations for 2026, based on its forward bookings. Cumbria and the Lake District, in the North West, came fifth. The Yorkshire Dales and the Peak District also made the top ten.

Official figures back this up. Guests spent 2.75 million nights in short-term lets in the North East in 2025, up 22.2% on the year before. That was the fastest rise of any region, according to the ONS, which tracks lets booked through Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia Group.

Small numbers, big percentages

The fastest-growing regions started from a low base. The North East went from 100 holiday lets to 190, so a few dozen new businesses move its percentage a long way. The South West added more holiday lets than any other region, 420, even though its growth rate was lower.

These figures also only count businesses registered for VAT or PAYE. Many people who let a single cottage aren’t registered, so the total number of holiday let properties in every region is higher. What the figures do show is where professional operators are setting up, and that has shifted north and inland.

What it means if you run a holiday let

If you let a property in the Midlands or the North East, there are almost twice as many registered holiday lets in your region as in 2019. Guests have more choice, so first impressions count for more.

If you’re in the South West, you’re still in the biggest market, but it’s no longer where most new operators are heading. In the South West, hotel numbers are falling as holiday lets rise.

For interactive charts, the full regional table and a lookup for your own region, see our research on the UK holiday let boom.

Source: Office for National Statistics, UK Business Counts (local units by industry), via Nomis, and Office for National Statistics, Short-term lets through online collaborative economy platforms, UK. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Business counts are rounded to the nearest 5 by ONS. Media enquiries: hello@homefords.co.uk