Airbnb Hosts Generally Barred From Making Guests Strip Beds
Updated house rules limit requests to chores a cleaner would normally do, and hosts can no longer impose fines
By AXY Business Desk ·
Key points
- From 20 November, Airbnb's updated policy applies to all reservations booked on the accommodation site on or after that date.
- Hosts are generally not allowed to ask guests to strip beds, take trash offsite, or wash and put away dishes.
- Hosts can set seven standard house rules and add other requests, which must be reasonable.
- Hosts cannot impose fines, and contracts are limited to cases such as those required by law or homeowners association rules.
- Airbnb may grant exceptions, such as asking guests to limit shower time during local drought-related water restrictions.
Airbnb has changed the rules that govern what property hosts can ask guests to do during a stay, and cleaning sits at the centre of the change. Under the updated guidelines on the accommodation site, hosts are generally not allowed to ask guests to do tasks that a professional cleaner would normally handle, including stripping beds and washing dishes. The new policy applies to all reservations booked on or after 20 November.
For the people who book and host these stays, the change is practical. A guest who has paid for a cleaning fee, which is a one-off charge added to the price of a booking, has been asked by some hosts to make beds, clear plates or carry rubbish out before checkout. Airbnb now says those requests should generally be dropped. Hosts who want guests to help out will have to keep their requests within narrower limits, and guests will have a clearer idea of what is expected before they arrive.
Which Chores Guests Can No Longer Be Asked to Do
The company's requirements say hosts are generally not allowed to ask guests to complete tasks that "require significant effort or time, or would typically be performed by a cleaner, including stripping the bed, taking trash offsite, or washing and putting away dishes". That single sentence covers three everyday jobs that many guests would not expect to be listed in a rental agreement.
The list is easy to picture. Stripping a bed means taking off the sheets and pillowcases so they can be washed. Taking trash offsite means carrying the bins or bags out of the property to a collection point. Washing and putting away dishes means clearing up after a meal and returning crockery and cutlery to the cupboards. In a hotel, these jobs belong to housekeeping staff. In a rented flat or house, they often fall to whoever is staying there, unless the host or a cleaner does them between bookings.
What the list leaves out matters too. The wording is general, and the source does not give a full catalogue of other tasks. The phrase "require significant effort or time" is broad enough that hosts will have to judge what counts. That judgement is likely to be the point where most disagreements arise, and it is where the new policy will be tested first.
Seven Standard Rules and Requests That Must Be Reasonable
The changes do not remove house rules altogether. Under the updated guidelines, hosts can now set seven standard house rules. They can also add other requests, but Airbnb says those requests must be "reasonable".
House rules are the written instructions a host sets for a property. They might cover quiet hours, whether smoking is allowed, or where shoes should be left at the door. A host who wants a guest to switch off the air conditioning when leaving, or to lock a gate, can still say so. The difference is that the number of standard rules is now fixed at seven, and any extra asks have to fit the "reasonable" test.
The word reasonable is doing a lot of work in this policy. The source does not define it in detail. In practice, it is likely to mean that a request should be simple, should not take much time, and should not be the sort of job a cleaner is paid to do. Hosts who wrote long lists of expectations will need to cut them back, and guests who used to see a page of instructions after booking may now find a shorter, clearer set.
Why Airbnb Rewrote Its House Rules
Airbnb explained the reasoning in a statement to the BBC. "House rules help guests understand what hosts expect, but we've heard from our community that they can be confusing, onerous and hard to manage," the company said.
The company added: "So, we've redesigned them to make them easier to discover and clearer to set, alongside a new policy that keeps requests reasonable, with no surprises."
That second sentence points to the problem Airbnb is trying to solve. A guest who arrives at a property and finds a long list of duties may feel that the booking has turned into unpaid work. A host who writes a detailed list may feel that their home needs protecting from careless guests. Airbnb is trying to make the rules easier to find and easier to set, so both sides know where the line is before a dispute begins. The phrase "no surprises" suggests the company sees the lack of clarity, rather than the rules themselves, as the main source of friction.
