AirBnB and other short term rental services (STRs) have become an established part of the residential real estate market in London. For the STR market in general, the desire to stay in apartments and your ‘own space' over that of a hotel has given rise to this market. AirBnB and other short-term rental platforms claim to operate through the ‘sharing economy’. However this paper will show that STR listings in London are forming a new professionalised market. As a result of this booming industry, there is substantial removal of stock from the private rental sector (PRS) resulting in reduced supply and rising prices. Despite this, the industry is still operating largely unregulated and uncontrolled. Where regulation has been attempted in London, it has been routinely ignored without repercussions and remains ineffective. This paper investigates the impact of STR professionalisation using data samples and interviews before examining regulatory policies from Japan, Santa Monica and Barcelona