Airbnb house rules should answer the questions a guest needs settled before booking: who can stay, what behaviour is acceptable and how the home fits into its building. For a London flat, the details around shared entrances, visitors and noise can be as important as the rules inside the apartment.
This guide includes wording you can adapt. It is a starting point for your own listing, not a statement of StayinLondon's rules for every property. Check each clause against the home, the building and Airbnb's current policies before using it.
Start with the listing's standard settings
Airbnb provides standard settings covering matters such as guest capacity, pets, smoking, events, quiet hours, arrival and departure, and commercial filming. Use those settings first, then add property-specific detail where it helps. Additional wording should agree with the settings rather than contradict them. See Airbnb's guide to adding house rules.
Keep three documents aligned: the published listing, the arrival message and the information inside the property. If a guest reads different checkout times in each place, the problem is the information system. Nominate one person to maintain the master version and record the date of each revision.
Decide what belongs in the rules
A rule defines a boundary; a house manual explains how something works. Keep the washing-machine instructions, Wi-Fi password and local recommendations in your welcome information. Use the rules for decisions that affect whether the guest can use the home as intended.
For every proposed rule, ask: is it relevant to this property, can the guest understand what to do, and does the operation support it? A request to use a particular rubbish store is unhelpful if visitors cannot open its door. Walk through the instructions yourself before sending them.
An adaptable house-rules template
Replace every bracketed detail and remove inapplicable clauses before adding this to your listing. The examples below assume a home with restrictions on events and indoor smoking; choose the settings that accurately describe your property.
- Occupancy and visitors: The maximum overnight occupancy is [number]. Our daytime visitor arrangements are [clear, property-specific policy]. Please message us before making plans that fall outside these arrangements.
- Residential setting: This home is in a residential building. Please keep conversations and luggage movement considerate in the shared entrance and corridors, particularly during [the property's stated quiet hours].
- Events: Parties and events are not permitted at this property.
- Smoking: Smoking and vaping are not permitted inside. The policy for any private outdoor area is [state the actual rule].
- Shared spaces: Keep luggage and personal belongings inside the apartment. Please leave communal doors secure and do not obstruct corridors or other residents' access.
- Rubbish: Use [the verified bin location] and separate [the applicable recycling streams]. Instructions for accessing the bin area are in the house manual.
- Property care: Please tell us promptly if something breaks, leaks or stops working so we can arrange the appropriate response.
- Departure: Checkout is by [time]. Return the keys using [the verified procedure]. Ask us in advance about late departure or luggage storage; availability must be confirmed.
Add the property's pet setting separately and check Airbnb's accessibility requirements: service animals are not treated as pets. Avoid copying a blanket animal restriction from another listing. If commercial photography or other activities matter to your building, review the relevant platform settings too.
Make London building instructions specific
Check the route from street to flat, including any second entrance, lift and bin area. Establish whether the concierge has agreed to assist guests; do not promise key handling or luggage storage on someone else's behalf. Give guests the host's contact route for access problems so they do not need to ask neighbours to let them in.
Keep access codes out of publicly visible house rules. Share sensitive entry information through the appropriate reservation instructions. For the wider operating process, see our key exchange and self check-in guide.
Keep checkout requests proportionate
Separate checkout instructions from the cleaner's turnover checklist. Explain the few departure actions that matter to that home, rather than transferring the entire reset to the guest. Airbnb provides a dedicated place for these instructions in the Arrival guide; its checkout guidance covers tasks such as key return and locking up.
Airbnb's ground rules for guests say hosts may not charge fees for failure to complete particular cleaning or checkout tasks. Do not add a fixed penalty for an uncompleted chore. Damage or exceptional cleaning issues need their own evidence and the platform's applicable process.
Review problems without expanding the rulebook endlessly
After a misunderstanding, identify its cause. Was the rule missing, contradictory, difficult to find or impossible to follow? An access problem may need a better photograph; repeated rubbish questions may need a clearer label. Adding another paragraph is not always the useful fix.
For an actual breach, keep the response factual and document what happened through the booking channel where possible. Our guest conflict guide explains the wider response process. Rules support communication; they do not guarantee that every dispute will be resolved in the host's favour.
Check the complete guest journey
Before publishing changes, compare the rules with the listing settings, house manual and scheduled messages. Ask someone unfamiliar with the home to read them and explain what they would do on arrival and departure. Correct ambiguity before guests encounter it.
StayinLondon's Airbnb management service in London includes guest communication and property operations. Request a property assessment to discuss your home's setup and management needs.
Airbnb guidance checked on 6 October 2026. Review platform policies and the property's requirements when adapting the template.
