One Budapest district has banned Airbnb after 6,083 Terézváros residents voted in favor of the policy, according to an announcement on the municipality’s website. Now, there are talks of a potential national ban on short-term rental apartments, which could dramatically bring down rental and housing prices.
According to the vote data, 3,265 voted yes, equaling 54 percent of votes, versus 2,818. The vote could set the stage for Airbnb to be banned from the district entirely.
Due to the vote, Terézváros will ban all short-term vacation apartments as of Jan. 1, 2026. The decision was made by the residents of the district in a decisive vote based on the authorization of the parliament.
Voting took place over two weeks, between Sept. 2 and Sept. 15, online and at three locations every day. The 6,083 voters represent a much higher turnout than other votes in the district. For example, the participation rate at the Budapest residents’ assembly was only 9 percent, Mayor Tamás Soproni wrote on his social media page about the decision:
The next step is to bring the will of the people of Terezváros to the representative body, and we will create a decree on their decision.
“I consider it important that the change will only come into effect on Jan. 1, 2026, so businesses will have time to prepare for the change. The residents of the district set an example of how to use democratic tools, and they decided what kind of district they would like to live in,” said Soproni.
The possible ban on Airbnb could lead to an increase in supply of apartments in the capital, and in the medium term, housing prices and rents can be driven in a more affordable direction, reports Világgazdaság.
For the time being, the referendum that will decide the future of Airbnb only applies to one district, but it could also affect the Budapest and national sublet prices, as well as the market for apartments for sale.
Ingatlan.com published an analysis of the housing market effects of the Airbnb referendum that began at the beginning of September, adding that government regulations for these apartments are also being prepared, which will be announced within a few weeks.
Is a national ban in the works?
According to Ingatian.com, housing price increases in the capital’s inner districts may be curbed in the first round, which may also curb the increase in housing prices in the outer districts, and the regulation may also reshape the sublet market. If only half of the nearly 3,000 apartments let out in the short term in Terézváros move to the sublet market, it would more than double the district’s sublease supply, and the drastic increase in supply may also cause a decrease in rents in the short term.
The capital president of Fidesz, Alexandra Szentkirályi, is now proposing to the government that regulations be introduced in accordance with the results of the Terézváros vote regarding the future of short-term rental apartments. Szentkirályi indicated over the weekend that whatever decision the people make, she will recommend to the government that it enact corresponding regulations in Budapest and even nationally.
Currently, Terézváros is more expensive than the capital city average in terms of both the sublet market and the apartments for sale. The average price of apartments for sale in the district was 1.26 million Hungarian forints (€3,198) per square meter at the beginning of September, which is 22 percent higher than the capital average of 1.03 million forints. The average rent in Terezváros of 275,000 forints is 10 percent higher than the Budapest average of 250,000 forints.
