On 20 October 2026 Airbnb released a new House Rules tool, and on 20 November 2026 the policy that goes with it takes effect. This is not a cosmetic change: it changes what a host may ask of a guest, where rules are allowed to live, and when a separate contract is permitted.
One detail is easy to miss and matters a great deal: the policy applies to bookings made on or after 20 November, not to stays on that date. A booking confirmed on the 19th for a stay next spring stays under the old rules.
Here is what changes, in the words Airbnb itself uses in the listing editor, and what is worth reviewing before the date.
The seven standard house rules
Airbnb will now show a fixed set of rules, always visible on the listing before a guest books. These are them, with the exact label that appears in your dashboard:
- Maximum overnight guests
- Quiet hours
- Events
- Pets
- Smoking
- Commercial photography
- Lock up at checkout
Two are new in practice: the maximum number of overnight guests and locking up at checkout stop being free text and become standard fields.
What you can no longer ask for
The new test is reasonableness: cleaning work cannot be handed to the guest. Airbnb gives the examples, and they are refreshingly concrete:
- Dishes — you cannot ask guests to wash and put away dishes. You can ask them to put used dishes in the sink.
- Laundry — you cannot ask guests to strip the bed or start a load of washing. You can ask them to gather used towels.
- rubbish — you cannot ask guests to take rubbish off-site. You can ask them to separate rubbish and recycling into designated indoor bins.
- Utilities — you cannot ask guests to avoid using a listed amenity such as air conditioning. You can ask them to turn it off when they leave.
Notice the pattern: what is barred is the task that creates work; what stays allowed is the small courtesy that takes seconds.
A rule that is not on the listing does not count
This is the part that matters most to anyone using a guest guide, and it deserves a careful read. Airbnb now requires rules to live on the listing, and says plainly that you should not write additional rules elsewhere on the listing, in messages, or on signs inside your home.
That does not make the digital guide less useful — quite the opposite. The policy forces a separation that was always good practice:
- A rule restricts what the guest may do. It belongs on the listing, in the standard fields.
- An instruction teaches the guest to use the place. It belongs in the guide. How to run the air conditioning, where the fuse box is, which day the bins go out, how the lock works.
A guide full of prohibitions was always a poor read. Now it is a policy problem as well. The fix is to turn a prohibition into guidance: instead of "no laundry after 10pm", write "quiet hours in the building start at 10pm — the washing machine is audible in the neighbours' apartment". Same information, and the second one actually helps.
If you need to review what is written where, how to guide equipment use covers the instruction side of this.
Contracts are now restricted
A separate contract is allowed only for a few reasons: a legal requirement, an HOA or building rule, a rental agreement for monthly stays, Airbnb Luxe listings, and optional amenities such as hiring a golf cart. Where it applies, the document has to be uploaded under Contracts in your listing settings.
And one sentence worth remembering: Airbnb says it does not help enforce contracts, and does not require guests to sign them.
Local exceptions do exist
The policy does not ignore local reality. Airbnb itself gives examples of requests that remain valid because of local conditions — animal-proof rubbish containers in bear country, limits on shower time during drought restrictions. If your requirement comes from a concrete condition of the place, it tends to be accepted; what does not survive is a cleaning task in disguise.
How Airbnb will enforce this
Requests that fall outside the policy are highlighted in the listing editor. You get an email with guidance and a chance to appeal. If nothing is resolved, guests may see an alert on the listing along the lines of "includes cleaning requests" — which is, in practice, the worst outcome: a friction signal shown at exactly the moment someone decides whether to book.
What to do before 20 November
- Open the listing editor and fill in the seven standard rules.
- Reread your description, your saved messages and the signs in the property, looking for rules written outside the listing.
- Delete the cleaning requests — dishes, bedding, rubbish off-site, restrictions on the air conditioning.
- Rewrite whatever is left as an instruction, and move it into the guest guide.
- If you use a contract, check that your case is one of the permitted ones and upload it in the right field.
See the demo guide and look at the difference between what is a rule and what is an instruction.
Hosts who already kept the guide separate from the rules will barely feel this. For anyone who kept everything in scattered messages, it is a good moment to organise — with the usual side effect, fewer repeated questions on WhatsApp.
Frequently asked questions
When does the new policy take effect?
On 20 November 2026, for bookings made on or after that date. What counts is the booking date, not the stay date: a reservation confirmed earlier stays under the old rules even if the stay is months later. The new House Rules tools were released on 20 October 2026.
Can I still ask guests to take the rubbish out?
Not if that means taking it off-site. What remains allowed is asking guests to separate rubbish and recycling into designated indoor bins. In places with specific local conditions, such as areas with wildlife, requests about appropriate containers remain valid.
Can I put house rules in the digital guest guide?
Rules have to be on the listing, and Airbnb says not to write additional rules in messages or on signs. The guide remains the right place for instructions — how to use the equipment, where things are, how to get there — and not for creating new restrictions that are not on the listing.
What happens if I do not comply?
Requests outside the policy are highlighted in the listing editor, you receive an email with guidance, and you can appeal. If it is not resolved, guests may see an alert saying the listing includes cleaning requests, which hurts at the moment of booking.
Can I still use a contract with guests?
Only for a few reasons: a legal requirement, an HOA or building rule, a rental agreement for monthly stays, Airbnb Luxe listings, and optional amenities. The document goes under Contracts in your listing settings. Airbnb does not help enforce the contract and does not require guests to sign it.
Does this apply in New Zealand or only in the United States?
The policy is published on the Airbnb site in English, Spanish and Portuguese, with no geographic restriction in the text. The same date of 20 November 2026 appears in every version.
