Short term apartment rental ban in Budapest VI district. Now what?

Jeanine, check Mr E's updated hotel list. His post appears below yours. I recommended Collect residence. Hotel Apartments but some have a balcony, we had 2 bedrooms, full kitchen and there is a laundry in the basement.

I haven’t stayed at the Collect Residence but it looks nice to me and may be on my list for a future stay after Jennie’s report.

This is something I am going to struggle with also, as I always stay in an apartment in VI (although not the same one).

For my upcoming trip in April, I have one reserved in XIII right on 4/6 tram line at Jaszai Mari ter and the Margarit Bridge. There were several options in that area. There are options in V and VII (although I am a bit reluctant about parts of VII).

As Jennie said, Mr. Ë’s hotel post has some areas marked on a map that he could recommend for short term rentals. Just see what you can do to be as close to a bus, tram, or metro stop as you can be.

While not near Andrussy, the Adina Hotel Budapest is an apartment hotel. Every room has a full kitchen and the one and two bedrooms units also have a washing machine in each unit. I believe they supply a drying rack rather than an actual dryer.

Pretty darn inconvenient. But it’s their land so let’s see how this works out for them and hope for the best.

There are some links here for areas that are okay: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/budapest-updated-hotel-list The list also has 2 apartment hotels in the tourist area. My son is coming next weekend, and I have him in the K46 location so I will be able to tell you about that one soon. I like the location a lot. But it’s a modern infill building so no old-world charm in the building, but the street and neighborhood, yes.

For anyone looking, if the postal code is X06X then it’s in district VI and make darn sure its legal. The one my son will be in is set up as a hotel ... sort of a long explanation, but I understand it and its legal and was a smart move about 5 years ago.

Always feel free to post what you are looking at here and I will track down the building if possible and tell you if I know anything about it or the area. I am getting pretty good at it.

I am trying to figure out if these two apartments in District VI are legal or not. Both are in booking.com and there is a licence number in "Important & Legal Info".

**** [Edit: name removed do as not to get owner in trouble]
https://www.booking.com/****

Budapest Holidays Downtown
https://www.booking.com/Share-9E5lq0

Does the new law render previously licensed apartments illegal?

Thanks.

Budapest Holidays appears to be multiple units organized as a hotel. There are a number of these around town and they are legal. I put my son in one a week ago.

The other one, dont know. I dont know of an exemptions to the law for little guys.

But you should write both and ask tge question. Nice locations.

Mr. É

Thank you for your always quick and helpful responses. I'm looking forward to visiting your city.

These two places do not have their own website. In order to communicate with them, I would probably have to make the booking first and then communicate with them through booking.com.

One of the two does.

https://budapestholidays.hu/hu/budapest-holidays-downtown/

Chrck these two. I rented K46 for my son for 80 euro,but when a friend tried a few nights later it was a lot more. Im guessing all they had left was something large. But my son's room was great.

Collect Residence (4.8) = 83€ / night (no breakfast): https://www.collectresidence.com/
K46 Residence (4.4) - 80€ / night (really short term rentals being managed as a hotel to remain compliant with district VI restrictions) https://www.k46residence.com/

Okay, I live here and I know how things work and I have operated short term rental units in District VI. I have followed the situation. I wouldn't do it. Those who do will probably get away with it, but ...

Mr. É:

I understand. I will probably cancel. It would be a shame. It is a lovely apartment. I could save about CAD$450 over 5 days. Plus, Liszt Ferenc is full of nice restaurants and cafes. I could really see that being a fun stay.

I will try booking the other "apartment hotel" which has multiple units for rent and ask the same question. I have not read this short term rentals prohibition law. However, I have some doubt as to whether these so-called apartment hotels are legal. IMO, a small apartment is a small apartment. Just because some corporation buys a bunch of small apartments in a building, decorates them all the same and markets them as a group might not save them from this prohibition.

Regarding Collect Residence or K46, is there really a loophole which makes them exempt from the prohibition? Or is it just a case that the city hasn't gotten around to taking action against them?

Do you know whether the sanction is only against the owner? What can the city do to the tourist?

Thanks.

NB: Collect Residence is a hotel with a variety of rooms, from studios to 2 bdm apartment styled. But it isnt apartments as I think you are thinking. They also operate a 24 hour reception.

