By Liv Nordbye, Chair of the Norwegian Hosts Association
Your 11 November article, "Norwegian Labor Unions Unite Against Airbnb Expansion," highlights an unusual alliance between NHO Reiseliv and the United Federation of Trade Unions calling for stricter short-term rental rules. Their concern about professional operators running de facto hotels in residential areas is understandable. We share that concern.
But the article overlooks a defining feature of the Norwegian housing landscape:
Most short-term rentals in Norway are not commercial enterprises. They are small-scale, private homes.
Around 80 percent of all rental activity in Norway is carried out by private individuals. A typical host has one unit — a basement apartment, an annex, a spare room, or a cabin that would otherwise sit empty. This is not hotel activity. It is a long-standing part of Norwegian housing culture and a vital source of flexibility for students, seasonal workers, families in transition, and rural communities.
When NHO Reiseliv frames all short-term rentals as a hotel problem, the distinction between professional operators with dozens of units and ordinary people renting out occasionally disappears. And when that distinction disappears, regulation risks hitting the wrong group entirely.
Professional services do not turn private hosts into hotels
The article suggests that the use of professional services — cleaning, key delivery, guest support — is evidence of commercial hotel-like activity. But this interpretation is misleading.
These are the very services NHO Reiseliv has encouraged private hosts to use for years, in the name of quality, safety, and professionalism. When hosts follow those recommendations, it does not transform them into hotel operators. It simply means they are meeting the standards the tourism industry itself has asked for.
Norwegians also routinely use professional services in their own homes: cleaners, snow removal, lawn care, repairs. No one claims that a family with a cleaner is running a hotel. The same logic applies to short-term rentals.
The service provider is the business — not the host.
Blurring these categories creates the false impression that ordinary people are operating commercial accommodation businesses. That narrative is not only inaccurate — it risks harming the very people who follow the rules.
NHO Reiseliv is right about one thing: Norway needs reliable data
On this point, we fully agree. Effective regulation requires accurate, verifiable data.
But then we must use sources that are actually reliable.
AirDNA is not one of them.
AirDNA provides estimates based on scraping and algorithms. It counts listings, not actual bookings. It cannot distinguish between active and inactive listings, duplicate listings, rooms vs. entire homes, or private vs. professional operators. The result is inflated numbers that do not reflect the real market.
Norway already has the real data — through the Tax Administration.
Thanks to the EU's DAC7 rules, Norway receives verified, transaction-based data directly from the platforms. These data reflect actual bookings, distinguish between private and commercial activity, and give municipalities the insight they need.
If we want smart regulation, this is the data we must build on — not commercial estimates.
Regulation must be targeted, not blunt
Norway absolutely needs tools to address professional operators running hotel-like businesses in residential areas. But experiences from Finland, Denmark, Scotland, and Ireland show that broad day-limits and licensing schemes often hit the wrong people:
- Widows renting out spare rooms
- Farmers with an unused annex
- Families renting out a basement apartment
- Rural hosts who are not causing any problems
Meanwhile, professional operators adapt and continue.
This is why Norway needs a precise legal distinction between:
- Private hosting
- Service providers
- Commercial operators with multiple units
The Tax Administration already treats more than four units and substantial turnover as commercial activity. Codifying this would give Norway a clear, fair, and enforceable boundary.
Regulation is needed — but precision is essential
Short-term rentals are not one phenomenon. They range from spare rooms to shadow hotels. When NHO Reiseliv treats all of this as the same, they risk undermining their own recommendations and their own members.
Norway needs regulation. But we need precise regulation — grounded in real data, clear definitions, and an understanding of how ordinary Norwegians actually use their homes.
Only then can we create a system that works for communities, municipalities, hosts, and the tourism industry alike.
A smarter Nordic model is within reach
Norway has the opportunity to create a regulatory framework that:
- Targets professional operators
- Protects neighbourhoods
- Gives municipalities effective tools
- Avoids unnecessary bureaucracy
- Shields ordinary people who rent out occasionally
- Relies on accurate, verifiable data
But to do that, we must stop treating a farmer with a kårbolig or a family renting out their basement as if they were companies managing 50–100 units.
They are not.
Liv Nordbye is Chair of the Norwegian Hosts Association.