Airbnb's November 2026 policy doesn't just ban certain checkout chores — it reorganizes where listing content lives and when it becomes binding. The official Help Center now draws a structural line between house rules and host requests, and that line determines whether something a host wrote actually counts.
Guests need the distinction to know which demands they can push back on. Hosts need it because content in the wrong bucket — or disclosed at the wrong time — is unenforceable under the new policy. This page maps the two categories, explains why post-booking additions are invalid, and gives both sides a practical self-check.
House rules: the seven standard fields
Under the new policy, house rules are the binding terms of the stay, and Airbnb now expects them to be expressed through seven standard fields (official Help Center):
- Overnight guest limits — how many people may stay overnight.
- Quiet hours — when noise must be kept down.
- Pets — whether pets are allowed, and under what conditions.
- Events — whether parties or events are permitted.
- Smoking and vaping — the property's smoking policy.
- Commercial photography — whether the space may be used for shoots or filming.
- Lock up at checkout — securing the property when leaving.
These are the categories Airbnb's listing editor provides. The significance of the fixed set is that it replaces free-text rule-writing as the normal way to set house rules. A host who wants to set quiet hours uses the quiet-hours field; a host who wants to ban parties uses the events field. What the seven fields conspicuously do not include is any field for checkout chores — because checkout chores, to the extent they were ever "rules," now live under requests, and the banned ones live nowhere at all.
House rules share one critical property: they must be disclosed in the listing's designated area at the time of booking (official disclosure rule, via inc.com quoting an Airbnb spokesperson). A house rule the guest never saw before paying is not a house rule — it's a surprise, and the policy was written to eliminate surprises. Airbnb's spokesperson framed the whole policy change around this idea: guests should face "no surprises" (official spokesperson statement).
Host requests: two time buckets
Host requests are the softer category — things the host asks of the guest rather than binding terms. The official editor divides them into two buckets (official Help Center article 472, verified live):
- During the stay — requests that apply while the guest is in residence (for example, the allowed request to separate trash and recycling into indoor bins).
- Before checkout — requests that apply at departure (for example, the allowed requests to leave dishes in the sink, gather used towels, and lock up at checkout).
The four requests Airbnb explicitly still allows map cleanly onto these buckets (official Help Center):
| Allowed request | Bucket |
|---|---|
| Leave dishes in the sink (not washed and put away) | Before checkout |
| Gather used towels | Before checkout |
| Separate trash and recycling into indoor bins | During the stay |
| Lock up at checkout | Before checkout (also a house-rules field) |
Note that "lock up at checkout" appears in both categories — it's one of the seven standard house-rules fields and a permitted checkout request. That's not a contradiction; it's a belt-and-suspenders placement for a security item Airbnb considers non-negotiable.
The mirror image is the banned list. The four prohibited chores — strip beds, wash and put away dishes, start laundry, take trash offsite (official Help Center) — belong in neither bucket. They are not house rules (no field covers them) and they are not valid requests (the policy bans them). A host who keeps them anywhere in the listing, in any bucket, is non-compliant for post-cutoff bookings.
Why the distinction matters: enforceability
Here's the practical consequence of the two-category system. Airbnb's enforcement framework — warning, notice on the listing, search demotion, further enforcement, all under the official "could include" language — attaches to violations of the policy. And the policy is now written in terms of these categories. That means:
- A banned chore listed as a "house rule" is a violation (it's a prohibited requirement regardless of label).
- A banned chore listed as a "request" is equally a violation (the ban covers requests too — the whole point is that hosts were requesting these chores).
- An allowed request disclosed in the wrong place or at the wrong time may be unenforceable even though its content is fine — which brings us to the disclosure rule.
The label a host puts on a chore doesn't save it. What matters is whether the underlying ask is on the banned list, and whether everything the host asks was disclosed properly before booking.
Why post-booking additions are invalid
This is the rule that will generate the most disputes, so it deserves a full section. The official disclosure rule states: all house rules and requests must be disclosed in the designated listing area at the time of booking; nothing may be added afterward — not by message, not by a house manual left on the counter, not by a sign taped inside the front door, not verbally at check-in (official, via inc.com quoting an Airbnb spokesperson).
The logic is the "no surprises" principle in action. A guest books — and pays — based on the listing as presented. Anything introduced after that moment changes the deal the guest agreed to. Under the new policy, that changed deal is simply invalid: the guest is not bound by it, and the host has violated the disclosure rule by imposing it.
Concretely, these are all invalid for post-cutoff bookings:
- A checkout chore list sent by message after booking confirmation.
- A laminated "checkout instructions" card in the home that goes beyond what was in the listing.
- A house manual (physical or digital) containing rules not shown pre-booking.
- Verbal instructions at check-in adding chores the listing didn't mention.
- A "reminder" text on checkout morning introducing tasks for the first time.
Screenshots are your contract. For guests: save the listing's house rules and requests as shown before you book — that snapshot is the complete set of what the host may hold you to. For hosts: that same snapshot is the complete set of what you may enforce. Anything outside it is unenforceable by rule, not just by goodwill.
