Airbnb in Cape Town: do the new rules apply to you?

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October 17, 2026

Airbnb in Cape Town: do the new rules apply to you?

The City is changing how it treats short-term rentals in two separate ways: a draft by-law that would make every listing register, and a rates policy that can move a home onto commercial rates from July 2027. We explain who is affected and how the 50% test works.

Check my property → How the 50% test works

Anyone who lets out a flat or a house in Cape Town on Airbnb, Booking.com or LekkeSlaap has two things to keep an eye on this year, and they are often reported as if they were one.

The first is the draft Short-Term Letting By-law, which the City published for comment in August. Comments closed on 5 October. If the council adopts it, no property could be listed without a City registration number, the number would have to appear on every listing, and owners, operators and the booking platforms would have to share availability data with the City. The by-law has not been promulgated, so nobody needs to register or take a listing down yet.

The second is already in force on paper. The City's 2026/27 rates policy, adopted on 29 June, treats a home as commercial accommodation if it is available for short-term letting for more than half of its annual room nights. Properties that cross the line can be moved onto commercial rates, which are charged on the same basis as hotels and guesthouses, from 1 July 2027. The City says it will use data from the registration system to decide which properties qualify, which is why the two rules matter together.

01 · Does it apply?

Does it apply to you?

Answer up to four questions about the property you let. You can go back and change an answer.

Q1 of 4

Do you let the property, or part of it, through a booking platform such as Airbnb, Booking.com or LekkeSlaap?

The 50% test

How the 50% test works

The City counts room nights: the number of bedrooms in the property multiplied by 365. A two-bedroom flat has 730 room nights a year. If more than 365 of them are open for booking, which for the whole flat means 183 nights or more, the flat is over 50%.

Two details are easy to miss. The test is about availability, not bookings: a flat whose calendar is open all year is at 100% whether it is booked for 40 nights or 300. And it is measured per bedroom: a three-bedroom house where the owner lets one room all year is at 365 of 1 095 room nights, about 33%, and stays residential.

Bedrooms in the property

Bedrooms you list

Nights open for booking in a year (0 to 365)

100%of room nights open

730 of 730 room nights

That is over the 50% line. Once the by-law is in force the property would need a registration number, and from 1 July 2027 the municipal valuer can move it onto commercial rates.

Share = bedrooms you list × nights open ÷ (bedrooms in the property × 365)

Whole two-bedroom flat, open all year
730 of 730 room nights
100%
Over the line
Whole two-bedroom flat, open six months
365 of 730 room nights
50%
Not over
Three-bedroom house, one room open all year
365 of 1 095 room nights
33%
Not over

02 · Two separate rules

A by-law and a rates policy: two separate rules

The by-law decides whether a listing needs a registration number. The rates policy decides whether a home is rated as a home or on the same basis as hotels and guesthouses. The City plans to use registration data for the rates test, which is why the two are easily confused.

Draft · RegistrationREG

Short-Term Letting By-law

"Is this listing registered?"

Status: Draft; comments closed 5 Oct 2026; not yet in force
Who: Every property listed on a short-let platform
What changes: Registration number on each listing; availability data shared with the City; penalties for not complying

Where

capetown.gov.za/haveyoursay →

Adopted · Rates50%

2026/27 rates policy

"Is this home being used as commercial accommodation?"

Status: Adopted 29 June 2026
Who: Homes available for short-term letting on more than 50% of annual room nights
What changes: Commercial rates instead of residential, from 1 July 2027

Where

City rates policy 2026/27

Registering does not put you on commercial rates, and staying under 50% does not excuse you from registering.

03 · Common mistakes

Five common misunderstandings

Most of the confusion comes from mixing up the two rules, or from misreading how the 50% test counts nights.

"I only got 40 bookings, so I'm not commercial."

IN FACTThe test counts nights the property is available, not nights it is booked. A calendar left open all year "just in case" counts in full.

"I have to register now."

