How groups of ‘small hosts’ are fighting Mexico City’s AirBnB ban

In April and October of 2024, nether the interim mayorship of Martí Batres, Mexico City passed caller laws regarding short-term rentals similar those listed connected Airbnb and different online platforms.

The metropolis has implemented respective caller regulations requiring each rental properties and rental contracts to registry with a government-operated city-wide registry. It is amerciable to rent immoderate “vivienda social” – houses and apartments built to beryllium economically accessible and disposable done the government’s Infonavit programme (the strategy which provides backing for mortgages). That includes structures rebuilt by the authorities successful the aftermath of the 2017 earthquake. In the lawsuit of 4 properties oregon more, an idiosyncratic oregon institution is present required to person commercialized zoning for their properties, arsenic good arsenic concern licenses and other information and services requirements.

The caller short-term regulations successful Mexico City

New regulations for short-term rentals successful Mexico City purpose to code the city’s lodging shortage. (Unsplash/Anton Lukin)

The astir restrictive of these caller regulations allows short-term rentals to beryllium occupied for lone 6 months (or 182 days) each year. This measurement aims to discourage spot owners from listing their properties connected Airbnb and different platforms, encouraging them to instrumentality to the residential rental marketplace instead.

Critics of short-term rentals constituent to their effect connected the societal cloth of neighborhoods. For example, the displacement of residents, with semipermanent lodging converted into vacation rentals and rising rental prices owed to assorted factors. For these reasons, different large satellite cities, specified arsenic Amsterdam and Paris, person implemented short-term lodging restrictions. Barcelona plans to outlaw short-term rentals altogether by 2029.

Almost a twelvemonth aft the caller regulations were passed, the city’s rental declaration registry is not yet online, and the implementation of the caller restrictions has been held up successful tribunal arsenic galore owners of short-term rentals person initiated ineligible procedings against the government.

Why tiny hosts are seeking alternatives to the caller regulations

Groups of “pequeños anfitrones” (small hosts) that ain 1 to 3 properties person started to signifier among themselves, coordinating to contiguous proposals to the metropolis that mightiness let them to support renting their properties but minimize harm some to the section system and to an income root that they accidental they beryllium on.

They constituent retired that laws passed successful this area, specified arsenic Amsterdam’s regularisation of short-term rentals to 90 days retired of the twelvemonth successful 2019, person not produced the intended outcomes. Instead, rents successful the metropolis proceed to rise, and lodging banal continues to beryllium astatine a shortfall. In New York, wherever short-term rentals person efficaciously been banned, hotel prices person skyrocketed.

According to interior surveys, the class of tiny big includes 12,000 families. Of that 12,000, implicit fractional are women, and 15% elder citizens. Using interior surveys, the radical has determined that 77% ain a azygous property, and 70-80% of these hosts accidental that rental is their main income.

Over 12,000 families are successful the class of pequeño anfitrones, meaning they negociate lone 1-3 properties. (Unsplash/Julie Ricard)

In a caller lawsuit successful Colonia Del Valle, the representatives of these groups clarified that they are not ample existent property conglomerates that ain dozens of properties oregon full buildings of short-term rentals, nor are they warring to support those large companies’ interests. In a property league connected August 28, the hosts called connected the metropolis to modulate these ample conglomerates, but demurred erstwhile asked astir specifics, saying that should beryllium determined by metropolis officials.

Short-term rentals and the lodging shortage successful Mexico City

In an effort to beryllium that short-term rentals are not the origin of the city’s lodging shortage, the pequeños anfitriones constituent to a 2025 survey “Vivienda y Plataformas Tecnológicas en CDMX” by D+D Urbanismo,” which shows that the magnitude of social, accessible oregon medium-priced lodging built successful the metropolis has dropped dramatically successful the past 25 years. They besides constituent retired that portion the current, progressive banal of implicit short-term rentals (an full location oregon apartment) amounts to 9,000 residences, according to authorities statistics, determination are much than 207,000 residences successful the metropolis uninhabited oregon abandoned.

The hosts assertion that they positively interaction the section economy, saying their properties enactment 63,000 nonstop oregon indirect jobs. They besides item that for each peso spent connected a short-term rental, visitors walk 4 pesos successful the section economy, drafting this information from Estudio CONCANACO-Sinestesia (2025), Datos del IMPLAN (2024), and Oxford Economics (2021).

In effect to the caller anti-gentrification protests, which targeted foreigners with aggravated rhetoric, the hosts stress that 70% of their clientele consists of Mexican visitors to CDMX.

Proposals presented by the pequeños anfitrones

On August 28, the pequeños anfitriones presented their 5 proposals to representatives of Xóchitl Bravo Espinosa, a legislator and the coordinator of the Morena Parliamentary radical successful the city’s Congress.

The proposals impact collaborating with the city’s tourism committee to make a directory of local, autarkic businesses for their guests and processing a Good Neighbor usher to beforehand liable tourism. They besides suggest much information measures for guests, similar accusation astir what to bash successful an earthquake oregon different emergency.

Opponents to short-term rental regulations person their ain proposals. (Unsplash/Maria Fuentes)

They suggest to supply escaped lodging for wellness oregon exigency workers successful lawsuit of a metropolis emergency, arsenic good arsenic wanting the metropolis to put the 1.5% further taxation that they wage arsenic short-term renters (short-term rentals wage 5% successful hospitality taxes and hotels wage 3.5%) for local, tiny businesses.

But their astir important inquire is that the 50% regularisation is removed for tiny hosts, the statement being that ample existent property companies won’t beryllium affected by the 50% restriction, but tiny location owners will.

What tiny hosts truly want

In effect to whether oregon not pequeños anfitriones would enactment limits of short-term rentals determined by vicinity and need, oregon a bounds per building, 1 of the main organizers, Mario Tegalia, said that helium believes they would enactment immoderate regularisation acceptable distant by the city, arsenic agelong arsenic the 50% occupancy regularisation is lifted.

City officials, who person been holding nationalist forums for the past period oregon truthful to code the concerns of residents regarding zoning, housing, gentrification and services, person said they volition compile the information they person received, including these proposals. Then, they volition signifier a program for metropolis zoning that volition spell to the city’s legislature for debate. Government officials astatine the August 28th property league said that a timeline has been acceptable for 2 weeks for moving groups to travel up with an integrated proposal.

Lydia Carey is simply a freelance writer and translator based successful Mexico City. She has published extensively some online and successful print, sharing her insights astir Mexico for implicit a decade. She lives a treble beingness arsenic a section circuit usher and is the writer of “Mexico City Streets: La Roma.” Follow her municipality adventures on Instagram and spot much of her enactment at mexicocitystreets.com.