Poland's cabinet okays stripped-back short-term rental bill, cutting local Airbnb bans and triggering coalition rift

The bill that passed

Poland's cabinet adopted a draft law on short-term rental on 15 July, transposing EU Regulation 2024/1028, which requires member states to set up a central register of short-stay accommodation. The regulation has been binding since 20 May 2026, putting Poland two months behind schedule. The Ministry of Sport and Tourism, led by Jakub Rutnicki, decided to push ahead with only the non-controversial core of the bill and leave more ambitious provisions for later work. The adopted text creates a central register, classifies rentals of under 30 days as a hotel service, and imposes fines of up to 50,000 PLN for operating outside the system. Neighbours would be entitled to request inspections of suspected illegal businesses.

Kończymy z chaosem na rynku najmu krótkoterminowego. Rada Ministrów przyjęła projekt ustawy, który wprowadza jasne zasady wynajmu. Powstanie centralny rejestr, a samorządy zyskają narzędzia do reagowania tam, gdzie najem na doby utrudnia życie mieszkańcom.

What was removed

The original draft gave municipalities the right to designate zones where short-term rental could be restricted or banned entirely. That provision was deleted from the version approved by the Council of Ministers. The Union of Polish Metropolises, through its coordinator Michał Cyrankiewicz-Gortyński, said the register will help diagnose the scale of the issue but gives no tools to act in places where high concentrations of short-term lets hurt housing availability and quality of life. Grzegorz Kubalski of the Association of Polish Counties called the idea of local no-rental zones deeply thought through and a tool against uncontrolled spread of daily rentals in tourist areas.

Projekt ustawy, który dzisiaj wyszedł z Rady Ministrów, daje zero praw samorządom w zakresie wyznaczania stref wolnych od Airbnb. Daje też zero możliwości mieszkańcom, żeby decydowali o tym, czy będą mieli za ścianą "patohotel", który często się przekształca w jeszcze gorszą instytucję.

Inter-ministry battle

The public consultation ran from 23 December 2025 to 13 January 2026 and involved 79 tourism-sector entities. The Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy, led by Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, insisted the law should grant municipal councils the power to establish no-rental zones immediately upon the law's entry into force, calling a proposed three-year transition period pushed by the sport ministry disproportionate. The funds ministry also wanted housing communities and cooperatives to be able to issue permits for short-term lets in their buildings. The sport ministry rejected that, arguing it would violate property rights under Article 31(3) of the constitution. The sport ministry also ignored comments from the Personal Data Protection Office. Pełczyńska-Nałęcz was the only cabinet member to submit a formal dissenting opinion on the bill.

Coalition clash

After the session, Pełczyńska-Nałęcz called the text the worst law ever to emerge from the government and announced that her Polska 2050 party would table amendments to restore the local no-rental zones and give residents a say. Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz of PSL retorted that suggestions of yielding to lobbyists were a lie serving a political narrative and that a desire to differentiate oneself in the coalition should not overshadow cooperation for the good of entrepreneurs and ordinary residents. In the Sejm corridors he went further, telling journalists that Pełczyńska-Nałęcz appeared more interested in being in the Razem party than in the governing coalition, a remark implying Polska 2050 could end up outside the government. Energy minister Miłosz Motyka told TVN24 that the adopted regulation implements the EU directive and gives municipalities mechanisms to block an individual from renting out a flat via Airbnb.

To najgorsza ustawa jaka wyszła z rządu. Zgłosimy jako Polska 2050 poprawki do tego projektu dające prawa samorządom do wprowadzania stref wolnych od airbnb. Oraz dające ludziom prawo do decydowania czy mają hotel/burdel za ścianą. Poprzyjmy je wspólnie.

What comes next

The bill moves to the Sejm, where Polska 2050's amendments will be debated. The central register requirement has been EU law since 20 May, and platforms such as Airbnb, Otodom and Booking will be folded into the tourism sector under a single identification-number system. The cabinet's internal conflict leaves open the question of whether the amendments will pass, and whether they will restore the local tools that municipalities and activists say are essential to protect housing stock and neighbourhood life in cities like Warsaw, where the Śródmieście district has been losing permanent residents at roughly 2% a year.