Airbnb: Listing permits (licenses & compliance)
The Listing Permits feature allows you to manage license requirements from Airbnb directly from Hostaway’s dashboard.
Some countries/regions/cities require special permits to allow short-term rental for the property; Airbnb can reject a listing or enforce long-term bookings if the Property Manager doesn’t provide the necessary licenses & permits, and this feature allows you to manage the process of understanding the requirements and complying with them directly from Hostaway’s dashboard.
Where is this feature available?
The feature is available to all Hostaway customers connected to Airbnb. It will be triggered by the listing export/update and will only be visible if Airbnb requires additional license and permit information from the Property Manager.
Benefits and Limitations
Benefits
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Ability to export license and permit data from Hostaway to Airbnb
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Ability to see the license requirements that prevented the listing’s calendar sync with Airbnb
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Ability to see the link to the Airbnb article with details about the license requirements
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Ability to fill in required license information from Hostaway and re-sync listing content & calendar
Limitations
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If Airbnb requests multiple pieces of information, everything should be sent at the same time for Airbnb to review
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Once the license data is sent from Hostaway to Airbnb, it is not possible to edit it until Airbnb approves or rejects the process
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Only default license fields are immediately available for update. Additional license requirements only show up on the Hostaway channel manager when the listing’s calendar is exported and Airbnb flags the property
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If Airbnb flags to Hostaway that the listing can only accept long-term rentals unless licenses/permits are provided, Hostaway will comply with the minimum LOS requirements until the license is sent and approved by Airbnb
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The approval of the license data can take 2-3 days due to Airbnb’s review process
Workflow
- You create a listing in Hostaway and export it to Airbnb OR successfully map an existing listing from Airbnb to a listing in Hostaway
- Hostaway tries to send the calendar data to Airbnb, but the channel states that the listing can only accept long-term stays unless the required permits are added to the listing’s settings (e.g., You can only host long-term rentals, 30 or more)
- Hostaway updates the Airbnb calendar settings to comply with the long-term LOS requirements from Airbnb (in the example above, the listing’s minimum LOS would be updated to 30 days)
- On the Hostaway Dashboard > Channel Manager > Channels > Airbnb, a warning sign will be visible indicating that an action is necessary for the Airbnb account, specifically "In order to add listing to Airbnb you need to provide additional information"
- If you go to Configure > Import & Mapping and click the warning sign for more details you will be able to:
- View the requirements from Airbnb (detailed list of fields)
- View a URL from Airbnb’s article describing the issue and necessary permits for the region of your listing
- Fill in the required license data
- Send the license data to Airbnb (IMPORTANT: once the licenses and permits data is sent to Airbnb, it’s only possible to update/ resend it after Airbnb’s review, so only send it when you’re sure)
- Airbnb will review the license data (the process can take up to 48 hours)
- Airbnb will approve or reject the data
- In case of acceptance: the enforced minimum LOS restrictions are removed from Hostaway so that the listing can accept short-term rentals as well
- In case of rejection - recoverable: means that Airbnb reviewed the license information, but something is still missing; it's possible to review and re-send the licenses and permits from the channel manager in Hostaway (back to step 5)
- In case of rejection - not recoverable: means that Airbnb rejected the licenses and permits data that were sent, and doesn't allow re-sending it. In these cases, Hostaway won't remove the enforced minimum LOS, and the Property Manager should take only long-term rentals or contact Airbnb about removing the restriction. If the restriction is removed in Airbnb, Hostaway will remove the enforced minimum LOS in up to 24 hours
- Once Airbnb approves the license information, Hostaway will remove the enforced LOS
FAQs
Why was my minimum Lenght of Stay updated to something I didn’t add myself?
When Airbnb flags that you need to provide more license information to host short-term rentals in the city of your listing, Hostaway will automatically update the length of stay so that your listing complies with the current regulations and you can accept guests. Once the licenses and permits are accepted by Airbnb, we will remove the enforced Lenght of Stay so you can accept short-term bookings again.
I already inputted my license information in Hostaway, but my minimum Lenght of Stay hasn’t been updated back
It can take up to 48 hours for Airbnb to review the license data you sent from Hostaway.
I added my license data directly in Airbnb, but in Hostaway, the minimum Lenght of Stay hasn’t been updated yet
Once Airbnb reviews your license information, Hostaway will be notified in up to 24 hours and automatically remove the enforced Lenght of Stay from your listing.
Why are some of my listings on the Hostaway channel manager showing as needing to be reimported?
The alert icon indicates that Airbnb requires additional license or permit information before you can accept short-term bookings. To resolve this, you can go directly to Airbnb to fix the issues or provide the necessary information in Hostaway so they can share it with Airbnb on your behalf. Once the information is submitted, Airbnb can take up to 48 hours to review it, and until this is resolved, Hostaway has increased the minimum length of stay on Airbnb so you can receive long-term bookings.