Your listing is live, bookings are coming in, and you checked the rules when you started. The problem is that short term rental regulations keep moving after launch: a registration number expires, a night cap fills up across several channels, or a new reporting duty starts applying to stays you're already taking.
Start with one action today: for each unit, write down its address, its registration or licence number (if it has one), the number's expiry date, and every channel where the listing appears. That one list is the backbone of everything below.
This guide covers the ongoing side of compliance for a live listing, with official examples from the EU, England, France and Spain. It isn't legal advice, and it doesn't cover every country or city. If you're still deciding whether a property can be rented short-term at all, start with our guide to checking Airbnb regulations before you host.
What are short term rental regulations, and which ones apply to a live listing?
Short term rental regulations are the national, regional and city rules on who may rent a home to short-stay guests, for how many nights, with what registration, and with which tax and guest-reporting duties.
For a listing that's already running, they usually fall into four groups:
- Registration or licensing. A number or permit you hold, and often have to show in the listing.
- Night caps and planning limits. A ceiling on how many nights an entire home can be let short-term.
- Taxes. Tourist or occupancy taxes you may have to collect and pay over. Our tourist tax guide covers who collects on each channel.
- Guest-data reporting. Sending guest or stay details to an authority within a deadline.
Each group is set by a different level of government, so the mix depends on the exact address. Guest reporting is a good example of how specific the rules get. In Spain, Royal Decree 933/2021 covers lodging activities, professional or not, including tourist apartments. It requires the data to be sent to the authorities immediately and in any case within 24 hours of the booking (or its cancellation) and of the start of the stay. That duty has applied since 2 January 2023. Other countries run their own systems; for Croatia, see our Croatia short-term rental rules.
What does the EU short-term rental regulation change for hosts?
Regulation (EU) 2024/1028, applying since 20 May 2026, sets how member states run online registration with a unique number per property, which platforms must display and verify while reporting stay data monthly.
According to the European Commission's announcement, the regulation works in an "opt-in/opt-out" mode. Member states aren't obliged to apply it. But if a country introduces a registration system for short-term rentals, or requests data from platforms, it must do so through this regulation.
Where it applies, the Commission describes these rules:
- Registration procedures must be fully online, and each property gets a unique registration number.
- Online platforms must display and verify registration numbers and carry out random checks to find illegal listings.
- Public authorities can request the removal of non-compliant listings.
- Platforms share monthly data on guest stays and nights booked through a Single Digital Entry Point run by each member state. Small and micro platforms get simpler reporting.
The Commission presents the regulation as a transparency and data-sharing framework. Its summary doesn't describe night caps, zoning or licence conditions; this suggests those still come from national, regional and city rules. Our recommendation: treat your short term rental registration number as something a platform may check at any time, not a field you fill once.
How do night caps work when you sell on several channels?
A night cap limits how many nights an entire home can be let short-term each year; where the law counts every night of use, one platform's counter can miss nights sold elsewhere.
London shows the gap clearly. Under section 44 of the Deregulation Act 2015, using residential premises in Greater London as temporary sleeping accommodation isn't a material change of use if two conditions are met: the nights of such use in the calendar year don't exceed ninety, and the person providing it is liable for council tax on the premises. The count includes previous uses in the same year, whoever provided them. Outside those conditions, the planning exception doesn't apply, so check with your borough before going further.
Airbnb's night limits article says it caps entire-home listings in London at 90 nights per year and resets on 1 January. Its counter covers nights booked on Airbnb. It can't see a stay you sold on Booking.com or through your own site.
Here's a worked example. Consider a hypothetical entire-home flat in Greater London, sold on three channels:
| Channel | Nights booked so far this year | What that channel's counter knows |
|---|---|---|
| Airbnb | 55 | 55 of 90, so 35 left |
| Booking.com | 30 | Not counted by Airbnb |
| Direct bookings | 10 | Not counted by Airbnb |
| Total nights of use | 95 | Over the 90-night limit |
Airbnb would still show this host 35 nights left, while the statutory count is already past ninety. The fix is a manual tally: keep one running total of short-term nights across every channel, and close your calendars everywhere when you get close to the limit, rather than waiting for one platform to stop you.
