The EU short-term rental data regulation explained

What the regulation does

Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 has applied across the European Union since 20 May 2026³⁴. It sets common rules for how public authorities collect information on short-term rentals and how online platforms share booking data with them¹.

Where a member state wants data from platforms, it must run a registration procedure that gives each rental unit a number. Platforms must ask hosts for the number, show it in the listing, check numbers at random and send monthly activity data, meaning nights rented and guests per night, to a national Single Digital Entry Point¹.

The European Commission said on 20 May 2026 that short-term accommodation rentals now represent around one quarter of tourist accommodation offers in the EU⁴. When it proposed the rules on 7 November 2022, it described them as about one quarter of all tourist accommodation in the EU⁷. Eurostat reported 951.6 million nights in short-stay accommodation booked online in 2025, an 11.4% increase compared with 2024⁵.

From proposal to application

The Commission published its proposal on 7 November 2022². On 16 November 2023 it welcomed agreement on the rules, under which member states would have a 24-month period to establish the mechanisms for data exchanges¹¹. Parliament adopted its first-reading position on 29 February 2024, the Council adopted the act on 18 March 2024, and the regulation was signed on 11 April 2024 and published in the Official Journal on 29 April 2024².

Under Article 19 the regulation entered into force on the twentieth day after publication. Application was deferred 24 months from entry into force to give member states time to set up registration procedures and Single Digital Entry Points, and platforms and hosts time to adapt (recital 34)¹. It has applied since 20 May 2026³.

A corrigendum published in the Official Journal on 22 September 2026 changed the first sentence of Article 10(1). The duty to set up a Single Digital Entry Point had referred to registration procedures under Article 4(1). It now refers to Article 4(2), the provision covering member states that require platforms to transmit data⁶¹.

The Commission must evaluate the regulation no later than seven years after its entry into force, including whether a centralised Single Digital Entry Point at EU level is needed (Article 18)¹.

Who and what it covers

The regulation applies to providers of online short-term rental platforms that serve hosts in the EU, wherever the platform is established, and to the hosts¹. A platform is covered when guests can conclude distance contracts with hosts through it. Websites that only connect hosts and guests, with no further role in concluding transactions, are outside its scope (recital 8)¹.

A host is a person or company that provides, or intends to provide, short-term accommodation for remuneration through such a platform, on a professional or non-professional basis. The rented unit is furnished accommodation in the EU. Hotels and similar accommodation (NACE Rev. 2 group 55.1), hostels (group 55.2) and camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks (group 55.3) are excluded¹.

National law defines short-term letting in more detail. The recitals treat furnished lets for more permanent use, typically one year or more, as outside it, and include stays for business or study as well as leisure¹.

Activity data has a fixed meaning: the number of nights for which a unit is rented and the number of guests per night, with each guest’s country of residence (Article 3(12))¹.

Registration procedures and numbers

The regulation does not oblige every member state to register short-term rentals. Any registration procedure that exists, at national, regional or local level, must follow its rules (Article 4(1)). A member state that requires platforms to transmit data must run a registration procedure for units in the areas where that requirement applies (Article 4(2))¹. A member state with neither can introduce them later, provided it sets up a Single Digital Entry Point (recital 22)¹.

Under Article 4(3), member states must ensure that a registration procedure¹:

• works on the basis of declarations made by hosts;
• is online and free of charge where possible, or at a reasonable and proportionate cost;
• issues a registration number automatically and immediately once the host submits the required information, and that the number contains no personal data;
• can be challenged through effective appeal mechanisms;
• is the only one a unit is subject to;
• lets hosts update their information and remove a unit from the registry;
• requires hosts to tell platforms whether a unit is subject to registration and, if so, to give the number.

Registration numbers go into a public and easily accessible registry kept by the issuing authority (Article 4(5)). Hosts can ask for information already supplied to be reused for later registrations and must be able to submit documents digitally¹.

What hosts must declare

To register, a host declares for each unit its specific address (including, where applicable, the number, letterbox number, floor or land registry reference), its type, whether it is let as part or whole of the host’s primary or secondary residence or for other purposes, the maximum number of bed places and guests it accommodates, and whether it is subject to an authorisation scheme and, if so, whether authorisation has been obtained (Article 5(1))¹.

Hosts also give identity and contact details: for a natural person, name, national identification number or other identifying information, address, telephone number and email address; for a legal person, its name, business registration number, legal representative, registered address, telephone number and email address¹.

Member states may require supporting documents with the declaration. They may also ask for further information, for example on compliance with national rules, without that affecting the issue of the number (Article 5(2) and 5(3)). Registration information may be kept for no more than 18 months after the host asks for the unit to be removed from the registry (Article 5)¹.

