The Licence Checklist Before You List, by Country

Registration comes before the first night, not after the first complaint. What a host actually needs differs by country, and the order of the steps matters as much as the documents.

Last updated: October 25, 2026

Every short-let regime asks some version of the same five questions, and the answers decide which documents you'll be asked for. Get the order wrong and you end up with a complete file that arrives after the deadline, or a live listing that's missing the number it was supposed to display. Here's the sequence, and where it flips.

Key Takeaways

• Five questions come before any document. Who operates, what the unit is, how long a short stay is, what's restricted, and what must be displayed.
• The usual order is documents, then registration, then listing. A number you don't hold yet can't be displayed, and a listing without one is the violation.
• The order reverses in specific places. Planning consent, building rules or a change-of-use authorisation can all sit ahead of the register.
• Registering isn't the same as displaying. The second duty repeats on every surface you sell from, and it's the one that gets missed.
• The file needs a renewal date. Registration that lapses quietly is worse than registration you never had, because you'll keep trading.

Five questions every regime asks

Before you collect a single certificate, answer these in writing. The answers determine which regime applies to you, and regimes differ within countries, not just between them.

Who is the operator? The owner, a company that holds the unit, or a co-host running it on someone's behalf. Some registers ask for the legal person who lets the unit; others want the person on the ground. If those are two different people, the file needs both.

What is the unit? A whole home, a room in your own home, or a separate annex. Whether you live there matters in a surprising number of places, because a primary residence let for part of the year is often treated differently from an investment flat let all year.

How long is a short stay? The duration test is the line between a short let and a tenancy, and it's drawn at different lengths in different places. It decides which body of rules you're under, so it's the first thing to confirm and the first thing that changes when a rule changes.

Is the building or the area restricted? Building rules, planning use, a municipal zone, a co-ownership agreement. Some of these bind you regardless of registration, which is why a registered unit can still be closed to short lets.

What must be displayed, and to whom? A registration number on the listing, a permit reference in the advert, a notice inside the unit, a filing to the municipality. Each of those is a separate action with a separate deadline.

Write the five answers down and date them. When a rule changes, the page that changes first is usually one of these five — not the pile of certificates.

Documents, then registration, then listing

The common sequence, in most of the regimes that require registration at all, runs in three stages.

Stage one: assemble the documents. What's requested varies, but the same categories recur. Proof of your right to let the unit — ownership, or a lease that permits it. Identification for the operator. Details of the unit: address, floor area, number of bedrooms, maximum occupancy. Some jurisdictions ask for a safety attestation, a fire-safety document, or evidence of insurance that covers paying guests. A floor plan is asked for more often than hosts expect. In Spain, several regions maintain their own tourist-rental registers and ask for documents at that level. In Portugal, municipal authorisation for local lodging is the usual gate. In Japan, operating a private lodging requires notifying the prefecture before guests arrive, with the notification number displayed.

Stage two: register. This is where you deal with the municipality or the regional body, not the platform. Expect the application to ask for more than an address: the operator's details, the unit's capacity, sometimes the safety documents again, often a declaration that you'll keep records. Registration is also where a numbering scheme enters. In France, many cities require authorisation for a change of use and a registration number. In Italy, regional rules combine with a national short-let database. In Greece, a registration in the short-stay register comes with a property number.

Stage three: list. Only now does the number go on the advertisement. In several regimes the display duty attaches to every offer, not just the platform listing — your own page, a message to a returning guest, an offer sent by email.

That order isn't decorative. A listing published before the number exists is, in those regimes, the failure itself, and it's the failure an inspector can see from a desk without asking you anything.

This is the point where the job splits into two halves. LOCALSBNB doesn't register units, file applications, pay taxes or appeal on your behalf. What it holds is the letting side. The four connected channels — Airbnb, Booking.com, Agoda and Trip.com — sit in one calendar, with each unit's record in one place. The number you're required to display therefore sits with the listing it belongs to. localsbnb.com

Where the order reverses

Three situations move the stages around, and each one is common enough to check for before you start.

When planning or building rules come first. If the unit's use has to be authorised before it can be let at all, that authorisation precedes registration, because there's nothing lawful to register yet. The same applies where a co-ownership agreement restricts short lets: no register entry cures a building that doesn't permit the use.

When the platform asks for the number at sign-up. Some channels won't let you create or keep a listing without a valid registration number in the field. That collapses stage two and three into one step, and it means a host who registers late can't fall back on an unpublished listing while waiting.

When the registration is time-limited. Where a registration runs for a fixed term and must be renewed, the sequence loops: renew, then check the display. A renewal that lands after the old number stops being valid leaves a live listing showing an expired number.

There's a fourth, less obvious case. Where a national rule and a local rule both apply, the local one is often stricter, and it's the one that decides what you actually file. In London, for example, the planning framework sets an annual limit on short-let nights for a whole dwelling, as published. Other parts of the UK have been moving at different speeds on registration, so the local position is the one to confirm. Treat national guidance as a floor and the municipality as the ceiling.

None of this is a reason to delay. It's a reason to sequence: the five questions first, then the local authority's current requirements, then the documents those requirements name — and only then the listing.

Keeping the file current

A licence file isn't finished when the number arrives. It's finished when it has a review date.

Put a renewal date on everything. Registration term, safety documents, insurance, any local periodic filing. One page, one column of dates, sorted. Anything without a date is a document you'll discover is expired at the worst moment.

Update the file when the facts change, not when the rule does. A new co-host, a change of capacity, a renovated room, a change of ownership entity. Each of those can require a filing even though nothing about the rules moved.

Check the display after every change. The number has to match on every surface. A channel that trims a description field, a listing duplicated for a second season, an old draft page still live — each is a place where a correct number in your folder isn't a correct number in public.

Keep a dated record of what you checked. If an authority or a platform asks, a page saying what you verified, when, and with whom is worth more than a folder of certificates with no dates on them.

Re-read the five questions once a year. Rules move more often than units do, and the answer that was right when you listed may no longer be right. That's not a reason to expect the worst; it's a reason to diarise an hour.

FAQ

Do I need a licence before I publish the listing?

In most regimes that require registration, yes — either the registration itself, or at least the number it produces. Publishing first and registering afterwards is the sequence that turns a paperwork delay into a breach. Confirm the current position with the competent authority for your municipality before you publish.

Is a national registration enough?

Sometimes, and often not. Where local authorities layer their own requirements on top, the stricter local rule tends to govern what you file and what you display. A national scheme can tell you that a duty exists; it rarely tells you what your municipality wants in the envelope.

How often does the file need reviewing?

At least once a year, and immediately after any change to the operator, the unit, its capacity or the ownership entity. Renewals also need their own dates, because an expired registration on a live listing looks identical to no registration at all.

The five questions take an afternoon and save a fortnight of chasing offices later. When the file is done, the letting side is the part that keeps running, and it's the part that already sits together at localsbnb.com.

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This article is general guidance for hosts and isn't legal, tax or insurance advice. Registration duties, the documents an authority accepts, the thresholds that apply and the order in which they must be met differ by country, region and municipality, and they change. Confirm the current requirements with the competent authority before you list, and take local advice on your own unit.