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Hungary: Residents in Terézváros, the District VI of Budapest, have narrowly voted to ban short-term rentals in the district in a referendum.
In total, more than 6,000 people participated in the two-week referendum, with 54 per cent of those voting to ban short-term rentals in the neighbourhood. The turnout was 20.52 per cent, which despite being low, was significantly higher than other similar initiatives in Hungary, according to Tamás Soproni, the mayor of Terézváros.
The restrictions are due to come into effect from 1 January 2026, according to Soproni.
The referendum was first announced and positioned as “an interesting democratic experiment by the local council, driven by complaints from residents about the rise in property prices and rents, loud noise and rubbish being left in the streets.
While critical locals claim that short-term rentals are partly contributing to rising property prices in the Budapest district, it is believed that around seven per cent of units in Terézváros, or an estimated 2,200 properties, are currently being rented out on platforms like Airbnb. The neighbourhood is one of the most popular areas in Budapest for tourists as many theatres, shops, restaurants, bars and cafes, and the Hungarian State Opera, are located there.
Recent Eurostat figures, which tracked more than 719 million guest nights spent in the European Union booked via Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia Group and Tripadvisor last year – a 20 per cent increase on 2022 numbers, indicated that Budapest was the most popular city for short-term stays at 6.7 million guest nights.
Property website ingatlan.com suggested that house prices across the Hungarian capital city had tripled in the last nine years, while they had risen 7.8 per cent on average compared just to last August. Specifically in the District VI, the average price per square metre of premium quality properties is an estimated HUF 1.43 million / €3,630.
There are concerns that the ban could soon be replicated in other districts in Budapest, while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government are said to be considering the introduction of nationwide regulations on short-term rentals to address a housing shortage and soaring property prices.
Elsewhere in Europe, a referendum is due to be held in the Portuguese capital city of Lisbon that could impose more limits on holiday rentals, while in Barcelona, mayor Jaume Collboni is proposing to introduce a ban on all short-term rentals for tourists by late 2028.
