In the 6th district of Budapest, a two-week referendum was held on a possible ban on short-term rentals. The results, published on the Budapest constituency website, showed that 54% of voters supported the ban on a turnout of 20.52%.
The mayor of Budapest's 6th district, Tamas Soprony, who organized the vote, says the city's popularity justifies the need to survey local residents about the impact of short stays on housing affordability and quality of life.
„I think we should be grateful that we live in an age where many people can afford holidays abroad. However, we do not take into account that there will be cities that we, the tourists, will make uninhabitable”, the mayor also said.
From the beginning of 2026. a ban on short-term rentals comes into force in the sixth district of the Hungarian capital.
The vote could have wider implications as Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's government considers regulating short-term rentals across the board.
Real estate website ingatlan.com said the ban in the VI district, where apartment prices are 22% higher than the Budapest average, could temporarily curb long-term rentals.
Opponents of the ban argue that the move will hurt the income not only of apartment owners, but also of nearby cafes and restaurants that cater mainly to foreign tourists.
Last year, nearly 719 million hotel nights in the EU were booked through the online platforms Airbnb, Booking, Expedia Group and Tripadvisor, according to Eurostat.
At the same time, from Central Europe, Budapest turns out to be the most popular city for short-term stays: 6.7 million nights were spent here - more than in Vienna, Prague, Warsaw, Krakow and other cities.
Note that Budapest is not the first European city to want to restrict Airbnb. Barcelona, a popular holiday destination in Spain, has announced it will ban apartment rentals for tourists by 2028. in an effort to curb rising housing prices and make the city livable.
The Czech Ministry of Regional Development has meanwhile proposed an amendment to the law requiring all properties listed on online services to be registered through a new electronic platform, which will facilitate the collection of national and local taxes.
Local authorities in Poland's Sopot, Krakow and other popular tourist destinations have called for stricter regulations on vacation rentals, but no new rules have yet been introduced.
You can see detailed statistics on average property prices in Bulgaria by cities and neighborhoods HERE