Short-term rental rules in Cologne

What this means in practice

• Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 has applied since 20 May 2026. Where this member state operates a registration scheme, the unit needs a registration number and it must appear on every listing.
• Booking platforms are required to check declared registration numbers against the national Single Digital Entry Point and to report invalid or misused numbers to the authority and to you. A wrong number risks the listing being removed.
• Local rules on night caps, guest registers and tourist tax sit on top of this and vary by city. They are not covered by the EU baseline.
• German cities apply a Zweckentfremdungsverbot, a prohibition on misusing residential housing. Letting a dwelling to tourists is treated as misuse unless it is registered and within the local limits, and the rules are set city by city.
• Where the city operates a scheme, each rental must be registered with the local authority and the registration number displayed on every listing. Platforms are required to verify the number before a listing goes live, and a listing without a confirmed number can be blocked.
• The Meldeschein, a guest registration form, must be completed for stays.
• Beherbergungssteuer or City Tax is levied by the municipality and varies by city. Cuvanti does not hold German municipal rates, so no amount is shown here.
• Cologne treats short-term letting of a dwelling as Zweckentfremdung, a misuse of housing, under the Wohnraumstärkungsgesetz NRW and the city's own Wohnraumschutzsatzung. The Satzung has applied since 1 July 2021 and was updated and extended with effect from 1 July 2026.
• Every short-term let must be notified to the city FROM THE FIRST DAY, and a Wohnraum-Identitätsnummer, a housing identification number, must be issued before you let. This has applied since 1 July 2022, to commercial and private hosts alike, including anyone who was already letting before the law came in. Up to 90 days a year the number is issued automatically and free of charge through the state-wide online procedure.
• Letting for more than 90 days per calendar year additionally requires a Zweckentfremdungsgenehmigung, a permit. It is granted only in exceptional cases and the procedure itself is chargeable, with a minimum fee of EUR 500 that is not refunded if the permit is refused. Where the dwelling is rented by students the permit threshold is 180 days per calendar year instead, on proof of student status. Cuvanti applies the 90-day figure because it does not hold your tenant's student status.
• The Wohnraum-Identitätsnummer must appear clearly and publicly in every listing and every advertisement, online portals and printed advertising alike.
• You must report EVERY individual booking to the city, in the occupancy calendar attached to your number, within ten days of the letting beginning. Missing the ten-day deadline is an administrative offence. Failing to report bookings at all EXTINGUISHES your Wohnraum-Identitätsnummer, and without it you may not let at all.
• Fines under section 21 of the Wohnraumstärkungsgesetz NRW reach EUR 500,000, and the statute states expressly that an offence may be punished even when it is not committed inside Germany.
• The same regime applies to rented and cooperative flats, single-family houses, owner-occupied homes with or without a granny flat or second dwelling, and owner-occupied apartments. Cologne imposes no requirement that the dwelling be your main home.

Common questions about short-term rentals in Cologne

Do I need to register a short-term rental in Cologne?

Yes. A registration or licence must be in place in Cologne before the property is let.

How many nights a year can I let a short-term rental in Cologne?

90 nights per year in Cologne. Letting beyond that limit is not permitted without separate approval.

Do I have to keep a guest register in Cologne?

Yes. Cologne requires a register of guests to be kept for every stay.

Is there an accommodation tax on short-term rentals in Cologne?

Yes. Übernachtungssteuer (Kulturförderabgabe), Cologne at 5% of the booking.

Are local council rules for Cologne included here?

Yes. The rules shown for Cologne are the ones that bind an operator at this level, last checked 2026-08-30.