Chile’s National Administrative Chamber on Tuesday blocked enforcement of new short-term rental rules, stopping a planned crackdown that officials said could affect 31,000 listings from Santiago to the coastal resort of Viña del Mar. The order came less than a day after the government’s registration deadline and hours before platforms were expected to disable unlicensed properties.
The three-judge panel said the housing ministry had exceeded its authority by requiring booking platforms to verify a national permit and remove non-compliant homes. Its interim order bars the ministry from issuing penalties or demanding listing removals until a full hearing, scheduled for 19 November. Municipal rules already in force remain valid.
Deadline overturned overnight
The challenge was brought by a group of property owners and lodging operators who argued that the ministry had created a licensing system without approval from Congress. The court did not decide whether the controls were good policy; it found that the government had not shown a clear legal basis for imposing them by regulation.
Housing Undersecretary Munira A. Ødegård said the government would comply with the order but would ask the court to reconsider parts of it. “The rule was designed to make sure every short-stay home meets the same safety and tax standards. We will put a bill before Congress this week so the protections do not disappear,” she said outside the ministry in Santiago.
The government had projected that annual registration fees and related charges would bring in CLP 14.8 billion (about €14 million), much of it for local housing inspections. It estimated that roughly 9,000 of the 31,000 listings lacked the permits required under the new system, though the court order means those figures will not trigger immediate sanctions.
We closed the calendar last night and woke up not knowing whether our bookings were legal.
Regina Bueno, Valparaíso rental owner
Owners and councils brace
Bueno, who rents two apartments in Valparaíso’s Cerro Alegre district, said she had paid for fire alarms and translated guest instructions into three languages before the rules took effect. She welcomed the pause but said the abrupt change had unsettled visitors booked for the coming summer. “People are asking if they should cancel. I cannot give them a straight answer,” she said.
The ruling does not erase local restrictions. Santiago and Valparaíso can still apply their own zoning and permit rules, leaving owners with different requirements depending on the municipality. Valparaíso’s council said it would keep processing local applications, while its legal team reviews whether the national system can be used voluntarily.
The dispute has split a policy that had taken months to assemble. Tenant groups say short-stay homes reduce the supply of long-term rentals in popular districts; small operators counter that the government treated spare rooms and full-time holiday apartments as if they were the same business. The ministry’s original framework required registration numbers to appear on listings and set a 90-day annual cap for homes without a local permit.
The government’s bill is expected to reach Congress on Friday, but lawmakers are not due to return from a scheduled break until next week. The court has asked both sides to submit further arguments by 12 November, leaving a narrow window in which ministers must choose between a rushed legislative fight and a prolonged pause in enforcement.
