Airbnb has rewritten its house rules so hosts can no longer require guests to strip beds, wash and put away dishes, or take trash offsite.
Zoom in: The policy bars tasks that "require significant effort or time, or would typically be performed by a cleaner". Hosts can set seven standard house rules plus other reasonable requests, and the change applies to every reservation booked on or after November 20.
- "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," Airbnb told the BBC. The company said it redesigned them to keep requests reasonable, with no surprises.
The backstory: Guests have complained for years about checkout chore lists, especially because they already pay a cleaning fee. Videos from a host couple in Georgia inspecting their rental after guests leave went viral recently, including one that accused guests of disrespecting the house rules for leaving a television remote out of place.
The big picture: A property's rules will now display more prominently and appear in guests' reservation reminders. Separate contracts are allowed only in limited circumstances, such as when local law or homeowners association rules require one.
- Hosts also lose the ability to impose fines, though Airbnb says they stay in control of their house rules and requests.
Yes, but: Airbnb says it may grant exceptions. Guests can still be asked to limit shower time where local drought-related water restrictions apply, for example.
What's next: A request that breaks the new policy gets flagged, and the host can appeal if they disagree with the decision.
Why it matters: Guests already pay a cleaning fee, and from November 20 that fee has to cover the actual cleaning. Read the house rules before you book: they are the enforceable part, and anything beyond them is now appealable to Airbnb.
