Munich Mandates Registration for Holiday Rentals to Combat Housing Misuse
Munich, June 20, 2026 – The city of Munich is implementing a new mandatory registration system for individuals and entities renting out apartments via online platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com. This measure, approved by the city council’s Social Affairs Committee on Thursday, aims to curb the misuse of residential properties for short-term holiday rentals.
The new regulation is based on an amendment to the Bavarian Housing Misuse Act, which was updated in April. Under the new rules, landlords will be required to register their properties with the city’s Social Affairs Department. This registration process will necessitate the submission of the landlord’s name and the apartment’s address.
Registration Numbers and Data Transmission
Upon successful registration, the Social Affairs Department will issue a unique registration number for each holiday apartment. This number must then be prominently displayed in all online listings for the property. Furthermore, online rental platforms will be obligated to regularly transmit information regarding apartment rentals to the Federal Network Agency.
The city’s Social Affairs Department will subsequently be able to access this data. However, the technical infrastructure required for this data retrieval is still under development. The IT solution, which is being adopted from North Rhine-Westphalia, will not be ready by the planned effective date of the statute, August 1st. The Social Affairs Department has announced that it will provide timely updates on the exact start date for data access.
Defining Housing Misuse
According to the new statute, housing misuse is defined, for example, as the use of an apartment for accommodating guests for more than eight weeks within a calendar year. The full city council is expected to give its final approval to the statute in early July.
This initiative reflects Munich’s broader strategy to address the increasing challenge of housing shortages and rising rental costs by ensuring that residential properties are primarily used for their intended purpose: long-term living for residents.
Source: https://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/bayern/vermieter-muessen-ferienwohnungen-anmelden-muenchen-fuehrt-registrierungspflicht-ein-114493835
