Czech housing and short-term rental regulation

The Czech government has initiated legislative efforts to address housing stability and the impact of short-term rentals. A draft amendment to the civil code proposed by the Pirate Party’s Young Government seeks to restrict ‘lease chaining’ by limiting how many times a landlord can sign successive contracts shorter than three years with the same tenant. Additionally, the Ministry of Regional Development is developing a package to regulate platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com, which includes mandatory registration in the eTourist database and allowing municipalities to set limits on rental days and square footage.

In Prague, these issues have become central to the local housing crisis and mayoral debates. Data indicates that short-term rentals account for approximately 1.1 percent of the city’s total housing stock, with nearly 80 percent of those units managed by multihostellers. Local political discussions have focused on setting limits for entire apartment rentals and improving enforcement of building codes. In the Prague 1 district, a referendum showed 72.26 percent support for restricting short-term rentals in residential buildings, as officials seek to prevent the displacement of long-term residents and manage overtourism.