As you can see, I really dont have an opinon on the subject 🤣

First, look at TexasTravelMoms list of restaurants, or mine if you downloaded it. You will notice that none of them are in Franz List ter. There is a reason. Look elsewhere, eat better, eat cheaper.

If you read my response to issues such as if one should carry a passport (it is required in Hungary) or how one should transport medicine or most recently conforming to the rules of entry into a country you will see that I always say, follow the law. One, tourists, and those on visas are guests at the will of the people of the country. Guests should not disrespect their hosts by disregarding the rules established by the hosts. Second, if I tell someone to ignore the law because nothing will happen, I must then be willing to show up and bail them out if they act on my advice and something does happen. If not, then my words are worthless. I won’t come for them, so I can’t recommend anything other than following the law.

I have had a short-term license in District VI for about 15 years. 1 January I let it lapse as I haven’t used it in years and it was rather expensive in cost and in taxes just to own. So, I understand a bit how they work. The license is issued by the City government. They have a nice process where they inspect and rate the apartments and ensure they are in good condition and safe. They can and do use the license as a way to regulate the quantity of short-term rentals in the city. Very well done and they should be proud. Then the apartment must post the rating and contact information on the door.

But the city has an interesting form of government and the District has its own jurisdiction and chose after a referendum to ban short-term rentals. Less than a third of the voters showed up for the referendum and the continuation of short-term rentals lost by a very small margin. But it is what it is. If you stay in another district where its still legal, I wouldn’t feel any social guilt as more than 90% of all Hungarians live in a home that is owned by one of the occupants of the home, the population is shrinking and new units are still being constructed or renovated and put back into the marketplace. In other words, this isn’t Amsterdam or Barcelona.

Because I had a license I received a copy of the warning from the District. I believe the fine was 200.000 ft per day of violation. That’s about $600 a day. I suspect when they get caught you will be out looking for a new place to sleep.

Another example of this sort of thing is anti-government protests. The federal government always bans them, but since Budapest is liberal and didn’t vote for the current government, it goes ahead and issues permits for the protests. The feds threaten to act against the city, but never happens (so far).

Short-term vs Hotel? Pure speculation on my part. The K46 where I rented a few weeks ago for my son is a new construction in-fill building. Budapest is almost entirely pre-war buildings but a few, I am guessing 3 or 4% are post war that fill a spot where a building was destroyed in the war or a building that was torn down because it became structurally unstable, or bribe. This building from day one was marketed to those that wanted an investment that produced income. I suspect that there is a hotel company with the apartment owners as shareholders and the building is titled as commercial hotel and not as a residence. All the apartments were constructed like modern hotel rooms with kitchens and there is a 24 hour reception desk, just like a hotel. There are other established hotels in town, the 20 room Andrassy Thai Hotel on Andrassy is one, where a handful of apartments were purchased, sometimes an entire floor of a building; then marketed as a hotel. I presume they are safe as well. By the way, a Google 3.8 review, great location, and it is 110€ to 125€ a night.

(continued)

(continuation)

Titles are a big deal here. I have 750sf titled as bomb shelter. Guess what I can do with it? Of course, I still pay the common fee (condo fee) on it. LOL. Live and learn. Would you like to buy a cold war era bomb shelter?

Part of the hypocrisy of the whole anti-AirBnb movement is that it never addressed the problem of a lack of housing for the locals (which isn’t an issue here). The movement where I have read any details only targets short term rentals. So, and watch places like Barcelona and see if I am correct, the AirBnb is banned then the real estate values drop then the hotel companies swoop in and buy up entire buildings and convert them to hotels. Who got helped when a building that was 10% AirBnb (3 apartments) becomes 100% hotel renovated with twice the density of tourists (60 hotel rooms)? I suspect that quite often these internet social warriors are being used as pawns by Big Business.

I am trying to figure out if the type of NTAK licence category would be helpful in determining if the property is banned from short-term rentals.

In booking.com, the NTAK licence can be found under the Legal Information.

For example, accommodations which have "hotel" in their name usually have a NTAK licence number starting SZ. These are usually full service accommodations with a reception, daily cleaning and usually a breakfast option. Clearly, this type of accommodation is not affected by the prohibition.

