Airbnb’s new house rules stop hosts asking guests to strip beds, wash dishes, or hand over IDs

Airbnb is overhauling what hosts can demand of guests before they hand back the keys. For bookings made on or after 20th November 2026, hosts generally cannot ask guests to strip beds, wash and put away dishes, or haul rubbish off the property. The updated policy also restricts hosts from fining guests or keeping copies of their identification, a change with direct implications in Kenya, where Nairobi apartment gates routinely hold visitors’ IDs.

Airbnb announced the policy overhaul on 20th October alongside a redesigned house rules editor for hosts, noting that community feedback showed house rules had become “confusing, onerous and hard to manage”.

Whether the new rules apply depends on when you book, not when you stay. The Reasonable House Rules and Requests policy covers reservations made from 20th November onwards, and any edits a host makes to a listing only apply to future bookings. A December holiday booked in October remains bound by whatever rules were on the listing at the time of booking.

House rules vs requests: The seven rules hosts can enforce

Airbnb now separates mandatory rules from polite requests. Hosts must pick their binding house rules from seven standard categories:

• Maximum overnight guests
• Quiet hours
• Events and parties
• Pets (including how many are allowed)
• Smoking and vaping
• Commercial photography and filming
• Locking up at checkout (with an optional note on how to return keys)

Anything outside those seven categories moves into a free-text box labelled “Requests”.

The distinction determines what a host can actually enforce. Guests are required to follow the seven standard house rules; if a guest breaks one during their stay, or states before check-in that they intend to, the host can cancel the reservation without penalty. By contrast, guests are only “encouraged” to follow requests. If a guest ignores a request, the host can contact Airbnb for support, but Airbnb’s ground rules for guests explicitly bar hosts from charging extra fees for skipped checkout tasks. Breaking a house rule can cost you your booking; skipping a request will not.

Even optional requests must pass a reasonableness test. Hosts generally cannot ask for tasks that “require significant effort or time” or duties that fall under standard turnover cleaning. Airbnb allows exceptions only for local necessities, such as placing rubbish in an animal-proof outdoor bin or limiting shower times during an official drought.

In short, you can still be asked to leave dishes in the sink and pile up wet towels, but the actual washing and laundry go back to the cleaner.

No more host fines, surprise rules, or hidden AC fees

Beyond checkout chores, the policy restricts how hosts manage penalties, amenities, and paperwork:

• No host-imposed fines: Hosts generally cannot fine guests or invent financial penalties. Property damage must be claimed through AirCover, Airbnb’s host protection programme. Hosts may only warn guests about legitimate fines enforced by a homeowner association or local government.
• No paywalling advertised amenities: Hosts cannot restrict access to features advertised on the listing or charge extra to use them. If a listing advertises air conditioning, full use of it must be included in the booking price.
• No post-booking rule changes: Hosts cannot introduce new rules or requests after a reservation is confirmed, whether by message, on a laminated sign in the flat, or in person at check-in. What is disclosed on the listing before booking is final.
• Limits on external contracts: Separate rental agreements are barred except in four cases: where required by law or a building association, for optional extras like a golf cart, for long-term stays of 28 nights or more, or for listings in Airbnb’s premium Luxe tier. Hosts are also barred from asking guests to fill out surveys or leave reviews on third-party websites.

Airbnb is enforcing these limits directly inside its listing editor, which now automatically flags non-compliant requests, emails the host, and offers an appeal window. If a host leaves a flagged chore unresolved, prospective guests may see an alert on the listing, such as “includes cleaning requests”, before they book. Persistent violations can trigger a permanent notice on the listing, lower search rankings, or account penalties under Airbnb’s terms of service.

How Airbnb’s ID rules collide with Kenya’s security directives

Airbnb’s policy pages list no country-specific carve-outs, meaning Kenyan listings fall under the exact same rules from 20th November. However, Kenya’s national security directives create a specific wrinkle around guest identification.

In January 2024, following a spate of homicides in short-term rentals, Kenya’s Ministry of Interior ordered all short-term rental operators, including Airbnb hosts, to register with the Tourism Regulatory Authority (TRA), the state agency that licences tourism businesses. That same directive, which we covered when it took effect, mandated that private security guards at residential complexes record every visitor’s identification details and temporarily retain their ID documents while on the premises.

At first glance, that clashes with Airbnb’s updated contracts and personal data policy, which bars hosts from demanding ID details or keeping physical or digital copies of a guest’s identification. Under Airbnb’s rules, a host may visually inspect an ID at check-in if disclosed in the listing’s requests section, and may only collect or retain ID data in three specific scenarios:

1. Where required by applicable law.
2. Where required by a documented building rule, such as a property security protocol.
3. Where needed to execute a permitted external contract.

Crucially, the host must disclose in the listing’s requests section, before a guest books, exactly what identification is required and why. Because Kenya’s Interior Ministry directive instructs building security guards at the gate (rather than the host) to log and hold visitor IDs, our reading is that Nairobi apartment gates fall squarely under Airbnb’s exception for documented building security rules. However, for the practice to comply with Airbnb’s policy, Kenyan hosts must explicitly state in their listing’s requests section that building security will hold the guest’s ID. If a Nairobi listing does not mention it upfront, ask the host before booking. (We also recently examined how Kenya’s older ID-logging rules play out in cyber cafés).

Why Airbnb cleaning fees will likely go up

While the policy removes the burden of checkout labour from guests, it says nothing about who absorbs the cost of that time. Airbnb’s ground rules state that a host’s cleaning fee covers standard turnover tasks between stays, such as laundry and vacuuming, and notes that hosts can still score guests on general cleanliness in reviews.

Neither the policy announcement nor Airbnb’s help pages place a cap on cleaning fees. Some hosts have already said they will raise their cleaning fees to cover the extra turnaround time, and we expect many more to follow. Guests who used to spend their last morning washing dishes and stripping sheets will likely end up paying for that labour in the upfront price instead.

What hosts and guests should do before 20th November

• For hosts: Audit your house rules in the listing editor now. Airbnb’s automated filter is already flagging prohibited checkout chores, and leaving them in place past 20th November risks putting a warning label on your listing or tanking your search visibility. If you host in a Kenyan apartment block where guards hold IDs at the gate, add a clear disclosure in your listing’s “Requests” box explaining the building’s security rule.
• For guests: For any stay booked from 20th November onwards, check the house rules and requests section before paying. Only the seven standard house rules are binding. If a host messages you a chore list after you book, leaves a checklist on the kitchen counter requiring you to strip the beds, or demands a copy of your ID without prior disclosure on the listing, you do not have to comply, and you can report the listing directly to Airbnb.