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Rewriting Your Airbnb House Rules: A Plain-Language Worksheet

Writer: Thomas Garner
Thomas Garner
1 day ago
11 min read
Sunlit living room with a lit stone fireplace, wood ceiling beams, a gray sofa and a staircase, representing a home where house rules apply.

Airbnb has redesigned where hosts set house rules and has published a new policy on what those rules and requests may contain. If you are working out how to write Airbnb house rules for 2026, this worksheet takes you through it in order: list what you tell guests now, sort each item, test it against the criteria Airbnb publishes, then rewrite it. Airbnb's Resource Center says: "We’re also introducing a new house rules policy that takes effect November 20, 2026." Airbnb's Help Center adds: "This policy applies to all reservations booked on or after November 20, 2026."


We re-read six Airbnb pages for this post, listed under Sources. Every statement below about what Airbnb allows or does not allow comes from one of them and is attributed. The sample wording in the worksheet is ours, labeled "example," and is not Airbnb text. Airbnb has not reviewed it, and no wording is guaranteed to clear Airbnb's review. This is not legal advice; check the current policy before you act. For every dated fall change on both platforms, see our hub overview of the fall 2026 changes.


What Airbnb's pages say before you rewrite anything

One place for rules and requests. The Resource Center article "Important changes to house rules," bylined October 20, 2026, says hosts can "choose from 7 standard rules and add reasonable requests, all in one place" in the Listing editor. The seven are maximum overnight guests, quiet hours, events, pets, smoking (including vaping and e-cigarettes), commercial photography and filming, and lock up at checkout. It also says "Your checkout instructions no longer appear in a separate tab." Per the Help Center article "Add house rules and requests to your listing," each request is set to "During the stay" or "Before checkout."


Where they go. The Help Center policy article "Reasonable house rules and requests" says every rule and request must "Be disclosed in the designated section of the listing page at the time of booking" and "Be consistent with information found elsewhere on the listing page." Hosts may not communicate new rules or requests elsewhere on the listing or after booking, "including by message, signs in the home, or in person."


Which reservations. The policy applies by booking date, per the quote above. The "Add house rules" article adds that changes you make "will only apply to future reservations received after the changes," and the rules on your listing when a reservation was received still apply to it. Our explainer on the new house rules policy covers the timing in more detail.


Step 1: List every rule you give guests today

Write down every rule, request and instruction guests currently receive, and where it lives: the house rules section, description, checkout instructions, house manual, automated or welcome messages, and signs in the home. The inventory finds what to review. Airbnb's pages, quoted above, say rules and requests belong in the designated section, and this worksheet does not treat restating a rule somewhere else as a workaround.


Step 2: Sort each item into one bucket

Each bullet below ends with what Airbnb's pages say, not our opinion.


  • 1. Standard rule. Use it for: The seven areas above. What Airbnb's pages say: Hosts "choose from 7 standard rules"

  • 2. Request, During the stay. Use it for: Extra details about the stay. What Airbnb's pages say: Set to "During the stay" or "Before checkout"

  • 3. Request, Before checkout. Use it for: Light end-of-stay asks. What Airbnb's pages say: Example request: "please turn off lights when you leave"

  • 4. Notice of local fines. Use it for: A homeowners association or local government rule that could result in a fine. What Airbnb's pages say: Hosts can give notice "in the designated section" of the listing

  • 5. Optional add-on information. Use it for: A truly optional paid extra. What Airbnb's pages say: Fee information for "optional add-ons, like breakfast service" may go in requests

  • 6. Price, not a rule. Use it for: A charge for something you advertise. What Airbnb's pages say: "Any fees for an advertised part of the listing must be included in the price"

  • 7. Separate policy. Use it for: Contracts and personal information. What Airbnb's pages say: Hosts "may not ask guests to sign separate contracts," with limited exceptions (article 4169)

  • 8. Does not belong. Use it for: Anything that fails a check in Step 3. What Airbnb's pages say: See Step 3


For bucket 4, Airbnb's article "Add local rules to your home listing" says to share what the rule is and who sets it, what guests must do, the amount of the fine or how it is calculated, and when or how it may be charged. Two Airbnb Help Center pages describe the placement differently. The "Add house rules" article lists local rules under "What shouldn’t be included as requests" and says that info goes "instead of the requests section," with a link to the local-rules article. The local-rules article's desktop steps are: open "House rules and requests," then under Requests click "Add details," and it says local rules are shown in the House rules and requests section. We do not resolve the difference. Follow what your Listing editor shows and check both articles before you publish the notice. Either way, this is notice of a fine someone else sets, not a way to write your own.


