Industry Insights

The EU’s Airbnb Law: The Impact of the Data-Sharing Law in London

Written by Diana Santos

Aug 24

The EU’s Airbnb Law comes as another regulation meant to control the short-term letting industry.

If you’ve been monitoring the news, you’ll realise that short-term rentals have been headlining lately. It’s not just in Europe but even in the USA. In September 2023, New York started implementing the 2022 regulation banning short-term rentals involving whole apartments. Recently, Barcelona announced its plans to ban short-term rentals by November 2028 completely.

Even cities like Paris, Amsterdam and Dublin have imposed limitations to restrict short-term rentals. London, in particular, imposed the 90-day short-term letting limit and the planning permission in recent years.

Now, the EU has imposed another regulation that short-term hosts are expected to comply with – the Airbnb Law.

In this article, you’ll learn about this new law and its implications on the short-term letting market. You’ll also get tips to help you comply and protect your rental property’s earning potential.

What is the EU’s Airbnb Law

The EU Airbnb Law encourages short-term rentals to submit their data so local governments can monitor the market’s growth.

Why is this necessary? According to reports, short-term rentals make up 25% of the EU’s overall tourist accommodations. It’s a growing preference among guests because it’s known to be a cheaper option and allows guests to cook their food and live like locals during their stay. Because residential properties are used for short-term letting, it takes away from the housing supply that homebuyers can choose from. It’s said to aggravate the supply and affordability issues – making it harder for locals to find a long-term place to stay.

Since the government understands the contribution of shortlets in the tourism industry, authorities are hesitant to ban these accommodations completely. To appease the unease of the locals, the best step is to regulate short-term rentals.

This is how the EU’s Airbnb Law came to be. Government data reveals the following about this new law:

It aims to determine the real impact of short-term rentals so authorities can respond accordingly through policies.
The collection of data seeks to promote transparency and responsible short-term letting practices to protect travellers from illegal shortlets.
Online platforms facilitating short-term letting are required to comply with the registration procedures and encourage property owners to share data through an online registration portal. The data submitted will be verified and monitored by local authorities for transparency and authenticity.
Online platforms are tasked to ensure that data shared by hosts are complete and reliable. The registration number provided after the registration process should be visible on the listing.
Online platforms are also required to conduct random checks to weed out illegal listings and impose penalties for non-compliance. Online platforms will also be penalised for non-compliance.
EU states are responsible for setting up the entry point by which short-term rental registrations and shared data will go through.
Everyone involved has 24 months to comply with these regulations once it gets approval from the Council.

How to Shortlet Hosts can Comply with the Airbnb Law

Airbnb has responded positively to this law because it was fair enough for online platforms, hosts and the tourism industry. Airbnb’s statement supported the practice of data sharing and said that they will work with the European Commission to ensure efficient implementation. The online platform expressed its commitment to technologically align these initiatives with its own to make it easier for hosts to comply.

As a property owner, you also have a responsibility to comply with these laws – not just for the sake of legality but also to protect your rental property. Here are a few tips you can implement to meet these legal requirements.

Know the list of data to be shared

The first step is knowledge. Find out what is expected of you. What are the specific data that should be shared with the local authorities? Here’s a list according to the EU Parliament site.

Host identity
Contact information
Specific location and complete address of the rental property
Number of units rented out and nights occupied
Number of guests
URL of listing
Registration number

Check the platform for guidelines

Check the online platform that you use to market your short-term rentals. Find out if they have specific guidelines or procedures that you can follow. Look at their blog or resource page. Bookmark these so you can refer to the page in the future.

Regularly check for updates so you can make changes in case there are new developments in the regulations.

Keep your property’s profile updated

Always keep your property profile updated. If there are changes in the property features, post new photos and revise the description. This will keep your property current so guests will know what it currently looks like. This can increase occupancy rates as it boosts the appeal of your short-term rental.

This will also keep your property updated if someone checks the URL you provided.

Monitor for updates and new regulations

Apart from the online platform, monitor the news and government websites to see if there are new regulations you have to comply with. Staying updated will benefit you because you can make decisions to protect your property as new changes happen. This will give you enough time to make the necessary upgrades on your property and letting decisions.

Through timely upgrades and improvements, you can avoid penalties and protect the earning potential of your rental properties.

Consult a property expert

Working with a property expert like a property management company can help you navigate all the regulations imposed on short-term rental properties. Companies like City Relay have extensive experience managing short-term rentals including marketing, housekeeping, maintenance, guest communication, etc. They also have a dedicated team to ensure rental properties fully comply with the law.

You can rely on property experts to get updates if there are compliance issues that you need to settle to avoid compromising your rental earnings.

Make Short-Term Rental 100% Compliant

Compliance is important to achieve short-term letting success. With all the issues being thrown at this sector of the rental market, property owners should be vigilant in protecting their assets so their earning potential will never be compromised.

Fortunately, regulations like the EU’s Airbnb Law are easy to follow. By understanding the law and keeping your properties updated, you can navigate these changes efficiently and conveniently.

If you need help staying 100% compliant with all these short-term letting rules, partner with a reliable property management company like City Relay. We are experienced in managing short-term rentals across various platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, etc. We manage award-winning properties and we can transform your properties to maximise their earning potential.