Airbnb is putting limits on the checkout to-do lists that many guests have complained about for years. Under a new house rules policy that applies to reservations booked on or after 20 November 2026, hosts are generally no longer allowed to ask guests to strip beds, start laundry, wash and put away dishes or take rubbish off the property before they leave. Airbnb told hosts about the change on Tuesday, 20 October, and the policy applies worldwide. Hosts can still ask for small, simple tasks, but every rule and request now has to be shown on the listing before a guest books.
The atrium of Airbnb's headquarters in San Francisco (2018). Photo: Steve Jurvetson via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Key points
- The new Airbnb house rules policy applies to all reservations booked on or after 20 November 2026, according to Airbnb's policy page.
- Hosts are "generally not allowed" to ask guests to do tasks that "require significant effort or time, or would typically be performed by a cleaner", such as stripping the bed, taking trash offsite, or washing and putting away dishes.
- Simple requests are still fine, for example putting used dishes in the sink, gathering used towels, and sorting rubbish and recycling into indoor bins.
- Hosts can no longer impose their own fines or penalties on guests, and all rules must be visible on the listing at the time of booking, with nothing new added afterwards.
- Hosts now choose from seven standard house rules, and repeat violations can lead to a warning on the listing or lower visibility in search results.
What changes for guests
For the first time, Airbnb has published a house rules policy that spells out which host requests it considers reasonable, as the travel outlet Skift noted. Guests already pay a cleaning fee on many listings, so they should not be handed the work a cleaner would normally do.
In its guidance to hosts, Airbnb gives four concrete examples. Guests should not be asked to wash and put away dishes, to remove sheets from the bed or start a load of laundry, or to take garbage off-site. Hosts also cannot tell guests to avoid using an amenity that is advertised on the listing, such as air conditioning.
The policy goes beyond chores. Any fee for something advertised as part of the listing must be included in the price shown at booking. Hosts also may not ask guests to sign separate contracts or hand over personal information such as a government ID, except where the law requires it and in other limited cases. Instead of fines, Airbnb points hosts to AirCover, its protection programme for damage caused by guests.
Transparency is the other big change. Every house rule and request must sit in one section of the listing and be visible before booking. Hosts may not add new rules later through messages, signs in the home or in person.
What hosts can still ask for
Hosts still set rules from seven standard options: maximum overnight guests, quiet hours, events, pets, smoking, commercial photography and filming, and locking up at checkout. On top of these, they can add "reasonable" requests. Examples Airbnb accepts include putting used dishes in the sink, gathering used towels, sorting trash and recycling into the designated indoor bins, and turning off the air conditioning when leaving.
Airbnb says it will judge requests in context and may make exceptions. Its own examples: asking guests to take shorter showers because of local drought-related water restrictions, or to use an animal-proof bin in bear country.
Enforcement is built into the listing editor. Requests that break the policy will be highlighted, and hosts will get an email with tips and the chance to appeal. If the problem is not fixed, guests may see an alert such as "includes cleaning requests". Repeat violations can bring a notice on the listing, reduced search visibility or other action under Airbnb's terms. According to Skift, that can include cancelled bookings, loss of Superhost or Guest Favorite status, or account suspension.
Host pushback and the cleaning fee debate
"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 said in a statement shared with the BBC and USA Today. "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."
Not every host agrees. Skift counted about a dozen hosts objecting on Airbnb's community forum by Wednesday afternoon, mostly over the dishes rule, with two French hosts saying they may leave the platform. TechCrunch quoted one host who said the change could push them to remove their listing after twelve years: "Guests are given complete freedom to be lazy while the hosts bear the risk." Australia's ABC reported that some hosts warned the rules could drive up costs. Hosts will still set their own cleaning fees.
The move follows years of guest anger at paying a cleaning fee and still facing a list of chores. The debate flared again recently when TikTok videos of a Georgia host couple inspecting their property after guests left went viral, the BBC reported. Airbnb has tackled fees before. In 2023 it said more than 260,000 hosts had reduced or removed their cleaning fees, and in 2025 it began showing total prices, including fees, by default in search results worldwide, TechCrunch noted.
Why it matters
For travellers, the change sets a clearer baseline: book, read every rule up front, and leave without a surprise cleaning shift. For hosts, especially small operators who clean their own homes, it could mean higher turnover costs, which some may pass on through their cleaning fees. The new rules also bring Airbnb closer to hotel-style standards, which some hosts fear will weaken the personal feel that set the platform apart. How many hosts adjust their listings, and how many leave, will become clearer once the policy applies to bookings from 20 November.
Sources
- Airbnb Help Center: House rules policy (applies to reservations booked on or after 20 November 2026)
- Airbnb Resource Center: Important changes to house rules (20 October 2026)
- Airbnb Resource Center: A clear and simple checkout
- BBC News: Airbnb hosts can no longer make guests strip beds and wash dishes under new rules (21 October 2026)
- USA Today: Airbnb lightens chore load for guests (21 October 2026)
- TechCrunch: Airbnb limits chores for guests, sparking backlash from hosts (21 October 2026)
- Skift: Airbnb's new policy for hosts: don't ask guests to wash dishes or strip beds (21 October 2026)
- CBC News: Airbnb limiting the checkout chores hosts can ask guests to do (21 October 2026)
- ABC News (Australia): Airbnb scraps check-out chores for guests under new rules (22 October 2026)
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