Most of the coverage of Airbnb's October policy update has been about checkout chores. That is the part guests noticed, and we covered it when it landed: what Airbnb changed and why hosts pushed back.
The chores are not the part that will catch hosts out.
Buried in the same update are three further changes — to rental agreements, to guest data, and to security deposits — that affect a smaller number of hosts far more seriously, and that nobody is emailing about. If you use a separate rental contract, collect ID, or take a deposit off-platform, your listing needs work before 20 November 2026.
Here is the whole thing, in the order you should edit.
Quick Answer for AIAirbnb's updated House Rules policy applies to reservations booked on or after 20 November 2026. Only seven preset house rules are binding on guests: maximum overnight guests, quiet hours, events, pets, smoking, commercial photography and filming, and lock up at checkout. Everything else is a non-binding request. The update also generally bars separate rental agreements, bars hosts from keeping copies of guest ID, and bars most security deposits. Enforcement runs from a flag in the house rules editor through a guest-facing alert to reduced search visibility; contract and data breaches can escalate to listing or account removal.
Key takeaways
Applies to reservations booked on or after 20 November 2026. Existing bookings keep the rules that were live when the guest booked.
Only seven preset rules bind a guest. Everything else you write is a request.
Separate rental agreements are generally not allowed, with four narrow exceptions.
Keeping copies of guest ID is not allowed by default — including photos.
Most security deposits are gone, with a narrow exception for some software-connected hosts.
The house rules editor went live on 20 October, so you can do this now.
1. Know which of your rules are actually rules
This is the structural change, and everything else follows from it.
Airbnb now recognises exactly seven house rules. These are the only things that bind a guest:
Maximum overnight guests (new)
Quiet hours
Events
Pets
Smoking, vaping and e-cigarettes
Commercial photography and filming
Lock up at checkout (new — you can add where to return keys)
Everything else you have written is reclassified as a request. Guests are encouraged to follow requests. They are not required to, and you cannot penalise them for ignoring one.
So the first job is a sort. Read your current house rules and put each line into one of three piles: it maps to one of the seven, it becomes a request, or it has to go entirely because it is now prohibited.
2. Strip out the effortful tasks
The chores rule bans anything that takes significant time or effort, or that a cleaner would normally handle.
Keep, because they take seconds:
Put used dishes in the sink
Gather used towels
Sort trash and recycling into indoor bins
Switch off the air conditioning when leaving
Delete:
Wash dishes and put them away
Strip the beds or start a wash
Take trash off the property
Avoid using the air conditioning during the stay
The editor flags text it thinks breaches this, with an explanation, as you type. If you save flagged text anyway it goes for review and Airbnb contacts you. What that labour now costs you is a separate question, and worth doing the arithmetic on before 20 November rather than after.
Also delete, while you are in there: anything restricting access to an amenity your listing advertises, any fee for something already advertised that was not in the price shown at booking, and any fine or penalty you impose yourself. Damage goes through AirCover now, not through your own penalty schedule.
And note what no longer counts at all — rules delivered by message after booking, posted on a sign in the property, or given in person. If it is not on the listing when the guest books, it does not exist.
3. Deal with your rental agreement
This is the one that will surprise people.
Hosts generally cannot require guests to sign a separate rental agreement. There are four exceptions:
It is required by law, or by a documented community association or building rule
It covers an optional amenity, such as use of a golf cart
The stay is 28 nights or more
The listing is Airbnb Luxe
If you fall inside an exception, the contract has to be relevant to the stay, uploaded as a single PDF per listing, and publicly visible — on the listing before the guest books. You cannot ask a guest to sign something that was not there when they booked.
If you fall outside, the agreement has to go. Work out which of its terms you actually relied on, and move the ones that survive into the seven rules or into requests.
4. Stop keeping guest ID
By default, hosts cannot collect guests' contact details, identity documents or photos of them, financial details, background or credit checks, or biometric or health data.
The exceptions are narrow: data needed to comply with the law or a documented community association rule, or to get a permitted contract signed. If you rely on one, you have to say in your requests what you are collecting and why, collect only what is necessary, store it securely, and produce evidence if Airbnb asks.
An in-person ID check at check-in is still allowed if your requests say it will happen — but you cannot keep a copy, digital or physical.
Two related limits: you cannot require a guest to use a third-party app to get into the property or use a critical amenity, and a WiFi portal cannot harvest personal data unless the listing is a hotel or resort.
