Short-term rentals in Colchester
Colchester is the 41st-largest of 597 short-term rental markets across the United Kingdom: 1,506 listings, 62% on Airbnb. 22% of supply is run by professional operators, below the median market's 39%, led by Cottages.com (55 listings).
Data updated
- Tracked listings
- 1,506
- Market rank
- #41 / 597
- National share
- 0.2%
- Named professional operators
- 18
Airbnb vs Booking.com in Colchester
In Colchester, Airbnb leads with 932 listings (62%), versus 574 on Booking.com (38%).
Where the listings are in Colchester
The dots are a representative sample of tracked short-term rentals — Airbnb in red and Booking.com in blue. Zoom and pan to explore the market, or open the full report for filters, operator overlays, and the listing-level view.
Market structure in Colchester
Booking.com supply is more professionalised than Airbnb's: 34% of Booking.com listings sit with operators of that size, against 14% on Airbnb. The 18 named professional operators run 207 local listings between them, and the three largest — Cottages.com, holidaycottages.co.uk and Sykes Holiday Cottages — account for 59% of that. The other 125 listings run by operators with 26 or more listings belong to operators without a published profile.
- Professional share
- 22%
- Median market
- 39%
- Single-listing hosts
- 36%
Listings by operator portfolio size
Tracked listings grouped by how many properties their operator runs — from single hosts to 26+ professionals.
Listings by property type
Houses, cottages & holiday homes make up 50% of Colchester's classified listings, followed by Apartments & flats (21%).
Largest operators in Colchester
Ranked by local tracked listings across Airbnb and Booking.com. Scores and portfolio review totals are aggregated across each operator's tracked United Kingdom listings. Together, the table and directory cover every professional operator we track in this market.
Scroll sideways to see all columns.
| # | Operator | Listings | Airbnb score | Booking.com score | Portfolio reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cottages.com | 55 | 4.77 / 5 | 9.0 / 10 | 217,587 |
| 2 | holidaycottages.co.uk | 34 | 4.73 / 5 | 8.9 / 10 | 73,474 |
| 3 | Sykes Holiday Cottages | 33 | 4.70 / 5 | 8.9 / 10 | 179,990 |
| 4 | Norfolk Hideaways | 24 | 4.75 / 5 | 9.0 / 10 | 4,767 |
| 5 | Rural Retreats Holidays Ltd | 12 | 4.88 / 5 | 9.3 / 10 | 1,962 |
| 6 | Staycation Holidays | 11 | 4.66 / 5 | 8.7 / 10 | 1,229 |
| 7 | Travelnest Ltd | 10 | 4.56 / 5 | 8.0 / 10 | 95,073 |
| 8 | ALSENED LTD | 7 | 3.45 / 5 | 6.4 / 10 | 152,134 |
| 9 | Your.Rentals | 7 | 4.62 / 5 | 7.4 / 10 | 11,822 |
| 10 | Houst | 2 | 4.63 / 5 | 7.4 / 10 | 17,804 |
The other 8 professional operators in Colchester
Local listings
- My Property Host 2 listings
- Pass the Property 2 listings
- Stay in Suffolk 2 listings
- Staybridge Suites 2 listings
- Best Western The Dartmouth Golf, Hotel and Spa 1 listing
- Hoseasons 1 listing
- Luxury Cottages 1 listing
- Studio Apartment 1 listing
Operators enter the index after reaching 26 listings across the United Kingdom and count Colchester among their markets. See the full interactive Colchester market report for additional filters and operator comparisons.
How Colchester compares
Colchester ranks 41st of 597 tracked markets in the United Kingdom, with 0.2% of tracked supply in this coverage. Markets of similar size:
-
Reading 1,606 listings
-
Coventry 1,579 listings
-
Keswick 1,508 listings
-
Torquay 1,425 listings
-
Tenby 1,387 listings
-
Newcastle upon Tyne 1,374 listings
Photo credits
- Reading: Photo: Broad Street, Reading - geograph.org.uk - 2864164 by Paul Gillett · CC BY-SA 2.0 · cropped and resized for display, via Wikimedia Commons
- Coventry: Photo: Broadgate and Precincts - geograph.org.uk - 554599 by E Gammie · CC BY-SA 2.0 · cropped and resized for display, via Wikimedia Commons
- Keswick: Photo: Market Square, Keswick - geograph.org.uk - 387633 by Roger Cornfoot · CC BY-SA 2.0 · cropped and resized for display, via Wikimedia Commons
- Torquay: Photo: Torquay harbour october 2012 by User:ianmacm · CC BY-SA 3.0 · cropped and resized for display, via Wikimedia Commons
- Tenby: Photo: Tenby Harbour - geograph.org.uk - 1546498 by RAY JONES · CC BY-SA 2.0 · cropped and resized for display, via Wikimedia Commons
- Newcastle upon Tyne: Photo: Tyne Bridge - Newcastle Upon Tyne - England - 2004-08-14 by Tagishsimon · CC BY-SA 3.0 · cropped and resized for display, via Wikimedia Commons
Browse the full United Kingdom city directory or the United Kingdom market report .
Colchester market FAQ
How many short-term rentals are in Colchester?
Colchester has 1,506 short-term rental listings as of August 2026: 932 on Airbnb and 574 on Booking.com.
Who is the largest short-term rental operator in Colchester?
The largest professional operator in Colchester is Cottages.com, with 55 local listings.
How professionalised is the Colchester short-term rental market?
22% of Colchester's listings (332 of 1,506) are run by operators with 26 or more listings, below the median of 597 markets across the United Kingdom (39%). Booking.com supply is more professionalised than Airbnb's: 34% of Booking.com listings sit with operators of that size, against 14% on Airbnb. The 18 named professional operators run 207 local listings between them, and the three largest — Cottages.com, holidaycottages.co.uk and Sykes Holiday Cottages — account for 59% of that. The other 125 listings run by operators with 26 or more listings belong to operators without a published profile.
Is Airbnb or Booking.com bigger in Colchester?
In Colchester, Airbnb leads with 932 listings (62%), versus 574 on Booking.com (38%).
How many professional operators run listings in Colchester?
18 named professional operators run listings in Colchester. The full roster is listed on this page, and the interactive market report maps every listing.
About this data
Figures come from myDataValue's cross-platform market snapshot of 1,506 public short-term rental listings in Colchester, matching Airbnb and Booking.com supply to the operators who run it. Operators enter the index after reaching 26 listings on Airbnb or Booking.com across the United Kingdom. Snapshot dates: Airbnb , Booking.com .
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