Airbnb has permanently banned all parties from its holiday rentals, extending a set of measures that were put in place to stop large gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here's what you need to know before making your next booking.
What are the new rules?
Well, most of the rules aren't new — they've actually been in place since August 2020.
Back then, Airbnb said it was banning "all parties and events at Airbnb listings" until further notice.
It also capped the number of guests to 16, which was mostly due to "COVID-19 concerns around large gatherings prior to the introduction of vaccines".
And Airbnb banned so-called "party houses" back in 2019.
What's new is that the ban on parties has been made permanent.
However, Airbnb said it would remove the occupancy cap after receiving feedback from hosts of large venues such as castles and vineyards that can "comfortably and safely" house more than 16 people.
"Amazing properties like these thrive on hosting multi-generational family trips and larger groups, and removing this cap is meant to allow those hosts to responsibly utilise the space in their homes while still complying with our ban on disruptive parties," the company said.
That'll take effect "in the coming months".
What counts as a 'party'?
We asked Airbnb for a clear definition of what it considers to be a party.
Instead, an Airbnb spokesperson offered the following:
"A diverse array of signals are used to determine violations of our party ban.
"These include factors like whether there has been an open-invite, excessive noise, excessive trash, excessive visitors, parking that impacts neighbours, and more."
As of Friday afternoon, the company's Party and Event Policy webpage featured a note saying "all parties and events" had been banned since August 2020.
While its website also said "gatherings of more than 16 people" and "all disruptive parties and events" were prohibited, the spokesperson said Airbnb's Party and Event Policy page would be updated shortly.
What happens if I'm caught holding a party?
Your Airbnb account could be suspended or you could face "full removal" from the platform.
Can hosts allow parties to go ahead?
For most hosts, no.
Here's what Airbnb's Party and Event policy website said on that:
Hosts should not attract disruptive parties and events in their home by advertising their space as party- or event-friendly.
Similarly, hosts should not advertise their space for gatherings larger than 16 people.
If hosts are found to be encouraging large, disruptive gatherings in their property descriptions, their accounts will be suspended until they change their listings.
They could have their account suspended for up to 30 days if they've encouraged parties and are the subject of a complaint.
In rare cases, the listing might be permanently removed from Airbnb if "the listing is intended only for the purposes of hosting parties or events (for example, party or event venues), or where a property has created a severe nuisance within a neighbourhood".
A different set of rules may apply to hosts of "specialty and traditional hospitality venues".
However, Airbnb said it was still considering what this would mean.
Why are they doing this?
The ban on "open-invite" parties and "party houses" came after a shooting at a rental in California.
And the ban on parties was put in place to stop people hosting big gatherings when pubs and nightclubs were closed during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Airbnb said this trend was concerning because of the impact these parties had on neighbours and the risk of COVID-19 spreading at these gatherings.
However, now Airbnb said those pandemic measures have become "a bedrock policy to support our hosts and their neighbours".
And it appears to be keeping the neighbours happy.
Airbnb said a 35 per cent year-on-year drop on party complaints since the August 2020 ban was implemented was in "direct correlation" with the policy.
