A short-term rental is classified as the rental of a residential dwelling unit, apartment building, or any unit that is rented in whole or in part on a short-term basis for a period of fewer than 3 months.

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It is often referred to as Vacation Rentals, Airbnb, etc.

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Landlords of short-term rental accommodations are popularly referred to as hosts.

The maximum length of stay in Germany is about 3 months. Any rental that is more than 90 days is not considered or treated as a short-term rental. Some jurisdiction has a maximum length of stay of fewer than 90 days such as Munich, where a short-term rental is only permitted for only up to a total of eight weeks a year during the vacation or business trip of the owner of the apartment.

Germany has a national law that requires hosts to collect and maintain information about any guest who checks into their accommodation by buying reporting forms online or maintaining a personal guest register or form that contains only the data required for German reporting obligations and complies with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for every guest for 3 years.

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The European Court of Justice (ECJ) and German Law empower municipalities to prohibit and regulate the short-term rental of regular rental apartments via platforms such as Airbnb in order to fight against a lack of housing.

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Therefore, it is advisable to check your cities and other local jurisdictions to know how short-term rental regulations affect your property. You can also subscribe to the lodge compliance premium package to know the rules that affect your personal property.

There is no national permit, license, or registration for short-term rental owners in Germany, instead, you may be required to apply for permits at other levels of government and register for licenses such as building permits, operating permits, repurposing permits (change of use permit), etc., at your city.

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Berlin requires short-term rental owners to obtain a permit and provide a clearly visible registration number on advertisements and online portals. Offenders may be fined up to 250,000 euros for non-compliance.

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North Rhine-Westphalia requires hosts to obtain a housing identification number from the municipality and provide the identification number clearly on advertisements and online platforms such as Airbnb.

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It is therefore vital to check with both state and city for the necessary registrations. Subscribe to a lodge compliance premium package to access the information on the laws and regulations that applies to your particular short-term rental property in Germany.

There is no national short-term rental associations in Germany.