How do you keep a short term rental registration number current on every channel?
Keep one record per unit with the number, the issuing authority, the expiry or renewal date, and every channel showing it. Then check that record whenever you add a channel and at least a month before any renewal date.
France is a clear example of why the number has to travel with the listing. For a second home let as a furnished tourist rental, Service-Public.fr explains that communes can require a declaration with registration. You then get a 13-character registration number, and you must show it in the listing, including when the listing is published on an online platform.
Use this audit table once a year per unit, and again whenever you add a channel:
| Check | Where to look | Warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| Registration or short term rental license | Your city or national registration portal | No number, or you can't find the expiry date |
| Number shown on each channel | Registration field on every OTA and your direct booking page | A channel missing the number, or showing an old one |
| Short term rental registration renewal | Your records and the authority's renewal notice | Renewal due within a month and not started |
| Night cap tally | Your own cross-channel count | Any single platform's counter used as the total |
| Tourist tax collection | Each channel's tax settings and your direct booking flow | You can't say who collects on a channel |
| Guest-data reporting | The authority's reporting portal | Reports filed from memory rather than a routine |
Direct bookings need extra care. On a booking taken through your own site, no platform collects tax or checks your number for you, so every duty in that table sits with you. That isn't a reason to avoid direct bookings; it's a reason to design your booking flow so it captures what you'll need.
When this advice does not apply
- Before you buy or lease: this guide assumes the property can already be rented short-term. Zoning, building rules and HOA or lease terms are a separate check.
- Places not covered here: the examples are from the EU framework, Greater London, France and Spain. Other countries, states and cities set different rules, and some change them often.
- Hotels and professional operators: licensed hotels, aparthotels and larger operators can face different registration, tax and reporting regimes.
- Legal questions: this is general information, not legal or tax advice. For a disputed permit, a planning question or a missed deadline, talk to your local authority or a qualified adviser.
What to do next
- Build the per-unit record: address, registration number, issuing authority, expiry date, and every channel showing the listing.
- Check each channel's registration field against that record and fix any gaps today.
- If your city has a night cap, start a cross-channel tally and set a stop point below the limit.
- Confirm who collects tourist tax on each channel, including direct bookings.
- Put every renewal date in a calendar with a reminder at least a month ahead.
FAQ
What is a short term rental registration number?
It's an identifier an authority issues for a specific property. Where the EU regulation applies, each property gets a unique number that platforms display and verify. National and local schemes outside the EU framework can work differently.
Does the EU regulation apply in every member state?
No. The Commission says member states aren't obliged to apply it, but a country that runs a short-term rental registration system or requests platform data must do so through this regulation. Check your own country's registration portal.
Will a platform stop me at a night cap?
Some platforms enforce certain caps; Airbnb does for entire homes in London. But a platform counts only its own bookings, so if you sell on several channels, you need your own total.
About BookBed: BookBed gives each unit one calendar with two-way iCal sync for Airbnb and Booking.com, so when you close dates near a night cap or while a registration is pending, that block goes to both platforms from one place. They fetch on their own schedules, so check each channel after a change. See BookBed pricing
Sources
- European Commission, "New rules bring increased transparency to the short-term rentals sector" — Verified 2026-09-30
- legislation.gov.uk, "Deregulation Act 2015, section 44" — Verified 2026-09-30
- Airbnb Help Center, "Night limits in Amsterdam and London: Frequently asked questions" — Verified 2026-09-30
- Service-Public.fr, "Faire de sa résidence secondaire une location de vacances (meublé de tourisme)" — Verified 2026-09-30
- Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado, "Real Decreto 933/2021, de 26 de octubre" — Verified 2026-09-30