Global Regulatory Notes (14)

POLAND

On July 15, Poland's government approved a bill requiring mandatory registration of all short-term rentals to reclassify stays of up to 30 days as hotel services. The measure still awaits parliamentary approval and the president's signature.

A national registry will assign each property a unique identification number that owners must display in listings. Implementing EU Regulation 2024/1028 which is in force since May 20, 2026, the reform introduces fines of up to 50,000 zlotys (roughly 11,600 euros) for non-compliance.

NAZARE, PORTUGAL

A new €1 per night tourist tax takes effect in Nazare on 1 September 2026 that will apply to hotels, hostels and local accommodation across the Leiria municipality. Published in the Diário da República on 3 July, the levy covers guests over 12 and caps at five consecutive nights with over-65s, ill visitors and people with disabilities exempt.

A separate Local Accommodation regulation begins 1 August which will define containment and sustainable-growth zones that steer short-term rentals toward vacant or non-residential properties.

THESSALONIKI, GREECE

Listen on: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-licence-that-dies-with-the-deed-greeces-quiet-phase-out/id1878348468?i=1000775928887

Greek authorities have frozen new short-term rental registrations across Thessaloniki's 1st Municipal District which will cover the historic and commercial core from 1 July to 31 December 2026. No new AMA registry numbers will be issued as matched with the suspension already in force across central Athens.

Greek STR licence freeze: what happens when ownership changes | Ben Painter posted on the topic | LinkedIn

What if your STR licence died the day you sold the property? That’s now the reality in central Greece’s two biggest cities. From 1 July, Thessaloniki’s city centre joined Athens under a freeze on new short-term rental registrations. But the freeze isn’t the story. The story is what happens to existing registrations: → Properties in restricted zones lose their registration on any lifetime transfer. Sale, gift, parental transfer. → The new owner is barred from re-registering while the freeze lasts. → Fines start at 50% of letting income, with a €20,000 minimum. Repeat breach in the same year: €40,000 minimum. → The freeze runs to 31 December 2026, and Greek coverage widely expects an extension into 2027. For operators, this is a new category of regulatory risk. It’s not a cap on nights. It’s not a tax. It severs the operating right from the asset itself. Two identical flats on the same street can now carry very different values, based purely on whether ownership has changed hands. Greece is running a phase-out by attrition. No mass delistings, no headlines about bans. Just a market that shrinks every time a property is sold or passed on. Every operator holding urban European assets should be asking: could this model reach my market? What would it do to your portfolio valuation if the licence didn’t survive a sale?

LinkedInBen Painter

Existing registrations are cancelled when a property is sold, donated or transferred though inherited homes stay exempt. Enforcement falls to tax authority AADE which fines illegal operators 50% of rental income and with a €20,000 minimum rising to €40,000 for repeat offenses.

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

A new 5% municipal tax now applies to lodging in Addis Ababa effective July 1, 2026 under Regulation No. 204/2026. Establishments must register with tax branch offices and keep detailed guest registers.

Category A taxpayers declare and remit monthly within 30 days while Category B businesses file quarterly. Smaller operators without formal records face a presumptive assessment on 70% of gross lodging revenue. Late filers incur a 5% monthly penalty capped at half the liability.

CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN

MPs registered a bill in the Canary Islands Parliament on July 14 seeking to amend the Tourism Modernization Law and the Sustainable Use of Tourist Housing Law. Sebastián Franquis and Gustavo Santana lead the initiative.

The reform would recognize existing residential uses on tourism-zoned parcels where planning permits, halt sanctions against owners legally living in their homes, and cancel outstanding fines. Supporters say it safeguards more than 70,000 residents across the archipelago.

PUERTO DELA CRUZ, SPAIN

A wide compliance gap is driving new rules in Puerto de la Cruz where officials confirmed on 16 July they will draft an ordinance to reduce about 2,300 holiday rentals. Of those, just 320 have completed procedures and 63 hold positive Cabildo reports.

Budgeted at €14,950 with a three-month timeline, the process includes public consultation and legal review. The northern Tenerife town joins Granadilla de Abona, Adeje, and Santa Cruz in tightening short-term rental oversight.

CYPRUS

Industry body Stek renewed calls on July 15 for a complete overhaul of Cyprus's short-term rental laws after an Audit Office report confirmed weak oversight of platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com.

The Deputy Ministry of Tourism plans to revise the framework through public consultation. Proposed measures include systematic inspections, deterrent penalties, mandatory registration numbers on listings, a maximum annual rental period, and a new overnight stay levy for all providers.

