Rules change constantly
STR law moves fast and varies down to the city block. Treat this as a starting map, not legal advice — always verify with your local authority before listing.
There's a clear global direction of travel in 2026: register, display a licence number, cap the nights, and pay the lodging tax. Cities facing housing pressure are tightening; a few are loosening. The hosts who thrive are the ones who treat compliance as a moat — being one of the legal operators in a market where illegal listings get delisted is a genuine competitive advantage.
The big regulatory trend: the EU data rule
From May 2026, EU Regulation 2024/1028 requires online platforms to transmit monthly, per-listing activity data to a national 'single digital entry point,' and hosts must supply accurate registration details for each property. Platforms will verify registration numbers and can automatically delist unregistered properties. In practice: across the EU, an unregistered listing becomes a listing that disappears.
United States
There is no federal STR law — it's set city by city, and the range is enormous. Expect to register, post a permit number on your listing, pay state and local lodging taxes, and follow zoning, occupancy caps, and nuisance rules on noise, parking, and trash.
- New York City — effectively the strictest major US market. Hosts must be present during stays under 30 days, and bookings are limited to two guests, which has all but ended traditional whole-home STRs. The city has levied tens of millions in fines.
- Primary-residence caps — many cities (and whole states via local rules) restrict STRs to your primary residence and/or cap nights per year for non-owner-occupied units.
- Registration + permit number — increasingly required on the listing itself; operating without one is the most common violation.
US rule of thumb: the more housing-constrained and tourist-heavy the city, the stricter and faster-changing the rules. Check the city and the county — they can each have their own ordinance.
United Kingdom
In London, entire-home short letting is capped at 90 nights per calendar year unless you obtain planning permission to exceed it. The UK is also rolling out a broader STR registration scheme, so expect a national register requirement to firm up. Elsewhere in the UK, rules are lighter but tightening in tourist hotspots.
Japan (Minpaku)
Japan's national Minpaku law (Private Lodging Business Act) caps rentals at 180 nights per year and requires a licence/registration, with a number displayed on the listing. But the real story is local:
- Tokyo is tightening ward by ward. Individual wards can set additional restrictions, and there has been movement toward letting local governments effectively set the permitted operating period to zero days in some areas.
- Special zones (e.g., parts of Osaka) have historically allowed 365-day operation under conditions like a 2-night minimum — but new applications in some of these zones have been suspended.
- Bottom line: the national 180-day cap is the ceiling, and your specific ward or zone can be far more restrictive.
France (Paris)
Paris requires registration and, as of 1 January 2025, caps entire-home letting of a primary residence at 90 nights per year (down from 120). Enforcement is aggressive — the city stood up a large enforcement brigade and has issued around €1M in fines in a single quarter. Renting a non-primary residence short-term requires changing the property's official use, which is tightly limited.
Spain (Barcelona & beyond)
Spain is the cautionary tale. Barcelona plans to eliminate tourist apartments entirely: it will stop renewing and issuing tourist-flat licences, so from 2029 no homes may be rented as tourist accommodation in the city. Spain's Constitutional Court has backed the plan. Other Spanish cities require regional tourist-licence numbers on every listing and are capping density.
Regulatory risk is real
Barcelona shows the tail risk of buying into a hot tourist city on STR income alone. Underwrite deals so they still work — or can pivot to mid-term/long-term — if the STR licence goes away.
Portugal (Alojamento Local)
Portugal runs the Alojamento Local (AL) registration regime — every legal STR needs an RNAL number, and non-compliance can bring steep fines. After a period of heavy restriction, Lisbon has moved to loosen its rules, allowing new licences again, with STR activity capped at a share of housing stock in designated areas. From May 2026 the EU data rule means platforms will verify AL numbers and delist unlicensed properties.
Australia
Regulation is state-based and tightening:
- New South Wales (Sydney) — non-hosted (owner-absent) stays are capped at 180 nights per year in Greater Sydney, with a mandatory state STR register.
- Victoria — introduced a statewide 7.5% short-stay levy from 1 January 2025, with exemptions for principal residences.
Canada
Canada layers municipal and provincial rules, with a strong primary-residence theme:
- Toronto — hosts must register with the city, operate only from their principal residence, and stay within a 180-night annual cap.
- British Columbia — the provincial Short-Term Rental Accommodation Act requires platforms to register listings, display licence numbers, share data, and remove non-compliant listings; many communities limit STRs to a principal residence.
- Federal tax — Canada has moved to deny income-tax deductions for STRs operating in contravention of local rules, adding a tax penalty on top of fines.
A compliance checklist for any market
- 1Register with the city/region and get your permit or licence number.
- 2Display the number on every listing where required.
- 3Confirm the night cap and whether it depends on primary-residence status or host presence.
- 4Collect and remit lodging/occupancy tax — verify whether the platform does it for you.
- 5Check zoning, HOA/strata rules, and your lease/mortgage.
- 6Follow nuisance rules — noise limits, parking, waste, guest caps.
- 7Diarize renewals — licences and registrations expire.
Turn compliance into an edge
As platforms delist unregistered listings, being demonstrably legal means less competition and more trust. A clean, well-run, compliant listing is exactly the kind the platforms promote.
Once you're compliant, focus on what actually grows revenue.
Optimize your pricing