Cape Town's Draft By-Law: The 50% Room-Night Test for Commercial Rates

A draft is a draft. But a draft that sets a test on room-nights tells you which number a city will ask for, and that's worth preparing for now.

Last updated: October 5, 2026

A draft by-law isn't a rule yet. It's a signal, and a draft that turns on a share of room-nights tells you which number a city is likely to ask for. That's worth preparing for now, while the rule is still being written.

Key Takeaways

• A draft names the number it will use. Even before it passes, it points to the record you should start keeping.
• A room-night share measures use, not quality. It compares guest nights with all the nights in the same period.
• Both parts of the share matter. Empty nights and your own nights count just as much as guest nights.
• Estimating your own share is quick. Divide guest nights by total nights, using your calendar rather than your memory.
• Preparing early is cheap. A few minutes a month now beats rebuilding a year of nights later.

What a room-night share is measuring

A room-night is one unit used for one night. A room-night share compares the nights guests actually stay with the total nights available in the same period.

The idea is simple. A property that hosts guests on most nights looks different, in use, from one that hosts them on a few. A city can use that split to decide which rate class or category a property falls into.

It's a measure of use, not of quality. A well-run listing with a low share isn't doing anything wrong. It's simply used less. Nothing about the share says whether a host is good at the job, and reading it as a scorecard misses the point.

Because the figure is a share, both parts carry weight. Nights a guest stayed count. Nights the unit sat empty count too, and so do nights you used the property yourself. That's what makes the count more honest than it first looks, and it's also what surprises hosts who add up bookings alone.

One more thing worth noting: the share says nothing about who the guests were or what they paid. It's about use, which means the most careful host and the most casual one are measured the same way.

The share is a ratio, and ratios move for two reasons. It can rise because you hosted more, or because the total period shrank. Before you read a change, check which part moved. Nothing in the share requires special software, either. A paper diary and a pen produce the same figure, provided you count the same nights each time.

Working out your own share from your calendar

You can estimate your own share without waiting for the rules to settle.

Pick a period, say a year. Count the nights a paying guest stayed. Then count every night in the same period, including the empty ones and any nights you used the unit yourself. Divide the guest nights by the total, and you have your share for that period.

Do it from your calendar, not from your memory, because the empty nights are exactly the ones people forget. A host who adds up bookings alone gets a figure that's too high, and a figure that's too high points at the wrong class.

Work it out for the whole year as well, not just the busy season. A strong summer can hide a quiet winter, and it's the annual split a rule is likely to read. A share built on your best three months tells a story the full year won't support.

Keep the same period each time you measure. If one figure covers January to December and the next covers March to February, they can't be compared, and the drift between them is an artifact rather than a fact. Fix the window before you start.

It helps to note the method beside the result: which nights you counted, and what you left out. That note is what makes the number explainable a year later, to an authority or to yourself.

You can sanity-check the figure backwards. If the share looks high, ask whether you've counted the empty nights. If it looks low, ask whether you've counted the nights you used yourself. Either omission bends the result in a direction you can predict.

Why a draft still matters for planning

A draft can change. It can be amended, delayed or dropped, so it would be easy to ignore. But a draft that names the test it will use has already told you something useful: which record to keep.

A final rule can only look at what you can show. If you start keeping the split now, you'll have the year's figure ready when it's asked for. If you wait for the rule to pass, you'll be reconstructing months of nights from memory, and the answer is more likely to be wrong.

Planning for a draft isn't the same as assuming it will pass. It's making a decision that survives either outcome. The cost of preparing is a few minutes a quarter. The cost of rebuilding a year of use, after the fact, is much higher.

There's a second benefit, too. Working out your share teaches you how your property is actually used, which is useful whether or not the rule is ever adopted. A host who knows the split can see which months carry the year and which ones barely register.

None of this is a prediction about the outcome. It's simply the cheapest way to be ready for either. It's also worth separating preparation from prediction, because keeping a record is something you control, while whether the draft passes is out of your hands.

Keeping the record that answers the question

The record itself is simple. A period, a total of nights, a count of guest nights, and the share between them. Four lines, dated.

Keeping it current is easier when your channels sit together. LOCALSBNB shows each connected channel's source price and status on one calendar, so the nights behind the count are in one view rather than three. Its Home dashboard adds occupancy, average daily rate and revenue per available night, which shows how the share sits against how the property actually performs.

Store the count beside your booking records, and note the date you worked it out. If the rule changes, the old figure still explains what your position was at the time, and that's often the question an authority asks. You can keep the calendar and the totals in one place at localsbnb.com.

One habit is enough. At the end of each quarter, write down the share. Four figures a year will answer most versions of the question, and they take less time to produce than a single argument with a spreadsheet.

If you run more than one unit, keep a line for each one as well as a total. A rule can apply per property, and an average across a portfolio can hide a single unit that sits well above the rest.

Finally, decide now who checks the figure, and when. A record that nobody reads isn't a record. It's a habit that will lapse the first busy month, and busy months are exactly when the count matters most.

Choose a format you'll keep using. A one-line entry in a note you already open beats a template you'll abandon in the second week. The figure doesn't need to be perfect, either. An estimate you can explain is more useful than a precise number you can't.

FAQ

Is a draft by-law already in force?

No. A draft is a proposal, and it can be changed, delayed or dropped. Treat it as a signal about what a city may ask for, and check the authority's current position before you act on it. Watch the authority's own updates for a change in status, rather than a summary written months earlier.

How do I work out my room-night share?

Divide the nights a paying guest stayed by all the nights in the period, including the empty ones and any nights you used. Use your calendar rather than your memory, and work it out for a full year. A single, consistent format saves time later, especially across a busy season.

Do I need to change how I host because of a draft?

Not on the strength of a draft alone. Keep the record a rule would ask for, watch the authority's updates, and make decisions that hold whether the draft passes or not.

A draft is a chance to get ready early, not a reason to change everything at once. Keep the count, note the dates, and read the rules as they stand. The rule may change, but a dated figure keeps its meaning either way. If you'd like your channels and your numbers in a single view while the rules settle, it's worth a look at localsbnb.com.

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This guide offers general advice for hosts. It isn't legal or tax advice. Rules change over time and differ by place, so check the current requirements of your local authority and the current terms of each platform you use.