⏱ 2 min read
Background
In Geneva, renting out an entire home has been limited to 90 days a year since 2019. Beyond that, it counts as a change of use, which is in principle prohibited. The Federal Supreme Court has upheld this limit. Yet abuses remain hard to detect, in the midst of a housing shortage.
The key points
On Thursday 5 November 2026, Geneva's Grand Council adopted an amended motion on short-term rentals. Independent MP Marc Saudan had called for a full census of listings, a supervisory authority and a public report within six months.
The majority refused to create a new body. Only the request for an evaluation report within twelve months remains. The Council of State intends to act through regulations, without amending the law.
Each rented property will receive an official number, displayed by the platforms. Once the 90-night threshold is reached, an alert will be sent to the Cantonal Office for Housing and Land Planning and to the trade police. The obligation to register foreign guests, currently limited to hotels, will be extended to all landlords.
Key figures
- 90 nights : annual cap on renting out an entire home
- More than 2,600 : tourist listings, according to the motion's authors quoted by Le Temps
- 2447 : listings counted in Geneva in September 2026 by the Inside Airbnb website, according to Léman Bleu
- Fewer than 300 : homes potentially withdrawn from the market, according to the Council of State in October 2025
- 1 : administrative procedure concluded since 2018, with a fine of 39,000 francs
- 65 votes to 31 : vote on the amended motion
What it means for businesses
- Booking platforms : they will have to display each home's official number.
- Landlords : all will have to register their foreign guests, like hotels.
- Hoteliers : they have long denounced unfair competition and a lack of checks.
Who says what
- Ana Roch (MCG MP): “Every home counts.”
- Diane Barbier-Mueller (PLR MP): she feared a new “bureaucratic monster”.
- Xavier Rey (President of the Geneva Hoteliers' Association): “We are facing a black hole.”
- Nicolas Walder (State Councillor in charge of the territory): a credit has already been voted to develop these tools.
What's next
- Council of State evaluation report expected by November 2027.
- The system's start date has not yet been set, according to Léman Bleu.
