Yes — short-term rental is legal in canton Vaud, but it's regulated, not a free-for-all. Since 1 July 2022, hosts must register with their commune before the first guest, report activity monthly, and — in districts officially listed as facing a housing shortage — get a change-of-use permit before letting a former long-term rental for more than 90 days a year.
The rules aren't arbitrary. They're a direct response to a housing market that's been tight for a generation, and understanding why they exist makes the compliance steps easier to follow. This guide covers the background, the two legal frameworks involved, and what it actually means for an owner. For the step-by-step registration process itself, see our Montreux registration guide.
Key takeaways
- Vaud's rental vacancy rate has been below the 1.5% balanced-market threshold since 1999.
- Since 1 July 2022, two amended laws (LEAE and RLPPPL) regulate platform rentals canton-wide.
- A change-of-use permit is required only for units previously on the ordinary rental market, in a shortage-listed district, let short-term for more than 90 days/year.
- Registration and monthly reporting apply to every host canton-wide, regardless of district or permit status.
- The rules are about regulation, not prohibition — the canton chose not to ban platform rentals.
In this guide
Why Vaud regulates short-term rentals
Vaud's rental vacancy rate has sat below the 1.5% level generally considered a balanced market since 1999 — one of the longest-running housing shortages of any Swiss canton. By 2018, close to 4,000 rooms and full apartments in the canton were listed on Airbnb alone, a figure large enough that two cantonal MPs asked the government to bring platform rentals under clear rules, out of concern that units disappearing into nightly rentals were tightening the ordinary rental market further and pushing up sublet prices.
The 2022 rules: two laws, one goal
Since 1 July 2022, the canton has regulated the sector under two amended laws — the act on economic activity (LEAE) and the rental-stock preservation ordinance (RLPPPL). In districts the housing department officially lists each year as facing a shortage, converting a unit that was previously on the ordinary rental market into a short-term let of more than 90 days per calendar year now requires a change-of-use permit, applied for through the local commune. Separately, anyone renting via a platform anywhere in the canton must register with their commune at least 10 days before the first guest and report activity monthly — how communes track the 90-day threshold and confirm the tourist tax is actually being collected.
A fairness question, not just a housing one
Housing pressure wasn't the only concern lawmakers raised. Guest-room platforms compete directly with licensed hotels, and unlike those hotels, individual hosts don't always reliably declare rental income for tax purposes, register foreign guests with the police, or collect the tourist tax — all standard obligations for a traditional hotel. Left unaddressed, that gap risked giving platform listings a cost advantage over the professional operators whose room-night revenue helps fund local tourism promotion and infrastructure.
Why regulation, not a ban
The Conseil d'État weighed those concerns against what platforms add — more beds during peak demand and a genuine boost to regional tourism — and chose to regulate rather than prohibit them, treating short-term platform rentals as real, lasting demand rather than something to eliminate.
Two rulebooks, enforced locally
Vaud is made up of many communes with considerable autonomy over housing policy, and it's the communes — not the canton directly — that supervise both frameworks day to day. That split adds real complexity: the RLPPPL rental-stock rules only apply to units that were previously long-term rentals sitting in a commune currently on the shortage list, while the LEAE economic-activity rules apply to every host and platform user canton-wide, regardless of location or shortage status. Tourist-tax collection runs through yet another channel — the communal association (UCV) acts as an intermediary between Airbnb and individual communes, and each commune separately decides whether to use that arrangement.
In its own published account, the canton's advice to other authorities considering similar rules is to build a rental-preservation framework flexible enough to reflect how differently supply and demand look from one district to the next, to win communal buy-in early since communes are the ones who actually enforce it, and to keep the economic-activity side of the regulation as light-touch and autonomous as practical for the communes running it.
The market, in numbers
Independent data from Inside Airbnb's June 2026 snapshot: of the roughly 5,300 listings tracked canton-wide, 43% belong to a host running more than one property — the kind of scaled, professional activity the rules above were written for. None of the listings sampled displayed a licence or registration number in their public listing data (that reflects what hosts choose to show, not a formal compliance audit).
Related reading: Registration step-by-step · Villeneuve rules · Tax & VAT · Insurance
Founder of Riviera Host. BBA Hospitality (Glion), MSc Tourism (FHGR), MSc Data Science (HSLU). 8+ years managing short-term rentals on the Swiss Riviera.
Want this handled for you?
We register with the commune, apply for the change-of-use permit where one applies, and file the monthly reporting — as standard, across our whole Vaud portfolio.
See our Vaud management serviceFrequently asked questions
Is short-term rental legal in canton Vaud?
Yes. Vaud regulates rather than bans platform rentals. Since 1 July 2022, hosts must register with their commune before the first guest, report activity monthly, and — in districts officially listed as facing a housing shortage — obtain a change-of-use permit before letting a former long-term rental for more than 90 days a year.
What is the 90-day rule in Vaud?
If your unit was previously on the ordinary rental market and sits in a commune currently on the housing department's shortage list, converting it to short-term rental for more than 90 days per calendar year requires a change-of-use permit from the cantonal housing office, applied for through your commune.
Why did Vaud introduce these rules?
Vaud's rental vacancy rate has been below the 1.5% balanced-market threshold since 1999. By 2018, roughly 4,000 rooms and apartments were listed on Airbnb alone, prompting concern that platform rentals were tightening an already strained rental market and pushing up sublet prices.
Do all hosts in Vaud need a change-of-use permit?
No — only hosts converting a unit that was previously on the ordinary long-term rental market, located in a commune currently on the shortage list, and letting it short-term for more than 90 days a year. Registration and monthly reporting apply to every host canton-wide regardless of district.
Does a property manager handle Vaud's registration and permit process?
A full-service manager should handle the commune registration, the change-of-use permit application where one applies, and the monthly activity reporting on your behalf. Confirm this in writing before signing — see our full registration guide for the exact steps.
Source: Federal Office for Housing (BWO), Canton de Vaud case study, published 4 October 2024. Market data: Inside Airbnb, Vaud dataset, 15 June 2026, CC BY 4.0.