IN FACTNot yet. The by-law is still a draft and the City says listings do not need a number until it is promulgated.

"Renting out my spare room makes my whole house commercial."

IN FACTThe test is per bedroom. One room open all year in a three-bedroom house is about a third of the room nights.

"My rates go up this year."

IN FACTThe rates policy is adopted, but the change of rating category applies from 1 July 2027.

"This is only about Airbnb."

IN FACTIt covers any booking platform, including Booking.com and LekkeSlaap.

04 · The numbers

The numbers

How many listings appear to be over the line, what commercial rates cost, and how a short let compares with a long let.

How many listings are over the line?

10 789of 16 366 whole homes with a review in the past year (66%)

10 789 with more than 183 open nights16 366 in all

In Inside Airbnb's September 2026 scrape of Cape Town there were 27 760 listings, 23 458 of them whole homes. Of the 16 366 whole homes that had at least one review in the past year, 10 789 (66%) still had more than 183 open nights on their calendar for the next 12 months.

Nights already booked do not show as open in that data, so the real share above the threshold is likely higher.

Source: Inside Airbnb, CC BY 4.0; our analysis.

What commercial rates cost

Residential ratesR1 274 a month
Commercial ratesR3 945 a month

The City's own rates calculator example, quoted by GroundUp, is an inner-city property valued at R2.8 million: R1 274 a month on residential rates and R3 945 a month on commercial, a little over three times as much.

Source: GroundUp, quoting the City's rates calculator.

Short let against long let, roughly

Short let, before costsR27 700
Short let, after costsR15 200
Long letR9 000 to R12 500

A two-bedroom flat at R1 400 a night and 65% occupancy brings in about R27 700 a month. If cleaning, linen, platform commission, utilities, insurance and empty nights take 45%, about R15 200 is left. A long let of the same flat might bring R9 000 to R12 500 (the Western Cape average rent was R12 561 in PayProp's Q2 2026 index). Commercial rates narrow that gap but, at these assumptions, do not close it.

Illustrative: the inputs are assumptions, not measured figures.

Why long-let owners are not complaining

Western Cape rents, year on year+9.7%
National rents, year on year+5.2%

PayProp's Q2 2026 index put Western Cape rents up 9.7% year on year, the fastest of any province, against 5.2% nationally, and only 12.3% of Western Cape tenants were in arrears, the lowest share PayProp has recorded for any province. Our rental market page follows Cape Town rents in more detail.

Source: PayProp Rental Index, Q2 2026.

05 · Questions

Frequently asked questions

When can I comment?

The comment period closed on 5 October 2026. The City will consider the comments before the by-law goes to council.

What happens if I don't register once it is law?

The draft includes penalties, and not complying could become a criminal offence. The final wording will depend on the adopted by-law.

Does this apply to guesthouses and B&Bs?

They already pay commercial rates. The change is aimed at ordinary homes run as full-time short lets.

Will this free up homes for long-term renters?

The City's 2025 inner-city spatial framework estimates that about 70% of residential units in the city centre are used for short-term accommodation. A property commentator quoted by EWN doubts the new rules will make much difference to the wider housing shortage.

Sources

City of Cape Town: Have your sayDraft Short-Term Letting By-law and 2026/27 rates policy
GroundUp, 28 Sep 2026The draft by-law and the City's rates calculator example
EWN, 5 Oct 2026Commercial rates for short-let homes and a property commentator's view on housing
Capetowner, 20 Apr 2026How the rates policy measures availability over 365 days
PayProp Rental Index Q2 2026Western Cape and national rent growth, average rent, arrears
Inside Airbnb, Cape Town scrape 23 Sep 2026CC BY 4.0; listing counts and open nights are our analysis
Photo: Rainbow over Sea PointDietmar Rabich, 2024, CC BY-SA 4.0

Source: City of Cape Town, GroundUp, EWN, PayProp, Inside Airbnb · Last refreshed 17 October 2026

This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed and verified by humans.

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