Lisbon, Dec. 12, 2025 (Lusa) - The Airbnb platform on Friday welcomed the new regulations on short-term rental accommodation in Lisbon, emphasising that the restrictions imposed on the activity in recent years have not reduced the difficulties in accessing affordable housing in the Portuguese capital.
In a statement, the online platform that connects people who want to rent out and travellers looking for accommodation said that, "six years after" various moratoriums on short-term rental accommodation, "Lisbon residents face even greater difficulties in finding affordable housing, with prices continuing to rise".
Airbnb therefore believes that the argument that "strict" restrictions on the sector "would help to curb the rise in housing costs" has been debunked.
The new regulation approved by Lisbon city council "will allow families to continue to share their homes, while creating new opportunities for hosts and local businesses in various parishes of the city", according to the platform.
On 27 November, the Lisbon city council approved the proposal to amend the Municipal Regulation on short-term rental accommodation (RMAL), presented by the PSD/CDS-PP/IL minority executive and made possible with the support of Chega.
The proposal establishes that the ratio between short-term rental accommodation and permanent housing should be reduced in areas of absolute containment to "equal to or greater than 10%" and in areas of relative containment to "equal to or greater than 5% and less than 10%".
In addition to reducing the ratios, the proposal provides for the "creation of a single absolute containment area at municipal level, whenever the district reaches a ratio equal to or greater than 10%".
The entire left voted against the proposal, describing it as a "serious setback". PS, BE, Livre and PCP argued that the absolute containment area at the district level should have a ratio equal to or greater than 5%, as was the case in the draft submitted for public consultation.
Quoted in the press release, Sara Rodríguez, head of Airbnb's campaigns for Spain and Portugal, points out that the approval of the new regulation "represents an important step towards restoring stability and confidence in the short-term rental accommodation sector in Lisbon".
The representative stresses that "short-term rental accommodation plays a key role in distributing the benefits of tourism throughout the city, supporting neighbourhoods and local economies".
Recalling that seven out of ten Airbnb hosts in Lisbon indicate that accommodation is not their main occupation and that they only advertise a single home on the platform, Airbnb believes that the change "will allow more families to benefit directly from the proceeds of tourism" and "will also contribute to boosting the local economy and tourism and offering visitors more affordable accommodation options".
Airbnb points out that "the Lisbon experience reflects what has happened in other cities, where the introduction of strict regulations for short-term rental accommodation has not solved the challenges of access to housing", citing the example of Edinburgh, Scotland, where "strict restrictions on short-term rental accommodation were relaxed by the local authority earlier this year, after a 22% drop in the number of short-term rental accommodations in four years failed to curb the sharp rise in housing prices, while driving away visitors."
In Barcelona, Spain, a moratorium on new licences has been in place since 2014, with Airbnb noting that "rents and house prices have risen to historic highs."
In New York, United States, the ban on short-term rental accommodation in force since 2023 "has not increased the availability or affordability of housing," the platform notes.
SBR/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
