Filed daily by the desk RSSSearchSubscribe
Stay Gazette
Airbnb, Vrbo and the business of short-term rentals, reported daily
The record

October 2023

2 stories · Crackdown, World

October 2023 was a month of rules. British Columbia introduced and passed a law limiting short-term rentals to a host's principal residence in larger communities, with the limit planned for 1 May 2024. In Washington, the Federal Trade Commission proposed a rule that would put the total price, mandatory fees included, ahead of every other figure, and its notice said Airbnb and Vrbo did not meet that standard. Florence approved a bylaw against new listings in its historic centre, and Airbnb said its Plus programme would end.

A look back, written in October 2026 from sources published in October 2023. Stay Gazette opened in July 2026.

A large pale limestone government building with tall columned bays and an American flag over the corner entrance, seen across a street intersection with cars and a shuttle bus on an overcast day.Crackdown · 11 October 2023FTC Proposes Junk Fee Rule Covering Airbnb and Vrbo ListingsThe Federal Trade Commission proposed that any advertised price show the total, mandatory fees included, ahead of every other figure. Its notice said neither Airbnb nor Vrbo met that standard, and it estimated the hours a host would spend repricing.By Marcus Dane · Filed 11 October 2026 · 7 min read A wide grey stone legislature building with green copper domes and a gilded statue on the central dome, seen across a lawn with a fountain and flagpoles under a clear evening sky.World · 26 October 2023British Columbia Passes Law Limiting Short-Term Rentals to Principal ResidencesThe Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act received Royal Assent ten days after it was introduced. Its main limit, a host's own home plus one suite in communities of 10,000 people or more, was planned for 1 May 2024.By Tomás Ferreira · Filed 11 October 2026 · 7 min read

Pictures on this page. 1. Photo: 2014-04-04-Federal-Trade-Commission-Building-Washington-DC by Gunnar Klack, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized). 2. Photo: British Columbia Parliament Buildings in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada 01 by Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

Also that month

What else was reported in October 2023

  • 5 October 2023Florence approved a bylaw to ban new short-term rental listings in its historic centre, a Unesco World Heritage site; existing hosts were not affected, and owners who switched to longer-term residential lets were offered a three-year break from second-home municipal taxes. Short Term Rentalz
  • 10 October 2023A notice on Airbnb's website said the Airbnb Plus programme, launched in 2018 for listings checked in a home visit against a 100-point checklist, would end on 6 November 2023. Short Term Rentalz
  • 27 October 2023Google was introducing price comparisons in its vacation rental search, showing the travel sites on which a property is listed, with a launch in most parts of the world scheduled by November; neither Airbnb nor Vrbo was making its inventory available on Google. Short Term Rentalz
  • 27 October 2023AirDNA's review of September said demand for U.S. short-term rentals grew 12.2 per cent year over year, up from 7.8 per cent in August, with growth in 45 of the top 50 markets. Short Term Rentalz
  • 30 October 2023Awaze said it would close its James Villas brand, which offered around 600 guaranteed villas across Europe and stopped taking bookings on 30 October; approximately 40 roles were put at risk of redundancy. Short Term Rentalz
  • 31 October 2023Kasa Living, a U.S. flexible accommodations operator, closed a $70 million Series C round led by Citi Ventures and FirstMark Capital. Short Term Rentalz