Urban Living Festival 2025: Key takeaways for short-term rentals

UK: The 2025 Urban Living Festival offered a comprehensive look at the trends and challenges shaping hospitality and real estate. 

The two-day event began with property tours across Denmark Street, before culminating in a full day of panels, presentations, awards and networking at Mary Ward House.

Across four Short Term Rentalz sessions, speakers shared insights on the future of corporate travel, regulation, the rise of branded STRs and the urgent need for technology consolidation.

Corporate clients and flexible stays

Moderator Valentina Shegoyan, founder of OPREIM, was joined by Florian Montag (Apaleo), Tom Fleming (AltoVita) and Rajdeep Gahir (Urban Rest) to explore how short-term rentals are adapting to today’s business traveller.

The discussion highlighted how corporate clients are seeking more experience-driven, home-like stays that combine the reliability of hotels with the comfort of residential living. Booking behaviours are shifting too, with shorter lead times, growing price sensitivity and rising expectations for seamless, digital-first journeys.

The panel noted how business and leisure travel are increasingly blending, with many travellers extending work trips for personal time. This shift is creating demand for flexible housing solutions that can support relocations, distributed teams and longer stays. At the same time, technology and system integration are becoming essential tools for operators, helping to deliver scale, personalisation and efficiency without losing sight of the guest experience.

Looking ahead, investment in digital infrastructure and closer collaboration with real estate partners were seen as key to helping short-term rentals secure a larger share of corporate travel.

Regulation and overtourism

In the regulation and overtourism panel, moderated by Jessica Gillingham, CEO of Abode, panellists included Oliver Stern (Wheelhouse), Lisa Roads (The Holiday Property Coach), Christian Eckley (UnderTheDoormat Group) and Andrew Fenner (STAA).

Speakers agreed that the current wave of regulation signals a shift towards a more professionalised short-term rental sector, but warned that operators need clearer, more practical guidance to comply effectively. Independent hosts and smaller operators were highlighted as being particularly vulnerable to inconsistent or fragmented rules, with calls for greater education and support across the market.

The panel also examined overtourism as part of a broader urban challenge linked to housing supply, city planning and the future of tourism. Data and transparency were identified as crucial tools for building trust with policymakers, while ongoing dialogue between operators, associations and regulators will be central to securing long-term, sustainable growth.

Branded STRs reshaping urban hospitality

The branded short-term rental session, moderated by Hannah Philip, founder of Arc Club, featured Sandrine Zechbauer (RMS), Roshan Ramlugan (AXA) and Ruth Whitehead (eviivo).

Discussion centred on how branded STRs are emerging as a distinct segment of urban hospitality, combining the familiarity of hotels with the flexibility of short-term rentals. Strong brand perception, consistent operations and technology were seen as essential differentiators in an increasingly crowded market.

Speakers highlighted the role of digital check-in, personalisation and standardisation across different asset classes in shaping a reliable guest journey. From an investment perspective, consistent branding and operations were flagged as critical factors in attracting institutional capital. While AI and automation are expected to enhance efficiency, panellists agreed that the human element of hospitality will remain vital.

Tech consolidation

The final session, moderated by Natasha Terinova, Partner at Reach UK: Second Century Ventures, brought together Kate Cox (Guesty), Thibault Masson (Pricelabs), Alexander Lyakhotskiy (Pass the Keys) and David Whelan (Urban Rest) to discuss technology consolidation.

The panel explored the challenges of a fragmented tech landscape, where property managers are faced with too many disconnected systems. Despite advances in integration, issues such as OTA synchronisation remain, highlighting the limits of a crowded marketplace.

Automation was identified as a necessary enabler of scale and efficiency, but speakers stressed the importance of striking the right balance between tech-led processes and human interaction. Consolidation, they argued, is not about stifling innovation but about creating smarter integration and standardisation that reduces costs, improves trust and supports a more professionalised industry.

Across all four sessions, a shared message emerged: the short-term rental sector is maturing. Professionalisation, technology and branding are at the heart of change, while collaboration with corporates, regulators, investors and communities will be essential for long-term growth.

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