The Drought Exception and Limits on Contracts
The policy is not a complete ban on every request linked to a property. Airbnb said it may grant exceptions in some circumstances. Its example is shower time. Guests can be asked to limit how long they shower if there are local drought-related water restrictions.
That example shows how the company separates everyday housework from requests that reflect the law or local conditions. A drought restriction is a rule set because water supplies are under strain, and a host who has to comply with one may need guests to follow it as well. The exception is narrow, but it shows that the new limits are not intended to stop hosts from passing on conditions that are outside their control.
Contracts are also restricted. Under the new policy, contracts will only be allowed in limited circumstances, including when they are required by law or by homeowners association rules. A homeowners association is a body that sets rules for a residential building or estate. In a flat block or a gated development, those rules can bind owners and, in some cases, the people who stay in their properties. Under the new policy, a host cannot use a private contract to add obligations beyond those limits.
How Hosts Lose Fines but Keep Control
Hosts will not be able to impose fines. Airbnb said that while a host will not be able to impose fines, they remain in control of their house rules and requests. The company has not said how disputes over a fine-free system will be handled in each case, and the source does not give further detail.
The removal of fines changes the leverage a host has. Before a booking ends, a host may still refuse future bookings or raise issues through the platform. But a host can no longer simply charge a guest for a broken rule. Hosts keep the ability to set expectations, and guests keep the protection that those expectations must be reasonable. Both sides will need to rely more on the platform's own processes than on direct payment.
Airbnb also said a property's rules will be displayed to guests more prominently moving forward. The rules will appear in the guests' reservation reminders. For someone who books a flat for a weekend or a month, that means the expectations should be visible before they arrive, not buried in a listing page they may never open again.
What the 20 November Start Date Means for Bookings
The start date is the most concrete detail in the announcement. The policy applies to all reservations booked on the accommodation site on or after 20 November. That means the rule depends on when a booking is made, not when a guest stays. A reservation made in late October but covering a stay in December would fall under the older terms on the basis of the description in the source.
Hosts will need to check their existing house rules before that date. Anyone who runs several properties may have to update multiple listings, and the new limits on the number of standard rules could force them to choose which expectations matter most. Some hosts may decide to pass cleaning costs into their nightly price or cleaning fee, but the source does not say whether Airbnb expects that to happen. For now, the more immediate task is simply to review what is on the page.
The main question for the company is whether the new framework reduces disputes over cleaning and chores. Airbnb has said it wants requests to be reasonable and free of surprises. If guests stop finding long lists of chores after they arrive, and if hosts can still run their homes with clear and enforceable standards, the policy will have achieved its aim. If disagreements about what counts as reasonable simply move from the house rules to the support desk, the change may prove less decisive than the headline suggests. Guests booking after 20 November are likely to be the first group to show which way it goes.
Questions and answers
When do Airbnb's new house rules take effect?
The updated policy applies to all reservations booked on the accommodation site on or after 20 November. The rule depends on the date a booking is made, so reservations made before that date are not covered as described in the source.
Can Airbnb hosts still ask guests to do chores?
Hosts are generally not allowed to ask guests to complete tasks that require significant effort or time, or would typically be performed by a cleaner. Examples include stripping the bed, taking trash offsite and washing and putting away dishes. Hosts can still set seven standard house rules and add other requests that must be reasonable.
Can Airbnb hosts fine guests under the new policy?
No. Airbnb says hosts will not be able to impose fines, although they remain in control of their house rules and requests.
Are there any exceptions to the new Airbnb rules?
Airbnb says it may grant exceptions in some circumstances. For example, guests can be asked to limit shower time if there are local drought-related water restrictions.
Topics: Airbnb, short-term rentals, house rules, cleaning fees, holiday lets, guest policy, homeowners associations
Sources: BBC Business
https://axynewsglobal.com/article/airbnb-hosts-generally-barred-from-making-guests-strip-beds