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Short-term rental activity in Santiago de Chile sits under three concurrent compliance layers: national legislation, the Región Metropolitana's administrative framework, and municipal ordinances issued by each of Santiago's 52 communes.
Hosts operating across commune boundaries face different local requirements even within the same city, which is the single most common compliance error operators make.
The primary national instrument is Law 21.442 (Ley de Arriendo), effective January 13, 2023, which introduced formal obligations for temporary residential letting.
Complementing it is Decreto con Fuerza de Ley N° 2 of 1959, which governs residential property classification and continues to affect eligibility for short-term use in certain housing categories.
Municipal regulations are issued under the authority of the Ley Orgánica Constitucional de Municipalidades (Law 18.695), giving individual communes discretionary power over local licensing conditions.
Chilean law defines a short-term rental as any residential letting of fewer than 30 consecutive days to a transient occupant. Stays of 30 days or longer fall under the standard residential tenancy regime and exit the short-term regulatory framework entirely.
Primary enforcement authority rests with the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) for tax compliance and with each commune's Dirección de Obras Municipales (DOM) for land-use and permit obligations. The SII and DOM operate independently; a clearance from one does not substitute for obligations owed to the other.
Chile has no national short-term rental registration law as of May 28, 2026. No federal statute requires Airbnb hosts operating in Santiago to obtain a dedicated STR permit, and the Municipalidad de Santiago has not enacted a standalone municipal registration regime for short-term rentals.
Any host earning rental income in Chile must register an economic activity with the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII), Chile's tax authority. This is not optional. Operating without SII registration exposes hosts to back-tax liability and penalties under the Código Tributario.
Activity Code: Hosts register under activity code 6810 (arrendamiento de bienes raíces no agrícolas) or 5510 (alojamiento turístico), depending on the nature of services provided.
Registration Fee: No fee. SII registration is free via the portal tributario.sii.cl.
Primary Residence Threshold: Chile imposes no day limit on primary residence rentals. There is no 183-day equivalent restricting owner-occupied STR activity.
Hosts operating as a recurring commercial activity, particularly those managing multiple properties or offering hotel-style services, may require a patente comercial from the relevant municipio. In Santiago, this is issued by the Municipalidad de Santiago, Dirección de Rentas.
Fees vary by declared income but typically range from 0.25% to 0.5% of annual gross receipts. Residential-only rentals with minimal services are frequently exempt, but hosts should confirm their classification directly with the municipality.
Santiago de Chile does not maintain a formal building classification system for short-term rentals comparable to New York's Class A/B dwelling categories. No official prohibited buildings list exists under the current municipal or national STR regulation.
Property eligibility is governed by three overlapping frameworks: zoning ordinances under the Plan Regulador Comunal of each of Santiago's 32 communes, condominium bylaws (reglamentos de copropiedad) registered under Ley N° 21.442 (Ley de Copropiedad Inmobiliaria) effective January 13, 2022, and individual HOA resolutions.
Bylaw Prohibition: A building's internal regulations can absolutely prohibit short-term rental use. Thanks to Article 17 of Ley N° 21.442, if a copropiedad's community votes to ban rentals, often needing just a 51% majority, that ban is legally binding and doesn't require municipal approval. It doesn't matter if the resolution was passed before or after the law came into effect.
Bottom line: if the building says no, it's a no.
Supermajority Threshold: Amending a prohibition requires approval from owners representing at least 75% of the building's pro-rata shares (alícuotas), as specified in Article 19.
No Grandfathering: Hosts operating before January 13, 2022, are not exempt from subsequently adopted bylaws.
Detached residential properties are not subject to copropiedad rules. Zoning compliance under the relevant commune's Plan Regulador governs permitted uses.
Some communes, including Las Condes and Providencia, classify short-term rental activity under mixed residential-commercial use, which may require a separate municipal patent (patente comercial) before listing.
Chilean national law does not mandate that a host be present during a guest's stay. Decree Law No. 1.224 of 1975, which governs tourist accommodation categories, imposes no cohabitation requirement on residential short-term rentals.
Hosts operating through platforms under the Airbnb rules, Santiago de Chile framework, are free to offer entire-property rentals without on-site supervision.
No municipal ordinance in Santiago currently sets a binding per-property occupancy cap specific to short-term rentals.
Occupancy defaults to the limits established in each property's building permit (permiso de edificación) and any applicable condominium regulations under the Ley de Copropiedad Inmobiliaria (Law No. 21.442, effective January 13, 2022).
Condominium bylaws: Individual reglamentos de copropiedad may impose guest count maximums that override platform defaults. Hosts must obtain and retain the current bylaws for each property.
Fire code limits: The Ordenanza General de Urbanismo y Construcciones sets maximum occupancy based on habitable square meters; the standard is 9 m² of floor area per occupant in sleeping rooms.
Santiago imposes no statutory minimum-stay requirement on short-term rentals as of May 28, 2026. Hosts may legally accept single-night bookings.
Some comunas within the metropolitan region have explored minimum-stay floors in draft zoning amendments, but none have passed binding ordinances to date.
Note: Boletín No. 15.912-14, a bill under Senate committee review since March 2024, proposes a 2-night minimum for entire-home rentals in densely zoned residential zones. If enacted, this would represent the first stay-length restriction under formal Airbnb regulation in Santiago.
Chile has no Santiago-specific STR tax — rental income falls under the national framework administered by the SII, with VAT (IVA) applying where the host qualifies as a habitual commercial operator and income tax (Impuesto a la Renta).
For a full breakdown of rates, thresholds, and filing requirements, take a look at our guide on Santiago tax rules.
