Chaos on the short-term rental market. Poland without regulations

On Wednesday, May 20, 2026, . EU Regulation 2024/1028 on the collection and disclosure of data on short-term rentals, known as the STR regulation, comes into force. Although the document is directly applicable in all EU countries, Poland has not yet completed work on the act that will implement it in practice.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that two separate draft national regulations are being processed in parallel. The lack of a single, coherent legislative path causes growing uncertainty among owners of apartments rented to tourists.

Two bills and legislative chaos

At the national level, work is underway on the government project UC135 prepared by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism and the parliamentary bill no. 2353 submitted by the Polska 2050 club. The first of them remains at the government stage, the second was referred to the work of parliamentary committees after the first reading.

The differences between the projects are important – they include, among others: scope of registration, sanctions and central registration system.

– In Poland, the situation around short-term rental has become exceptionally complicated. Not only are the implementing regulations regarding this regulation still being processed by the government, but the Sejm also has a very restrictive Poland 2050 project pending. Therefore, it certainly cannot be said today that the Polish registration and records system enters into force on May 20. There was such a plan, but the draft bill is not yet an act and until it goes through the full legislative path, culminating in the president’s signature and publication in the Journal of Laws, we cannot talk about new obligations, much less penalties – says Anton Bubiel, a housing market expert at SonarHome.pl.

Reservation platforms under the microscope

The STR regulation covers primarily booking platforms such as Airbnb and Booking. They are responsible for verifying registration numbers and transmitting data to public administration.

– Today, every reservation leaves a digital trace that can be compared with both fiscal and municipal data. After the new regulations come into force, this system will become even tighter, notes attorney Katarzyna Gabrysiak.

At the same time, there is already a reporting system in place under the DAC7 directive, which obliges platforms to provide transaction data. STR is to expand and automate this mechanism.

In practice this means that:

• rental data will be exchanged faster between institutions,

• platforms will gain greater responsibility for verifying advertisements,

• control over the rental market will become more detailed.

Fines up to PLN 50,000 zloty

Experts emphasize that despite the entry into force of the STR regulation, it does not mean the immediate implementation of full obligations for apartment owners in Poland. The lack of a national law that would specify sanctions and registration procedures is crucial.

However, both projects provide for high administrative fines – up to PLN 50,000 – including: for the lack of registration or identification number in the advertisement. At this stage, however, these are only legislative proposals.

– The sum of administrative, tax and possible exclusion risks from platforms is today incomparably greater than the cost of legally organizing the business – says attorney Katarzyna Gabrysiak.

What’s next for short-term rentals?

Although May 20 does not yet bring a complete change to the system, the direction of regulation is already clear – the short-term rental market is moving towards greater transparency and control.

Experts recommend that owners prepare for the new realities: organizing documentation, following platform messages and collecting evidence of registration and correspondence. In practice, these elements may determine the security of operations in the future.