Airbnb letter: Tighter short-term rental rules serve to ease Budapest housing problem, says ministry

The National Economy Ministry responded to “misleading” points made in an open letter from Airbnb to the head of the portfolio, Márton Nagy, in a statement issued on Thursday.

The government recently announced an increase in the annual room tax on short-term rentals in the capital from HUF 38,400 to HUF 150,000 and rolled out a two-year moratorium on the registration of new Airbnb-type accommodations from the start of 2025 in the interests of “managing the housing crisis” in Budapest, the ministry noted. (Related: Airbnb pens open letter to Hungarian economy minister)

Making a case for the measures, the ministry said the number of short-term rentals in the capital had climbed by 80pc between 2020 and 2024 and now stood close to 26,000. Those flats account for over 40pc of the guest nights registered in the capital, well over the 28pc average for capitals in the region, it added.

Parallel with the rise in homestays, rents have climbed over 40pc since the pandemic and now eat up as much as 50pc-60pc of occupants’ monthly incomes, the ministry said. Short-term rentals also “restrict the right to private life” of local residents, especially in the capital’s central districts, it added.