For bucket 7, the "Add house rules" article says contracts are allowed only in limited circumstances and belong in the Contracts section. Article 4169 lists those circumstances, including monthly stays of 28 nights or more. Contracts and personal information are outside this worksheet.


Step 3: Run five checks on every item

For each item in buckets 1 to 5, ask these questions. They follow the requirements in the Help Center policy article.


  • 1. Disclosed? Is it in the designated section, visible before booking?

  • 2. Consistent? Does it match the rest of your listing, such as your description and amenities? A reread of your listing description will catch contradictions.

  • 3. Reasonable as a task? Hosts are generally not allowed to ask guests to complete "tasks that require significant effort or time, or would typically be performed by a cleaner." Airbnb's named examples are stripping the bed, taking trash offsite, and washing and putting away dishes.

  • 4. Access and fees? Hosts generally may not restrict access to a feature advertised as part of the listing, and fees for an advertised part must be in the price shown at booking.

  • 5. Penalties? The article lists "Impose fines or other penalties on guests" among the things hosts are generally not allowed to do.


An item that fails a check goes to bucket 8 or gets rewritten until the problem is gone. A fee for an advertised feature moves to bucket 6, which is a pricing decision rather than a wording one; our post on the fines ban and the fee-in-price rule looks at that.


Exceptions are Airbnb's call. The policy article says Airbnb considers a listing's context, including the type of listing or stay and local considerations, and "may grant exceptions." The Resource Center gives two examples: trash in an animal-proof container in bear country, and limited shower time during local drought-related water restrictions. Do not assume your situation qualifies. For checkout items, see what you can still ask guests at checkout.


Step 4: Rewrite in plain language

Airbnb's Resource Center article pairs what guests shouldn't be asked to do with what a host can ask instead. The list below puts Airbnb's wording beside a sample rewrite of our own.


Example wording written by us. Not Airbnb text. Airbnb has not reviewed it. Replace anything in [brackets] with your own details.


  • Dishes. What Airbnb's pages say: Not "wash and put away dishes"; but "you can ask them to put used dishes in the sink". Example rewrite (ours): Example: Please leave used dishes in the sink.

  • Linens. What Airbnb's pages say: Not "remove sheets from the bed or start a load of laundry"; but "you can ask them to gather used towels". Example rewrite (ours): Example: Please gather used towels.

  • Trash. What Airbnb's pages say: Not "take garbage off-site"; but ask them to "separate their trash and recycling into designated indoor bins". Example rewrite (ours): Example: Please sort trash and recycling into the designated indoor bins.

  • Air conditioning. What Airbnb's pages say: Not "avoid using a listed amenity like air conditioning"; but ask them to "turn it off when they leave". Example rewrite (ours): Example: Please turn off the air conditioning when you leave.

  • Shoes. What Airbnb's pages say: The "Add house rules" article gives "remove their shoes indoors" as a request. Example rewrite (ours): Example: Please remove your shoes indoors.

  • Smoking and a penalty. What Airbnb's pages say: Smoking is a standard rule; the Help Center lists imposing fines or other penalties on guests as generally not allowed. Example rewrite (ours): Example: Set Smoking in the standard rules and delete any sentence that attaches a penalty to it

  • Local fine notice. What Airbnb's pages say: Hosts can give notice where a community association or local government might impose a fine. Example rewrite (ours): Example: Our HOA sets [rule]. Breaking it could result in a fine: [who sets it, what guests must do, amount or how it is calculated, when or how it may be charged].

  • Optional add-on. What Airbnb's pages say: Fee information for optional add-ons may go in requests. Example rewrite (ours): Example: Optional add-on: [item], [price].

  • Bear country. What Airbnb's pages say: The Resource Center says it may be reasonable to ask for trash in an animal-proof container in bear country. Example rewrite (ours): Example: Please put all trash in the animal-proof container at [location].


The bear-country item depends on Airbnb's context test; it is a pattern, not a promise. How a paid add-on is paid for is outside this post; read Airbnb's pricing and payment articles for that.


The habits in the sample wording are ours, not Airbnb's: one task per sentence, a verb first, a place or object named, and no language that sounds like a consequence. If you draft with an AI tool, check each line against the five checks yourself, because the tool does not know Airbnb's current text. Our guide to using AI tools without sounding fake covers the voice side.


