Airbnb's New House Rules Ban Host Chore Lists From November 20

Airbnb will bar hosts worldwide from asking guests to wash dishes, strip beds or remove rubbish on bookings made from 20 November. The platform's updated guidelines limit hosts to seven standard house rules plus other "reasonable" requests, and they forbid demands for work normally done by professional cleaners. The change has split the two sides of the marketplace.

What do the new rules actually prohibit?

Hosts can no longer require guests to wash and put away dishes, strip bedding or carry rubbish off site. The rules apply to every booking made globally from 20 November. Hosts keep the right to set seven standard house rules and to add further requests, provided Airbnb deems them reasonable.

For Lisa Clewes, who runs a holiday let in Wales, the timing is painful. She returned after a group checkout to find the house "in a complete mess" — broken glasses, drinks cans on the floor, pans full of food on the table and fish guts in the garden.

"It was really unbelievable. Had I had another booking the same day, I would have had to cancel or delay check-in," Clewes says. She charges a cleaning fee covering roughly 75% of a cleaner's cost and asks guests only to empty the fridge, bin the rubbish and load the dishwasher. Cleaners need four hours to turn around her three-bedroom property. She fears worse messes will mean extra cleaners, higher costs and, ultimately, higher prices for guests.

Why do guests welcome the change?

Jessica Newhook booked an Airbnb in Florida for a family reunion of 11 and paid a $250 (£187) cleaning fee. The host still told the group to "leave the property move-in ready for the cleaners" — wash and fold towels, clean the bedding and kitchen, and sweep and mop the floors. The host also warned their behaviour needed to improve, because they had left chairs blocking bins, or they could be told to leave.

"We had rules about everything and it was not relaxing at all," Newhook says. She still likes the home comforts of Airbnb, but rising fees and chore lists have eroded the appeal. "It is getting to the point where a hotel is cheaper and I know what to expect."

Krissi Foskett, 46, from Glasgow, runs a national cleaning company and stays in Airbnb properties often, so she "can see the issue from both sides." In a recent stay in Stafford she paid a £35 cleaning fee, yet was asked to strip beds, run a wash, empty bins and carry rubbish down a long track to a recycling area.

"I don't particularly mind doing those things, but it did make me question what exactly I was paying the additional cleaning fee for," she says. She draws a line between being a considerate guest — "putting your dirty dishes in the dishwasher" — and being "expected to prepare the property for the next guests." Her cleaning teams have arrived to find broken furniture, vomit and pet urine, so she sympathises with hosts. But she is firm on the economics: "If you're running an Airbnb as a business, professional cleaning is a cost of doing business."

How are hosts responding?

Anthony Marsh, who co-owns a cabin retreat in North Yorkshire with his husband, has cut the number of their 12 properties listed on Airbnb from five to two. His worry: "Airbnb has effectively given guests permission to come and leave properties a tip, and a host can't do anything about it." He calls washing pots and putting out bins "common sense and common decency." His company charges no cleaning fee, but fees are widespread — 63.2% of Airbnb listings charge one, averaging £55, according to data from AirROI.

Laura Lewis, who runs a directory helping holiday-let owners market properties, says most of her clients are unhappy. "Some people say it's factored into the cleaning fee, but I wouldn't leave a holiday let with all the washing-up to do. It's not the right thing," she says. The announcement compounds frustration after Airbnb raised commission rates last year. Many owners now invest in their own websites and social media to win direct bookings. Lewis plans to remove the listings for the three treehouses on her farm from Airbnb altogether; most of her bookings are already direct.

Do all hosts expect the worst?

No. Matt Prosz, who hosts and manages other Airbnb properties full-time, asks guests at his south-west London property only to lock up and return the keys. "People sometimes strip the beds or do things without me asking, and that's nice for my cleaners, but I don't expect it," he says.

He doubts the rules will worsen guest behaviour, citing Airbnb's mutual review system: "If I put a big chore list, I wouldn't expect a five-star review and vice versa – if a guest leaves the place in a state, you're not going to give them a good review." His read on the platform's motive is blunt: "Airbnb is trying to cut out the silly stuff because it's not a good guest experience." If chore lists vanish but review incentives hold, the winners are guests; hosts with tight turnarounds will test whether the £55 average fee still covers the work.