This is also why the official editor path matters: desktop Listings → Listing editor → House rules and requests → Add/Save (official Help Center article 472). Content entered through this path is, by construction, in the designated area and visible pre-booking. Content anywhere else is not.
Guest self-check: rule or request, and does it bind me?
If a host asks you to do something and you're unsure where it stands, run this sequence:
- Was it in the listing before I booked? If no — disclosed only by message, manual, sign, or voice after booking — it does not bind you, whether it's labeled a rule or a request (official disclosure rule). You can decline, and you can report the listing.
- Is it one of the four banned chores? Strip beds, wash and put away dishes, start laundry, take trash offsite — if yes, it does not bind you even if it was in the listing, for bookings on or after November 20, 2026 (official Help Center). Report it.
- Is it one of the seven standard house-rules fields? If yes and it was disclosed pre-booking, it's a binding house rule (guest limits, quiet hours, pets, events, smoking-vaping, commercial photography, lock up).
- Is it one of the four allowed requests? Dishes in the sink, gather used towels, separate trash/recycling into indoor bins, lock up at checkout — if yes and disclosed pre-booking in the requests area, it's a valid request (official Help Center).
- Is it something else entirely? A request that is neither banned nor on the allowed list, disclosed pre-booking — this is the gray zone. The policy's allowed-request examples are illustrative of what is reasonable, not necessarily exhaustive, but anything resembling the banned chores in substance is suspect. When in doubt, the "no surprises" principle and the disclosure rule are your backstops.
Host migration map: moving old rules into the new structure
Hosts with pre-policy listings typically have a free-text block of rules and chore lists. Here's how to map each common item into the new structure (all categorizations per the official Help Center):
| Old listing text | New home | Action |
|---|---|---|
| "Strip the beds before checkout" | Nowhere | Delete — banned chore |
| "Wash and put away all dishes" | Nowhere | Delete — banned chore. Replace with "leave dishes in the sink" (Before checkout requests) if desired |
| "Start a load of laundry" | Nowhere | Delete — banned chore |
| "Take trash to the dumpster / offsite" | Nowhere | Delete — banned chore. Replace with "separate trash and recycling into indoor bins" (During the stay requests) if desired |
| "No parties" | House rules → Events field | Move into the standard field |
| "Quiet after 10pm" | House rules → Quiet hours field | Move into the standard field |
| "No smoking" | House rules → Smoking-vaping field | Move into the standard field |
| "No pets" | House rules → Pets field | Move into the standard field |
| "Max 6 guests overnight" | House rules → Overnight guest limits field | Move into the standard field |
| "No photoshoots" | House rules → Commercial photography field | Move into the standard field |
| "Lock the door when you leave" | House rules → Lock up field, and/or Before checkout requests | Move into the standard field |
| "$X fine for unwashed dishes" | Nowhere | Delete — host-imposed fines banned (official); damages via AirCover |
| Chore list sent by message after booking | Nowhere | Delete — post-booking additions invalid (official disclosure rule) |
After migrating, verify the full checklist for your market: the policy is global (third-party confirmation), but US hosts in particular should check PMS/channel-manager sync so the source of truth is fixed, not just the Airbnb listing surface — see host-compliance-checklist.html.
Migrate, don't just delete. The hosts who come out ahead will replace every deleted chore with either an allowed request (dishes in the sink, towels gathered) or a priced-in cleaning fee. Deletion without replacement leaves turnover gaps; replacement keeps the operation running inside the new rules.
FAQ
What's the actual difference between a house rule and a host request?
House rules are the binding terms of the stay, now structured into seven standard fields (guest limits, quiet hours, pets, events, smoking-vaping, commercial photography, lock up at checkout). Host requests are asks filed under "During the stay" or "Before checkout" in the listing editor (official Help Center article 472). Both must be disclosed in the listing before booking; neither may be added afterward.
Can a host message me extra checkout tasks after I book?
No. The disclosure rule requires all house rules and requests to be in the designated listing area at booking time; additions via message, house manual, in-home signage, or verbally are invalid (official, via inc.com quoting an Airbnb spokesperson). You are not bound by them.
The listing says "please strip the beds" under requests. Is that allowed?
No. Stripping beds is one of the four banned chores (official Help Center). The ban covers requests as well as rules — relabeling a banned chore as a "request" does not make it compliant for bookings on or after November 20, 2026.
Is "lock up at checkout" a rule or a request?
Both. It is one of the seven standard house-rules fields and also one of the four explicitly allowed checkout requests (official Help Center). Either placement is fine as long as it was disclosed before booking.
Do these categories apply outside the US?
Yes. The policy is global (third-party confirmation), and the house-rules/requests structure comes from Airbnb's official Help Center, which is not US-specific. The seven fields and two request buckets work the same way in every market.
What happens to hosts who keep the old free-text rules?
Free-text rules that contain banned chores or fines are violations for post-cutoff bookings, subject to the official "could include" enforcement ladder: warning, notice on the listing, search demotion, or further enforcement (official Help Center). See non-compliant-listings-after-nov-20.html for the full picture.
Related reading: What Hosts Can Still Ask · When Does the Policy Apply? · Host Compliance Checklist · Exceptions That Still Apply