Paying a cleaning fee on an Airbnb reservation doesn’t necessarily spare guests a list of chores before checkout. At some properties, guests were required to wash dishes, strip bed linens, start laundry, or take out the garbage, even though the booking already included a cleaning fee. The expectations have raised questions about where a guest’s responsibility to leave a home tidy ends and the host’s job of preparing it for the next reservation begins. Airbnb addressed the issue publicly in November 2022, advising hosts to keep checkout instructions reasonable and disclose them before people booked.
The company specifically named laundry, vacuuming, and stripping beds as work guests should not have to perform. Yet checkout requirements still varied by property, making house rules an important part of evaluating a rental alongside the nightly rate and additional fees. Airbnb has now introduced a formal policy to set clearer limits on those demands.
Which Airbnb Cleaning Tasks Are No Longer Allowed?
Airbnb’s new house rules policy applies to reservations booked on or after November 20, 2026. Under the new policy, hosts generally cannot require chores that take significant time or effort or that a cleaner would normally handle. That includes stripping beds, starting laundry, washing and putting away dishes, and carrying trash to an off-site disposal location.
The company still permits simpler requests. Hosts may ask departing guests to put used dishes in the sink, gather used towels, and separate trash from recycling in designated indoor bins. In its October 20 announcement, Airbnb advised hosts, “When adding a request, remember that most guests want to avoid unexpected chores.”
For properties with particular environmental or safety concerns, Airbnb will consider exceptions to these limits, including requests to secure trash in animal-proof containers in areas where bears are present. Local drought restrictions may also justify instructions limiting shower time. Airbnb will also prohibit hosts from imposing their own fines or penalties, restricting access to advertised amenities, such as air conditioning, or charging undisclosed fees for their use. Hosts may still ask guests to turn off the air conditioning when leaving.
What Happens To Cleaning Fees And House Rules?
Cleaning fees will remain part of Airbnb bookings despite the restrictions on checkout chores, and hosts may still charge a flat fee for standard cleaning between reservations. Airbnb’s fee guidance, however, says hosts must not penalize guests for skipping specific checkout tasks. Guests remain responsible for leaving rentals without excessive dirt or damage, while Airbnb’s guest standards require trash to go into designated receptacles and allow reimbursement requests for unexpected cleaning or property damage. Hosts may also continue reviewing guests based on cleanliness.
To make checkout expectations clear before a reservation is confirmed, hosts must disclose their rules and requests in a designated section of the listing. They cannot add requirements later through messages, signs inside the property, or other sections of the listing. Airbnb now groups standard house rules into seven categories, covering quiet hours, pets, smoking, events, overnight guests, commercial photography, and locking up at checkout. The information also appears in the Trips tab and reservation reminders.
Requirements for separate contracts will also become more restrictive, with Airbnb allowing them only in limited circumstances, including legal or homeowners association requirements, stays of 28 nights or longer, and certain other exceptions. The company says it will flag noncompliant requests for hosts to correct and provide an appeals process. Repeated violations may result in warnings, notices on listings, or reduced visibility in search results.
