Yes — short-term rental is legal in Geneva, capped at 90 days a year per whole apartment. Since 1 April 2018, letting an entire unit via a platform beyond that limit reclassifies it, legally, as a commercial furnished residence, which requires a change-of-use permit that's deliberately hard to get during the canton's housing shortage.
Geneva's rules are newer and stricter than neighbouring Vaud's — worth understanding fully before you list. This guide covers why the rule exists, how it was written into law, and how the canton actually enforces it.
Key takeaways
- The 90-day rule has applied to whole-apartment platform rentals since 1 April 2018.
- It's written into an existing regulation (RDTR article 4A), not a new law — Geneva's fastest legal route.
- Geneva's Cour de Justice upheld the rule as lawful after a legal challenge.
- The goal was never a ban — private individuals can still rent partially or occasionally.
- Enforcement is complaint-driven, not automated — platforms declined to build cross-platform blocking.
In this guide
Why Geneva regulates short-term rentals
Geneva's rents and purchase prices are among the highest in Switzerland, and housing production hasn't kept pace with population growth for a decade — a durable shortage that pushes many people who work in the canton to live across the border instead. Against that backdrop, around 2,000 apartments ended up listed on short-term platforms, pulling further supply out of the ordinary rental market and putting professional platform hosts in direct, often uneven, competition with licensed hotels. Media coverage of the issue from 2014 onward led to a string of political interventions, and the Conseil d'État moved to regulate.
The 90-day rule, since April 2018
Geneva took a different legal route than most cantons: rather than a new law, it added a single article (4A) to its existing regulation on demolitions, conversions, and renovations of residential buildings (RDTR) — a rulebook the real-estate sector already knew and used, and one the executive could amend quickly since it didn't require a parliamentary vote. Since 1 April 2018, letting an entire apartment via a platform for more than 90 days a year turns it, legally, into a commercial furnished residence rather than housing — and reclassifying it that way requires a change-of-use permit that's deliberately hard to get during a housing shortage. The goal was never to ban home-sharing outright; it was to rule out commercial-scale use while still letting private individuals rent their own home partially or occasionally. A legal challenge went to Geneva's Cour de Justice, which upheld the rule as lawful.
Fairness and neighbourhood impact
Alongside the housing math, Geneva flagged the same fairness gap Vaud did: professional-style platform hosts don't always collect the tourist tax, register foreign guests with the police, or declare rental income the way a licensed hotel must, and occasional private hosts sometimes fall short simply from not knowing the rules. The canton also pointed to a more local cost — frequent guest turnover in shared buildings can create genuine friction and, at times, security concerns for neighbours, separate from the housing-supply argument entirely.
Enforcement is the hard part, not the rule
By the canton's own account, the 90-day cap survived its court challenge without much difficulty — the real work has been catching violations. Geneva tried to get major platforms to automatically block listings once a property crossed the 90-day threshold; the platforms argued that consistent cross-platform blocking wasn't technically workable, and the talks didn't lead anywhere. Enforcement now leans heavily on tips from neighbours, managing agents, and tenant associations, with a handful of formal complaints processed since the rule took effect and the state still exploring better detection methods. Separately, Geneva negotiated a deal with Airbnb for automatic collection of the tourist tax.
In its own published account, Geneva's advice to other authorities is to fold new short-term-rental rules into an existing, already-familiar regulation rather than writing one from scratch, since that eases both adoption and enforcement — and to be explicit with the public about the legal obligations and paperwork involved, since they differ depending on whether you're a tenant, a subsidised-housing tenant, or an owner.
Related reading: Is Airbnb legal in canton Vaud? · Registration step-by-step (Vaud)
Founder of Riviera Host. BBA Hospitality (Glion), MSc Tourism (FHGR), MSc Data Science (HSLU). 8+ years managing short-term rentals on the Swiss Riviera.
Bringing a Geneva property to market?
We handle the 90-day threshold, change-of-use question, and tourist-tax filing the same way we do across our Vaud portfolio.
See our Geneva management serviceFrequently asked questions
Is short-term rental legal in Geneva?
Yes, but capped. Since 1 April 2018, letting an entire apartment via a platform for more than 90 days a year turns it, legally, into a commercial furnished residence rather than housing, requiring a change-of-use permit that's deliberately hard to get during the current housing shortage.
What is Geneva's 90-day rule?
Article 4A of the RDTR (regulation on demolitions, conversions, and renovations) limits whole-apartment platform rentals to 90 days per calendar year. Beyond that, the unit is reclassified as commercial and needs a change-of-use permit. A legal challenge to this rule was rejected — Geneva's Cour de Justice upheld it as lawful.
Why did Geneva introduce the 90-day rule?
Geneva's rents and purchase prices are among the highest in Switzerland, and housing production hasn't kept pace with population growth for a decade. Around 2,000 apartments ended up on short-term platforms, pulling supply from the ordinary rental market, which led to political pressure from 2014 onward.
How does Geneva enforce the 90-day limit?
Mostly through tips from neighbours, managing agents, and tenant associations. Geneva tried to get platforms to automatically block listings past 90 days, but the platforms said cross-platform blocking wasn't technically workable, so enforcement remains complaint-driven.
Does Geneva collect the tourist tax automatically?
For Airbnb bookings, yes — Geneva negotiated a deal with Airbnb for automatic collection and remittance of the tourist tax. Other platforms may require the host to collect and remit it directly.
Source: Federal Office for Housing (BWO), Canton de Genève case study, published 22 July 2024.