Authorities may verify a declaration at any time after issuing the number. If a host does not correct incomplete or incorrect information, or if there are manifest and serious doubts about its authenticity, the authority can suspend the number. It can withdraw the number where a host, through wilful misconduct or gross negligence, failed to correct information or supplied unauthentic or invalid information. In these cases it can order platforms to remove, or disable access to, the listings without undue delay. The host must first be told the reasons and given the chance to be heard (Article 6)¹.

What platforms must do

Article 7 sets out what the regulation calls compliance by design¹. Platforms must:

• design their interface so that hosts self-declare whether the unit is in an area where a registration procedure applies;
• where it is, make sure the host has given a registration number before the unit can be offered, and that the number is displayed clearly in the listing;
• make reasonable efforts to check at random, on a regular basis, hosts’ declarations and the validity of registration numbers, using the functions of the Single Digital Entry Point;
• report incorrect declarations, misused numbers or invalid numbers found in those checks to the authorities and hosts without undue delay;
• inform hosts about where registration procedures apply.

Before a host starts using its services, a platform must also make best efforts, using the national lists of registration areas, to assess whether the host’s self-declaration is complete, where automated tools can do so proportionately. The regulation states that this creates no general monitoring obligation (Article 8)¹.

National law must also let authorities order the removal of listings with no registration number, an invalid one, or a misused one, such as a single number used for several units (Article 6(11) and recital 15)¹.

Enforcement is split. The duties in Article 7(1) and Article 8 are enforced under Chapter IV of the Digital Services Act, which gives the Commission direct powers only over very large online platforms. The data-sharing duty and the other platform obligations are enforced by the member state of the relevant Single Digital Entry Point, under penalties that must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive (Article 15 and recital 29)¹.

Monthly data sharing through a Single Digital Entry Point

For a unit in an area for which authorities have requested data, the platform must collect and send every month, to the Single Digital Entry Point of the member state where the unit is located, the activity data for that unit, the registration number given by the host, the unit’s specific address and the URL of the listing. The transmission is machine to machine (Article 9(1))¹.

Where a unit is offered on several platforms, only the platform on which the contract is concluded with the host has to report, so that the same information does not arrive several times (recital 17)¹. Platforms must ensure, based on hosts’ information, that the datasets they send are complete and accurate (Article 9(3))¹.

Each member state that runs registration procedures under Article 4(2), as corrected in September 2026, must set up a Single Digital Entry Point and name its operator¹⁶. The entry point provides an application programming interface, based on technical requirements defined by the Commission, for machine-to-machine and manual transmission. It supports platforms’ random checks and passes the data to competent authorities for units in their territory (Article 10)¹. National coordinators from each member state form a coordination group chaired by the Commission (Article 11)¹.

Member states must publish, free of charge and through the entry point, lists of the areas where a registration procedure applies and of the areas for which authorities have requested data (Article 13)¹.

The lighter regime for small and micro platforms

Platforms that qualify as small or micro enterprises under Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC, and that did not reach a monthly average of 4 250 or more listings in the previous quarter, report at the end of the quarter instead of monthly. They may send the data machine to machine or manually, in accordance with national law (Article 9(2))¹. The recitals say that allowing manual reporting reduces their compliance burden, and assume that small or micro platforms at or above the threshold already have systems for machine-to-machine transmission (recital 19)¹.

The threshold changed between proposal and final text. The Commission’s 2022 proposal let micro and small platforms below a monthly average of 2,500 hosts share data quarterly⁸. The final text measures listings instead of hosts¹.

What authorities may use the data for

Competent authorities may access the data sent by platforms for two purposes only: monitoring compliance with registration procedures, and implementing and ensuring compliance with rules on access to, and the provision of, short-term rental services in line with EU law (Article 12(2))¹.

Activity data must be kept securely, for as long as necessary for those purposes and no longer than 18 months after receipt¹. Authorities may share activity data with identifying details removed, including registration numbers, listing URLs and the unit details declared at registration, with authorities drafting rules on short-term rentals and with people carrying out scientific research or analysis or developing new business models. Rule-drafting authorities may also receive the declared unit details, subject to data protection safeguards (Article 12(3))¹.

The regulation leaves EU and national law on taxation, customs, criminal offences and official statistics unaffected (Article 2(2) and recital 5)¹.

The link to Eurostat statistics

Each member state must designate a national body that sends every month, for each unit, the activity data, the registration number, the municipality where the unit is located and its maximum number of bed places to national, and where relevant regional, statistical offices, and makes the data available to Eurostat for compiling statistics (Article 12(4))¹.

The Commission’s EU Construction Platform said on 8 June 2026 that booking data will flow monthly to public authorities through a Single Digital Entry Point and feed into Eurostat tourism statistics¹³.