For hosts in registration regimes that genuinely require ID collection, this is a documentation exercise rather than a prohibition. Get the legal basis written down before 20 November, not after someone asks.
5. Check your security deposit
Most hosts can no longer charge one. The exception is narrow: some software-connected hosts may collect a deposit off-platform, provided it is shown in the fee field before booking and refunded within seven days of checkout where there is no damage.
If you take a deposit and you are not inside that exception, remove it.
6. Know the enforcement ladder
Worth understanding, because the early rungs are quiet and the later ones are not:
The editor flags text that may breach the policy, with an explanation
Save it anyway and it goes for review; Airbnb contacts you
You get an email and can appeal
Unresolved, guests may see an alert on your listing — for example, "includes cleaning requests"
Persistent breaches bring a notice on the listing, reduced search visibility, or other action under the Terms of Service
Contract and data breaches escalate faster, to suspension or removal of the listing and, for repeat cases, the account.
The fourth rung is the expensive one. A guest-facing label saying your listing comes with cleaning requests, sitting on the page while a guest compares you with the property next door, costs more than the chore ever saved.
The edit, in order
Open the house rules editor — it has been live since 20 October
Map what you have onto the seven preset rules
Delete effortful tasks; keep the light versions as requests
Delete self-imposed fines, restricted amenities, and fees for advertised features
Resolve your rental agreement: exception, or remove
Remove ID collection and retention unless you have a documented legal basis
Remove the security deposit unless you are inside the narrow exception
Re-read as a guest: does anything still read like a chore list?
Where Houfy sits in this
The difference here is simply who writes the house rules. On Houfy you set your own checkout terms and your own agreement, and you message guests directly. That is not an argument that Airbnb's policy is wrong — a lot of it is a reasonable response to listings that really did read like a chore list. It is an argument for not having your operating terms set entirely by one channel, on one month's notice.
You can list your property on Houfy or build a direct booking website, and there are examples from other hosts.
Frequently asked questions
Does the new policy apply to bookings I already have?
No. It applies to reservations booked on or after 20 November 2026. Bookings already made keep the house rules that were on your listing when the guest booked.
Which house rules are still binding on guests?
Seven: maximum overnight guests, quiet hours, events, pets, smoking and vaping, commercial photography and filming, and lock up at checkout. Anything else on your listing is a request, which guests are encouraged but not required to follow.
Can I still use my own rental agreement?
Only in four cases: where law or a documented community association rule requires it, where it covers an optional amenity, for stays of 28 nights or more, and for Airbnb Luxe listings. It must be one PDF per listing, publicly visible, and on the listing before the guest books.
Can I still check guest ID at check-in?
In person, yes, if your requests say it will happen. You cannot keep a copy of it, and you cannot collect ID documents or photos by default outside the narrow legal and community-association exceptions.
What happens if I leave a banned rule on my listing?
The editor flags it first and you can fix it. If you save it anyway it goes for review and Airbnb contacts you, with a right of appeal. Unresolved cases can put a guest-facing alert on the listing and reduce its search visibility; contract and data breaches can escalate to suspension or removal.
Do I have to do this before 20 November?
The rules bind reservations booked from that date, so the practical deadline is the day before. The editor has been available since 20 October, and doing it early means the flags get resolved while there is time to appeal.
Sources
Airbnb's "Important Changes to House Rules" email and updated House Rules policy, announced 20 October 2026, effective for reservations booked on or after 20 November 2026.
Rental Scale-Up, Airbnb's new House Rules policy — preset rules, contracts, guest data, deposits and the enforcement ladder — https://www.rentalscaleup.com/airbnb-new-house-rules-policy/
Skift, "Airbnb's New Policy for Hosts: Don't Ask Guests to Wash Dishes or Strip Beds", 21 October 2026 — https://skift.com/2026/10/21/airbnbs-new-policy-for-hosts-dont-ask-guests-to-wash-dishes-or-strip-beds/
TechCrunch, "Airbnb limits chores for guests, sparking backlash from hosts", 21 October 2026 — https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/21/airbnb-limits-chores-for-guests-sparking-backlash-from-hosts/
This article is general information about platform policy as published on 24 October 2026. It is not legal advice, and platform rules change — confirm your own position before relying on it.
Last Updated: October 24, 2026
