Airbnb officially bans parties across its listings globally

Vacation rental company Airbnb has put a permanent ban on all parties and events across its listings globally. This comes nearly two years after it temporarily banned all parties and events at Airbnb listings and put a cap on occupancy at 16 owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. In August 2020, Airbnb announced a temporary ban on all parties and events in listings globally — which at the time was in effect "until further notice."

The temporary ban has proved effective, and we are officially codifying the ban as our policy, Airbnb says.

"At Airbnb, we believe the neighborhoods and communities in which we operate are as important as the Hosts and guests who use our service," it says.

The company began tightening its rules to prohibit parties that had developed into neighborhood nuisances in late 2019. It also launched its Neighborhood Support Line in a number of jurisdictions as a direct line for neighbours to communicate any concerns to Airbnb.

"When the pandemic hit, as many bars and clubs closed or restricted their occupancy, we began to see some people taking partying behavior to rented homes, including through Airbnb. This was concerning to us due to both the disruptive nature of unauthorized parties and the risk of such gatherings spreading the virus. As such, we announced the party ban to our community as being in the best interest of public health," it adds.

Over time, the party ban has developed into a bedrock community policy to support Airbnb hosts and their neighbours, the company says.

This move has been working, Airbnb says. "We believe there is a direct correlation between our implementation of the policy in August 2020 and a 44% year-over-year drop in the rate of party reports. The ban has been well received by our Host community and we’ve received positive feedback from community leaders and elected officials. As we build on this momentum, we believe the time is right to codify this policy," it adds.

As part of the ban, disruptive parties and events will continue to be prohibited, including open-invite gatherings. "Party house" properties will continue to be strictly prohibited as well.

The company also removed its 16-person occupancy cap, which was announced during the Covid-19 pandemic. "As part of the updated policy, and based on feedback from a number of Hosts who have listings that can house above 16 people comfortably, we will remove this cap," the holiday rental startup says.

"Our recent Summer Release introduced categories, which highlight several types of larger homes that, by definition, are capable of comfortably and safely housing more than 16 people — from castles in Europe to vineyards in the US to large beachfront villas in the Caribbean. Amazing properties like these thrive on hosting multi-generational family trips and larger groups, and removing this cap is meant to allow those Hosts to responsibly utilize the space in their homes while still complying with our ban on disruptive parties," Airbnb says.