Eurostat’s published figures cover stays booked through Airbnb, Booking or Expedia. Its release of 1 April 2026 reported 951.6 million nights in short-stay accommodation booked online in 2025, up 11.4% compared with 2024 and 32.4% from 2023, and 172.3 million nights in the fourth quarter of 2025⁵.

What changes for counting supply

The regulation’s first recital names the problem it addresses: a lack of reliable information on short-term rentals, including who the host is, where the service is offered and for how long¹. For supply figures, three provisions matter¹:

• A unit identifier. The registration number is a unique identifier for a unit in a member state. The recitals say it should let data shared by platforms be properly attributed to hosts and units, and a unit may be subject to only one registration procedure.
• A public registry. Registration numbers must be listed in a public and easily accessible registry.
• A geographic key. The monthly feed to statistical offices is unit by unit and names the municipality of each unit, defined as a local administrative unit, with its maximum number of bed places.

With those three, statistical offices receive unit-level inputs, each tied to a municipality, for official counts of units, bed places, nights and guests, built from data the law requires hosts and platforms to supply¹. The regulation does not say which tables national offices or Eurostat must publish, or when¹.

The counts will have limits. Data flows only for units in areas where authorities run a registration procedure and have requested data, and activity data come from platforms, so nights a host sells directly are not in the feed¹. Coverage also depends on how many member states take part. Ireland’s government said in June 2026 that 22 member states were opting into the regulation⁹.

Where member states stand in 2026

Whether a country registers units and requests data is its own choice, and official national sources show schemes at different stages in 2026¹.

• Ireland. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment said on 19 June 2026 that Ireland is among 22 EU member states opting into the regulation, most of which are expected to implement the new rules fully by 2027. It said Ireland will complete full implementation by 31 December 2026, with Fáilte Ireland opening the register on December 1⁹.
• Spain. Royal Decree 1312/2024 of 23 December regulates a national registration procedure, the Registro Único de Arrendamientos, and sets up a Ventanilla Única Digital de Arrendamientos, which the decree links to the obligations in Regulation (EU) 2024/1028. Its provisions took effect on 1 July 2025. In judgments of 19 May, 21 May and 1 June 2026, Spain’s Supreme Court declared null, among other provisions, articles 5 and 8 to 10, which cover landlords’ obligations, the register, the registration procedure and the verification of numbers, according to the Official State Gazette¹⁰.
• France. The government’s public-service site said on 27 July 2026 that a national online registration service, which will issue a registration number that must appear on the rental listing, is planned for the fourth quarter of 2026. The page presents it as part of France’s rental rules and does not refer to the EU regulation¹⁴.

Common questions

Sources

1. European Parliament and Council of the European Union, PE-CONS 77/23: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on data collection and sharing relating to short-term accommodation rental services and amending Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 (text as signed) (2024-03-06). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
2. European Parliament, Legislative Observatory, Procedure file 2022/0358(COD): Data collection and sharing relating to short-term accommodation rental services. Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
3. European Parliament, Legislative Observatory, Summary of the final act: Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 on data collection and sharing relating to short-term accommodation rental services. Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
4. European Commission, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, New rules bring increased transparency to the short-term rentals sector (2026-05-20). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
5. Eurostat, Tourism nights booked via platforms hit nearly 1 billion (2026-04-01). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
6. Official Journal of the European Union (Spanish edition, as reproduced by the Boletín Oficial del Estado), Corrección de errores del Reglamento (UE) 2024/1028, Diario Oficial de la Unión Europea, serie L, 2026/90796 (2026-09-22). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
7. European Commission, Commission acts to promote transparency in the short-term rental sector to the benefit of all players (IP/22/6493) (2022-11-07). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
8. European Commission, Questions and Answers: New Rules on Short-term Accommodation Rentals (QANDA/22/6494) (2022-11-07). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
9. Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (Ireland), Minister Burke welcomes government approval for National Planning Statement on short-term letting (2026-06-19). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
10. Boletín Oficial del Estado (Spain), Real Decreto 1312/2024, de 23 de diciembre, por el que se regula el procedimiento de Registro Único de Arrendamientos (BOE-A-2024-26931), with its record of later Supreme Court judgments (2024-12-24). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
11. European Commission, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Commission welcomes agreement on new short-term rentals rules to increase transparency in the sector (2023-11-16). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
12. European Parliament, Texts adopted: Data collection and sharing relating to short-term accommodation rental services, P9_TA(2024)0112 (2024-02-29). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
13. EU Construction Platform (European Commission, Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs), Short-term rentals: EU transparency rules now in force (2026-06-08). Primary source, read 2026-10-08.
14. Service-Public.gouv.fr (French government), Mettre son logement en location : les règles évoluent en 2026 (2026-07-27). Primary source, read 2026-10-09.