Airbnb bans the checkout chore list from 20 November, and rules you send by message stop counting

Airbnb has rewritten what a host is allowed to require of a guest, and the part that will land hardest is turnover. From 20 November, guests cannot be required to wash and put away dishes, strip beds or start laundry, or carry rubbish off the property. Airbnb announced the change on 20 October and the new house rules editor is already live.

The policy applies to reservations booked on or after 20 November 2026. Bookings made before then keep the rules that were on the listing when the guest booked, so for a few months you will be running two sets of expectations side by side.

What is binding, and what is only a request

Binding house rules are now limited to seven standard areas: maximum number of overnight guests, quiet hours, events, pets, smoking and vaping, commercial photography and filming, and locking up at checkout. Two of those, the guest cap and lock up at checkout, are new options in the editor.

Everything else is a request, and a request is not binding. Airbnb says requests have to be reasonable for the listing type, the stay and local conditions. Putting used dishes in the sink, gathering used towels, sorting rubbish into indoor bins and turning off the air conditioning on the way out are all still fine. Effortful tasks are not, and nor are limits on advertised amenities, hidden fees or host fines. Local fines belong in the separate Local rules section.

Rules that arrive after booking do not count at all. "You shouldn't write additional rules elsewhere on your listing, in messages or on signs in your home," Airbnb says in its announcement. A laminated sheet on the fridge is now decoration.

Contracts and guest data

Separate rental agreements are restricted to specific cases: where the law requires one, where a homeowners association requires one, monthly stays of 28 nights or more, Airbnb Luxe listings, and optional extras such as a golf buggy. Airbnb is also explicit about what it will not do for you: "Airbnb doesn't help enforce, or require guests to sign, your contracts."

Guest data is tighter still. By default a host cannot collect contact details, ID documents or photos, financial details, background checks, or biometric and health data. The exceptions are legal requirements, documented community association rules, and the contracts that are still allowed. You can check ID in person at check in if the listing says so, but you cannot keep a copy. You also cannot require registration on a third party app or website to get into the home or use a critical amenity, and wifi portals that harvest personal data are restricted.

How it will be enforced

Requests that break the policy get flagged in the listing editor before you publish. Hosts get an email with tips and can appeal. If an issue is not resolved, guests may see an alert on the listing, with "includes cleaning requests" given as the example, and Airbnb says search visibility can suffer. Repeat breaches of the contract and data rules can lead to suspension or removal.

What to do before 20 November

Three things are worth checking this week. First, whether any part of your turnover plan quietly depends on a guest doing something, because that dependency is now optional. Second, where your rules actually live, since anything in a message, a sign or a welcome book has no force. Third, your check in flow, if it collects ID or runs guests through a verification app, and whether you can point to the law or the HOA rule that allows it.

Property management vendors moved fast on the detail. Smoobu published host guidance on 22 October, and Hostfully followed on 23 October with a note on where managers are most exposed. Both reach the same conclusion: the written rules are the easy fix, and the operational assumption underneath them is the expensive one.