Short-term rentals are changing the face of city centers. A government bill aims to curb the gray market for short-term rentals, but the draft approved by the government does not give local authorities control over the market. The prime minister has announced a re-examination of the regulations, and in Gdańsk, residents are collecting signatures for a petition.
For those who had hoped for effective regulation of short-term rentals, the draft bill adopted by the government on July 14 is a major disappointment. This is because key provisions that would have given local governments and housing associations the tools to control the unchecked growth of daily rentals have been removed from the government’s proposal.
There’s a bill, but no revolution
A new law is now a necessity. And not only because the increasing number of apartments rented to tourists is contributing to the depopulation of city centers. Poland must regulate short-term rentals because EU law strictly requires us to create a digital database of accommodations and tighten market regulations.
The bill, adopted in July, aims to eliminate the so-called “gray market”—that is, activities conducted without registration or oversight. If the bill is passed by lawmakers, hospitality services will also include short-term apartment rentals—for example, for a few days—and landlords will be required to register their operations with the Central Register of Tourist Accommodation Facilities. Fines will be imposed for failure to register a property or for the illegal provision of lodging services, and in the event of repeated complaints, the apartment will be removed from the registry. Each property will be required to have rules and regulations specifying the terms of stay and guest safety. It will be mandatory to provide contact information for the owner or manager.
The problem is that, as work on the bill neared completion , provisions that would have allowed local governments to designate zones free of short-term rentals were removed. A provision stating that housing communities and cooperatives could decide whether to allow such rentals in their areas was also removed.
Sometimes, short-term rentals make life difficult for city residents
Image generated using AI
Short-Term Rental Act, draft bill
In recent days, however, an opportunity for change has emerged: Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused ministers of taking the path of least resistance, noting that the approved draft does not effectively protect tenants’ rights and does not provide local governments with the means to act. The proposals are therefore to be reconsidered by the Minister of Sport and Tourism and the Minister of Funds and Regional Policy. Time is running out, as the Sejm will take up the bill in September.
Cities such as Gdańsk, Kraków, and Sopot have been appealing to the government for years to resolve the issue. There were many ideas. Local governments wanted the ability to limit the number of overnight stays in rental units and called for a requirement that neighbors consent to such rentals. There were also proposals to require special signage to be displayed on the doors of rented properties.
Does the bill, in its current, scaled-back form, satisfy the authorities of cities overrun by tourists?
“A very important provision in the law is the ability to remove a property from the registry maintained by local governments in cases of legal violations or police intervention ,” Magdalena Czarzyńska-Jachim, mayor of Sopot, told A&B. — We must take the first step as soon as possible to eliminate the gray market, introduce mandatory registration under threat of financial penalties, and enforce mandatory regulations and fire safety requirements.
Sopot appeals: Local governments should decide on the solutions
She adds that the city has already spoken with the Minister of Tourism and Sports regarding the definition of what exactly constitutes a “violation” warranting removal from the registry.
It cannot be the case that the decision is entirely discretionary. We need clear and specific rules
— says the mayor of Sopot.
Magdalena Czarzyńska-Jachim also adds that different cities need different solutions, hence the call to expand local governments’ powers as much as possible.
It is local governments that should decide on the best solutions for their residents, but in order to make these decisions responsibly, we need to know the exact scale of short-term rentals, which is why the law must be enacted as soon as possible.
Tomasz Filipowicz, director of the Department of Civic Affairs at the Gdańsk City Hall, also believes that the priority right now should be the rapid adoption of solutions.
In particular, this involves creating a central, public registry of all facilities providing short-term accommodation services and requiring every facility to register, regardless of its size. As well as the implementation of penalties for operating without registration and consequences for conducting business in a manner that disturbs the peace and comfort of residents
— the official notes.
In Gdańsk, calls are being made for stricter regulations
The fact that the problem is urgent is also evidenced by a petition regarding short-term rentals, initiated by Gdańsk residents.
“The point is not to completely eliminate tourism from the city, but to find a balance between tourism and residential functions ,” reads the petition initiated by the ‘I Love Gdańsk’ Association and the ‘Social Gdańsk’ Association — City for People. — The former cannot “siphon off” housing from the market for people who want to live in our city permanently on the scale that is currently happening. The proposed solutions are not an experiment. In many European countries, there are not only registries of properties designated for short-term rentals—which enable market analysis, fair taxation, and contact between residents and owners—but also regulations that make the operation of such businesses contingent upon the consent of the homeowners’ association.
The petitioners are calling on city officials to urge the central government to reinstate two key provisions that were removed from the draft: provisions allowing for the designationof “short-term rental-free zones” and enabling housing communities and cooperatives to decide whether short-term rentals may be conducted within their premises.
Meanwhile, according to Eurostat data, the short-term rental market continues to break records. In 2025, a record 951.6 million overnight stays were booked in the European Union through the major short-term rental platforms (Airbnb, Booking.com, and Expedia). In Poland alone, this figure reached 44.39 million overnight stays, representing an increase of nearly 14 percent compared to the previous year.
