New restrictions for short-term rentals being prepared in Poland

The residents and local authorities in Poland are set to substantially gain more opportunities to limit short-term rental of apartments. Housing communities and cooperatives will be able to ban daily rental in individual buildings, and municipalities will be able to create entire areas where such activity is prohibited.

The Ministry of Sport and Tourism of Poland has agreed to introduce the relevant changes to the bill regulating short-term rental. The document has already been sent to the Sejm.

This concerns apartments and other housing that is rented to tourists for a few days via Airbnb, Booking and other platforms.

No advance consent from neighbours needed

The apartment owner will not need to obtain prior consent from neighbours to start renting the property by the day. However, residents of the building will be able to subsequently ban such activity.

To do this, the housing community or cooperative must pass a decision by a majority vote at a general meeting.

If the ban is introduced, owners of apartments already rented by the day will be given six months to cease such activity.

The Polish ministry explains the new mechanism by the desire to give permanent residents more influence over what happens in their building.

Neighbours will be able to demand apartment inspection

The powers of residents will not be limited to voting for a rental ban. The housing community, management or supervisory board of the cooperative, as well as people living in the building itself or adjacent property, will be able to apply to the municipality with a demand to inspect the object.

The control will cover not only formal compliance with rental rules, but also safety and public order requirements.

The Polish government explains this, in particular, by complaints about noise, disturbance of nighttime peace and other problems arising in residential buildings due to the constant turnover of short-term tenants.

Communities and cooperatives will also be able to petition to exclude a problematic apartment from the register of short-term accommodation objects.

Large fines foreseen for illegal rental

One of the main changes of the Polish reform is the mandatory registration of objects used for short-term rental.

For this purpose, the country is creating a Central Register of Tourist Accommodation Objects. Not only hotels, but also private apartments, houses and rooms rented for short term should be included.

Renting property by the day without registration will be prohibited. Violation may entail a fine of up to 50 thousand zlotys.

The same liability is foreseen for online platforms if they publish offers of objects not in the relevant register.

Each object will also have its own identification number, which must be indicated in rental advertisements.

Cities will be able to create "Airbnb-free zones"

The bill also restores the provision that allows municipalities to limit short-term rental not in an individual building, but in a certain area.

The community council will be able, by its decision, to define a zone where daily rental of apartments is prohibited. In Polish media such territories are already called "Airbnb-free zones", although the restriction will not apply to a specific platform, but to the entire short-term rental segment.

The possibility to create such zones was in the initial version of the reform, but was later removed. The ministry explained this as unwillingness to delay the launch of the national register. Now it has been decided to bring back the relevant provision.

Main restrictions for buildings will come into force from 2028

Most provisions of the new law are planned to come into force shortly after its final adoption and publication. At the same time, a transition period is foreseen for the strictest restrictions.

Housing communities and cooperatives will be able to introduce bans on short-term rental from 1 January 2028. From the same date, municipalities will have the opportunity to create territorial zones where daily rental is prohibited.

It is currently a bill, so the final rules may still change during its consideration in the Polish parliament.

Poland is rebuilding the entire short-term rental market

The regulation is not limited to Airbnb and other major platforms. The Polish government wants to equate short-term rental of private apartments with accommodation services and bring this segment out of the so-called grey zone.

In addition to registration, objects are expected to meet fire and sanitary safety requirements, guest stay rules, as well as mandatory contact details of the owner or administrator.

Part of the reform is related to new EU rules on collecting and sharing information about short-term rental. Online platforms must transmit data about accommodation, giving state authorities more ability to control the market.

Previously, the EU also began preparing broader rules to make it easier for cities to introduce restrictions on Airbnb and other services in areas where a large number of tourist apartments exacerbates housing shortages.

Based on materials: Rzeczpospolita, Ministry of Sport and Tourism of Poland. Previously: Course of Ukraine