Comment on Cape Town's draft short-term letting by-law closes on 5 October
Residents and hosts have until 5 October to comment on a draft City by-law that would make short-term rentals register and could move many onto commercial property rates from July 2027.
The City of Cape Town's draft Short-Term Letting By-law is open for public comment until 5 October. Under the proposal, any home advertised on Airbnb, Booking.com, LekkeSlaap or similar sites would need City registration, and the listing would have to display its registration number.
The draft also sets a rating rule. If a property can be booked as a short-term rental on more than half the days in a year, which works out to roughly 183 nights or more, it would be classed as commercial and charged at commercial rates. Properties let out for less than half the year could stay on residential rates if they meet the City's requirements. Both GroundUp and IOL report that any change in rating category would apply from 1 July 2027, using data from the new registration system.
GroundUp gives the example of an inner-city property valued at R2.8 million, whose monthly rates would go from about R1,274 on the residential tariff to about R3,945 on the commercial tariff. It also reports that Cape Town has more than 27,000 short-term rentals listed on Airbnb.
Anyone who wants to have a say can submit comments through the City's website before the deadline.
Sources
Written by TheCapeTownHub in our own words from the reports below. Read the originals for the full story.
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