Cyprus tourist association seeks stronger regulation of short-term holiday rentals

The association of Cyprus tourist enterprises (Stek) on Wednesday said a recent Audit Office report has confirmed its long-standing concerns over short-term holiday rentals, renewing calls for a comprehensive overhaul of the legislation governing the sector. The association said the Audit Office's findings demonstrate that weaknesses in the supervision and…

Cyprus MailKyriacos Nicolaou

CROATIA

Local authorities across Croatia are urging the national government to grant them direct enforcement powers over illegal holiday rentals. Municipalities argue their communal wardens can identify unregistered operators faster than central agencies.

The appeal accompanies a proposed Hospitality Act approved by the government on June 27, 2026 and would take effect January 1, 2027. Aligned with EU Regulation 2024/1028, it assigns every unit a unique registration number and bars platforms from advertising unregistered accommodation.

Vlada usvojila Prijedlog zakona o ugostiteljskoj djelatnosti

Vlada Republike Hrvatske na današnjoj je sjednici usvojila Prijedlog zakona o ugostiteljskoj djelatnosti kojim se uspostavlja suvremeniji i učinkovitiji okvir za obavljanje ugostiteljske djelatnosti te uređuju pitanja koja su posljednjih godina postala posebno važna za razvoj turizma i lokalnih zajednica.

mint.hr

Novi Zakon o ugostiteljstvu: Uvodi se registracijski broj za iznajmljivače

Vlada je Saboru uputila Prijedlog Zakona o ugostiteljskoj djelatnosti kojim se u turističku djelatnost uvodi niz novosti, između ostalih i obveza pribavljanja registracijskog broja za iznajmljivače koji se oglašavaju na globalnim platformama.

Vlada Republike HrvatskeGlobaldizajn d.o.o.

CANADA

ESQUIMALT, BC

Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z54LE5oLhzQ

Council in the B.C. township of Esquimalt has unanimously approved bylaw changes capping short-term rentals in secondary and garden suites at 90 nights a year. Primary residences may be rented up to 180 nights which aligns with naval deployment schedules.

Secondary Suites

Corporation of the Township of Esquimalt

The township now bans suite rentals and will also draft the new licensing rules to be reviewed a year after they take effect, though no start date has been set. Saanich recently adopted a 120-night limit while Victoria caps rentals at 160.

SAANICH, BC

Council in Saanich moved to end the district's long-standing total ban and voted unanimously last July 6 to direct staff to draft bylaw amendments permitting short-term rentals for up to 120 nights per year.

Short-term Rentals (STR) Update

https://www.saanich.ca

The current ban remains until the rules change. The licensing program is expected to open for license applications in January 2027 and will run as a two-year trial with rentals exceeding 90 nights likely limited to principal residences.

CALEDON, ON

Councillors in Caledon advanced a new short-term rental tax on July 16 which gives tentative approval for staff to draft a Municipal Accommodation Tax bylaw. Final approval is expected at the July 28 meeting.

Set at 4%, the proposed levy would apply to Airbnb, Vrbo, and other stays under 30 days under Ontario Regulation 435/17. Revenue would be shared between the town and an Eligible Tourism Entity supporting destination marketing and tourism growth.

PRINCE EDWARD, ON

Officials in Prince Edward County are gathering public input on how future Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) revenue should be spent following a 2025 council directive to consult residents and the business community on funding priorities.

Feedback will shape a new framework for MAT allocations. Levied at 4% on short-term stays since February 2021, the tax splits evenly between tourism infrastructure and marketing. Residents can complete the roughly five-minute survey until August 14 at 4 p.m.

UNITED KINGDOM

Airbnb has begun sharing listing data with UK councils under a government-backed programme launched in July 2026, letting authorities cross-reference social housing records against active listings. The Cabinet Office's Public Sector Fraud Authority coordinates the initiative across London boroughs, Edinburgh, Birmingham, and Anglesey.

Early checks identified 470 suspected fraud cases spanning more than 450,000 covered properties. Confirmed illegal sublets will be removed with offenders facing eviction, fines, and up to two years imprisonment.

Social housing fraud to be tackled under industry-first government partnership with Airbnb

People illegally subletting social housing will be identified and may be removed from the property, following a new, innovative data-sharing partnership between the Cabinet Office and Airbnb.

GOV.UKCabinet Office

National Fraud Initiative: pilot data specifications

These guides outline the dataset specifications for the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) pilots.

GOV.UKCabinet Office

Privacy Notice for the NFI Social Housing Fraudulent Sub Letting Pilot

GOV.UKCabinet Office

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