On the other hand, individual apartments have a NTAK licence number starting MA. These are one of a kind apartments usually owned by an individual person or a couple. They look like self-contained dwelling units, ranging from a size of a studio to one or several bedrooms, plus a kitchenette or kitchen. They look like a residence which could be used by a person or family to live in long-term. The property I referred to above has a MA license and is being targeted by the prohibition law.

Then there is a NTAK licence number starting with PA or EG; I'm not sure what is the difference. To my understanding, these type of license is issued to corporations which own multiple individual dwelling units or perhaps a whole building containing multiple dwelling units. They all offer kitchenettes or kitchens. There's no daily cleaning and no breakfast option. Depending on the size of the building or the number of units, they might offer a reception for guests to check in, but often not 24 hours a day and sometimes not even on site. As far as I can tell, they do not refer to themselves as a hotel. They may refer to themselves as "residences", "holiday homes" or "vacation rentals", but not as a hotel. These are all short-term rental properties just carried out on a larger scale. The Budapest Holidays Downtown, Collect Residence and K46 Residence have a PA or EG licence. Are these properties prohibited under the new District VI law? Maybe or maybe not. The fact that Mr. É's son stayed in one recently may not be determinative. Perhaps the district has just not gotten around to enforcing the law (which only just came into force on January 1) against this type of property. Eventually, these properties may be affected. It would seem to me that if the District really wanted to crack down on short-term rentals, it would be much more efficient to prosecute a single PA licensed building with 20 or 30 apartments rather than trying to root out and prosecute 20 or 30 individual MA apartments.

Since you have done so well on the license number prefix research now you need to find the star rating categories for hotels and short-term rentals. No, not all hotels are required to have daily room cleaning, nor do all hotels have breakfast so that’s not a reliable determining factor. It just means you are dealing with 3-star and lower properties. Oh, and I am not certain that hotels are required to have the word “hotel” in their name. I suspect not.

Due diligence isn’t a guarantee, but it also isn’t flagrantly ignoring the law that is evidenced by "I will stay there if only the owner gets fined.

The K46 isn’t unique nor am I selling it. There are similar all over town. The newly constructed K46 appears to be renting out over 40 apartments (it’s on their website), my guess is every single apartment in the building. Some of them are just bedrooms with a kitchen counter; in other words, not residential in nature but some are larger. They are all uniform in furnishing and linens like hotel rooms. They have a sign on the street advertising their business, and their web page is explicit in rent by the day or week or month. They have a reception counter that appears to be 24 hours (someone was there one evening at about midnight, but I didn’t ask). They are hiding nothing; so, they are legal or crazy. But given your standards, I will not promise you I am correct.

On the other hand, if someone were to run an illegal short term rental, I would expect that the listing exists only on the Airbnb website which does not divulge exact addresses. It would be one-off rental in the building, and the owner would either meet you or there would be a lock box. There would be no sign on the street advertising it. Through due diligence all of those would be indications that it’s probably not legal.

The only people that I know in the business (4 individuals) have all closed shop, and went long term; mostly to foreign national students.

I cancelled the booking of that small apartment on Liszt Ferenc tér (MA licence). I just want to play by the rules and avoid trouble for me and my wife. If the host wants to risk a fine, that is their problem. As soon as I cancelled, that apartment was booked by another guest.

I also cancelled my reservation for 5 nights at the Medos Hotel which was CAD$450 more than renting an apartment at BHD (see below). That Medos room was immediately snapped up and there is no longer any availability at the Medos for my five nights. In that last week in May, 2026, Budapest will be hosting the UEFA Champions League final. There is a lot of demand for accommodations.

I ended booking with Budapest Holidays Downtown ("BHD") via booking.com (much cheaper with a clear free cancellation policy compared to BHD's direct booking website which is a work-in-progress). The BHD has a PA licence which appears to be a corporate license for renting multiple short-term apartments in the building (in this case 19 studios and 1 bedrooms).

"Budapest Holidays" is an interesting company with diverse rentals. In booking.com, they have many different short-term rental properties. Some have the PA licence like BHD. Some of them are individual apartments in different buildings with a MA licence. And another has an EG licence which I now believe is a license for a guesthouse or a pension-type rental building.

I emailed BHD and asked them if the BHD apartments are affected by the District 6 rental ban? Their response was "Don't worry your room will be ready to use when you'll arrive." Fingers crossed. LOL.