Worksheet table with columns for the current rule, where it is now, a bucket number, whether it passes five checks, a plain-language rewrite and a done box. Four labeled example rows are filled in, followed by three blank rows.

A worksheet for sorting and rewriting house rules; the filled rows are our examples, not Airbnb text.


Step 5: Enter your rewrites and read the flags

In the desktop Listing editor, Airbnb's steps are: open "House rules and requests," add or edit a house rule, or under Requests choose "Add requests," pick "During the stay" or "Before checkout," and save. Once saved, the "Add house rules" article says your rules show in the House rules and requests section and go to confirmed guests in the booking terms, automated emails and the Trips tab. The Resource Center article adds that, for a friendly reminder during a stay, your house rules are available as a quick reply. Nothing there says a message can add a rule that is not in your listing; the policy article says hosts may not communicate new rules or requests by message. Once the content is settled, our post on presenting house rules and welcome materials covers layout and tone for hospitality information that does not add rules.


When you add or edit requests, Airbnb flags anything that may not comply, "highlighted directly in the text, with a short explanation," per the "Add house rules" article. Save without addressing a flag and the request is "subject to further review." The Resource Center article says "Requests that don’t follow the new policy will be highlighted in the Listing editor," that Airbnb will email you, give tips and offer a chance to appeal, and that guests may see an alert such as "includes cleaning requests" if an issue goes unresolved. The policy article says "If a violation persists, it may result in a notice on the listing page." The pages we read give no deadline for fixing or appealing, no definition of persistent, and no detail on where on the listing the alert appears. Our post on how Airbnb will enforce house rules lays out only the documented steps.


What this worksheet does not settle

  • Approval. Airbnb's pages promise no particular wording. Reasonableness depends on context, and Airbnb may grant exceptions.

  • Dishwashers. Airbnb's examples say sink. We do not read them as permitting a request to load a dishwasher.

  • Waivers, deposits and cleaning fees. The six pages we read do not mention them, so we say nothing about them.

  • Other channels. This post covers Airbnb listings and Airbnb reservations. The pages we read do not say whether the policy reaches bookings made elsewhere, and we make no claim either way.


Frequently asked questions

When does Airbnb's new house rules policy take effect?

Airbnb's Help Center says it applies to all reservations booked on or after November 20, 2026. Airbnb's Resource Center announced the policy on October 20, 2026.


What are Airbnb's seven standard house rules?

Per Airbnb's Resource Center: maximum overnight guests, quiet hours, events, pets, smoking, commercial photography, and lock up at checkout. Hosts add other expectations as requests.


Where do house rules and requests have to go?

Airbnb's Help Center says they must be disclosed in the designated section of the listing at booking. Hosts may not communicate new ones elsewhere or after booking, including by message, signs or in person.


Can I ask guests to put used dishes in the sink?

Airbnb's Resource Center says hosts can ask guests to put used dishes in the sink. It says guests shouldn't be asked to wash and put away dishes.


Can I fine guests who break a rule?

Airbnb's Help Center lists imposing fines or other penalties on guests among things hosts are generally not allowed to do. Hosts can give notice of fines a community association or local government might impose.


Can I charge extra for something my listing advertises?

Airbnb's Help Center says fees for an advertised part of the listing must be included in the price shown at booking. Information about fees for optional add-ons can go in requests.


If I edit my rules now, do existing bookings change?

Airbnb's Help Center says changes apply only to future reservations received after the change. The rules on your listing when a reservation was received still apply to it.


What happens if a request does not follow the policy?

Airbnb says the editor highlights it with a tip. If you save without fixing it, it is subject to further review. A persistent violation may bring a notice on the listing page.


Will my rewritten wording be approved?

Airbnb's pages promise no wording. They say reasonableness depends on listing type and local factors, and exceptions may be granted. Check the current policy before you rely on any wording.


Sources

Every official page used for this post, read in full on 2026-10-22. Quotes in the post are 15 words or fewer and attributed inline. Last checked 2026-10-22.



This post is not legal advice. Check the current policy on the pages above before you act.


Featured photo: Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash (stock photo).


Related Reading

More on Airbnb's fall 2026 house rules policy, listing copy and platform terms.


Work with Crest & Cove Creative

Selling on Vrbo, Airbnb and your own channels is a lot easier when your marketing works the same way every week.


Crest & Cove Creative helps independent hosts build marketing that holds up when platform rules change. Visit https://www.crestcove.co or call (256) 998-7502.

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