New York City's Short-Term Rental Reform Bill Remains Stalled in Committee

New York City’s attempt to soften its short-term rental rules has gone nowhere. Intro 879, a City Council bill introduced on 30 April 2026, would relax the strict host presence and unlocked door conditions at the heart of Local Law 18 for owner occupants of one and two family homes. Five and a half months later, it remains in the Committee on Housing and Buildings with no hearing or vote on the calendar.

What Intro 879 would change

Rule	Current requirement	Under Intro 879
Guest limit	Up to 2 paying guests	Up to 4, not counting children under 18
Host presence	Host must be present for the whole stay	Owner occupant may be away during the stay
Interior doors	All interior doors must stay unlocked	Bedrooms, bathrooms, closets and storage may be locked, provided exits stay clear
Effective date	Not applicable	Six months after enactment

The bill is led by Brooklyn Council Member Mercedes Narcisse with six co-sponsors. It revives an earlier version that the previous Council left without a vote in December 2025.

Registrations reach a new high

While the reform stalls, the legal market inside the registration system keeps growing. Registered hosts have passed 3,500 for the first time since the city began enforcing registration.

Metric	Value	Context
Registered hosts	3,500+	First time above this level since enforcement began in 2023
New approvals in fiscal year 2026	460+	July 2025 to June 2026
Hosts who own their unit	76%	The remaining 24% are renters
Units in one or two family homes	68%	Concentrated in Brooklyn and the outer boroughs
Rent regulated units blocked from registration	618	Cumulative since 2023
Rent regulated applications denied in fiscal year 2026	65	Down from 86 in fiscal year 2025
Registrations revoked in fiscal year 2026	17	A further 15 pending, all tied to false statements in applications

Background

Local Law 18 has been enforced since September 2023. It requires every host renting for fewer than 30 days to register with the city, to be present during the stay and to host no more than two guests, and it bars platforms from processing bookings for unregistered listings. Before the rules took effect, the city estimated that as many as 18,000 illegal short-term rental units were operating. More than 14,000 buildings now sit on the list of properties where short-term rentals are prohibited.

Why it matters

The registered market is growing, but from a small base and mostly among homeowners in lower density boroughs, the very group Intro 879 is written for. A bill parked in committee carries no compliance weight, so until the Council schedules a hearing, operators and investors in New York should plan around the current two guest, host present model rather than a relaxation that may never arrive.

Cover photo: Anthony on Unsplash