Smoke Detectors: Operational smoke detectors are required in every sleeping room and in connecting hallways, per Decreto Supremo N° 47 (Ordenanza General de Urbanismo y Construcciones), administered by the Ministerio de Vivienda y Urbanismo (MINVU).
Fire Extinguisher: At least one ABC-rated extinguisher accessible on each floor of the property.
Emergency Exits: All exit routes must remain unobstructed and clearly marked in compliance with MINVU structural habitability standards.
Carbon Monoxide Detector: Required where gas appliances or enclosed heating units are present.
Habitability Certificate: The property must hold a valid Recepción Municipal issued by the relevant Municipalidad, confirming the structure meets occupancy standards.
Electrical Systems: Wiring must conform to the Reglamento de Instalaciones Eléctricas de Consumo, enforced by the Superintendencia de Electricidad y Combustibles (SEC).
Structural Condition: No active MINVU citations for structural deficiency or unsafe occupancy may exist at the time of guest stays.
(Section omitted, Santiago de Chile does not maintain STR-specific advertising restrictions that trigger the conditions above. No law in Chile makes it illegal to advertise a short-term rental before a booking transaction occurs.
General consumer-protection and truth-in-advertising rules apply to STR listings under the same framework that governs all commercial advertising, principally the Ley de Protección de los Derechos de los Consumidores (Law No. 19.496). No H2 heading is rendered for this section.)
Everything above, in the order you'll do it — who you deal with at each step and what it costs.
Chile's national STR framework is still maturing, which means enforcement in Santiago currently operates through a combination of municipal inspection authority, tax agency oversight, and platform-level compliance checks rather than a single dedicated enforcement body.
Operating without municipal authorization: Fines under the Ley General de Urbanismo y Construcciones (D.F.L. No. 458) range from 1 to 100 UTM per infraction (approximately CLP 65,000 to CLP 6,500,000 as of May 2026), applied by the relevant Dirección de Obras Municipales (DOM).
Platform data requests: The SII has authority to compel platforms to disclose host earnings data under Artículo 60 bis of the Código Tributario.
Neighbor and community complaints: Municipalities receive complaints through OIRS (Oficina de Información, Reclamos y Sugerencias) channels, triggering DOM inspections.
Proactive zoning audits: DOM officers conduct periodic reviews of properties operating commercially in residential zones.
Grounds for denial: Zoning incompatibility, outstanding municipal debt, or incomplete fire safety certification.
Grounds for revocation: Repeated noise or safety violations documented by Carabineros de Chile or municipal inspectors.
Appeal body: Hosts may appeal DOM decisions to the Contraloría General de la República or through the Juzgado de Policía Local.
If your property was acquired through a government subsidy, don't even think about listing it. Chile's Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MINVU) runs these programs under laws like Decree Law No. 2,551, and their deeds explicitly forbid any commercial subletting.
That absolutely includes short-term rental activity. This is a huge no-go. Listing a subsidized property means you'll risk the government demanding the entire subsidy back and could even be forced to sell the unit.
Deed Restrictions: MINVU subsidy contracts typically prohibit transfer or commercial use for a minimum of 5 years from the acquisition date.
Conflict Point: Lease agreements in subsidized buildings frequently contain blanket subletting prohibitions that extend to platforms operating under STR rules in Santiago de Chile.
Consequence: Verified violations can trigger subsidy clawback demands from MINVU, recoverable as civil debt.
Under Ley No. 19,537 (Ley de Copropiedad Inmobiliaria), condominium communities may adopt internal regulations that restrict or ban short-term rentals by majority vote of unit owners.
As of January 1, 2023, amendments to this law explicitly allow communities to prohibit STR activity through their reglamentos de copropiedad.
Board Rules: Hosts must review the current reglamento before listing; outdated copies filed at the Conservador de Bienes Raíces may not reflect recent amendments.
Zoning Overlay: Buildings in Providencia and Las Condes have adopted STR-restrictive reglamentos at higher rates than outer communes.
Consequence: Violations of a valid reglamento can result in fines set by the copropiedad administration and injunctive action through civil courts.
Several property types and rental arrangements fall outside the short-term rental rules that govern standard Airbnb listings in Santiago de Chile.
Stays of 30 consecutive days or more: These are classified as standard residential tenancies under Chile's Ley de Arrendamiento (Law No. 18,101) and are not subject to STR registration or collection requirements.
Licensed hotels and apart-hotels: Properties operating under a tourism establishment license issued by the Servicio Nacional de Turismo (SERNATUR) follow a separate regulatory regime and are not bound by municipal STR ordinances.
Registered bed-and-breakfast operations: B&Bs with a valid commercial activity registration (inicio de actividades) under the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) operate under distinct hospitality classifications.
Student and long-term housing providers: Operators renting exclusively to students under formal lease agreements are governed by residential tenancy law, not STR restrictions.
As of May 2026, Santiago de Chile has no pending bills specifically targeting short-term rental platforms under a dedicated STR statute.
The most recent enacted change affecting Airbnb rules in Santiago de Chile was the incorporation of STR activity into the general tourism accommodation framework under Decreto Supremo N° 222 of 2011 (Ministerio de Economía), which remains the operative national-level instrument.
Municipal ordinances at the Municipalidad de Santiago level have not introduced new STR-specific legislation since the 2023 updates to commercial activity permits.
The Chilean Congress has discussed broader digital platform taxation and housing affordability measures in committee, but no bill with direct regulatory consequences for short-term rental operators has reached a floor vote or entered the official legislative calendar as of the last updated date.
Hosts should monitor the Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional for committee activity, as housing-supply legislation introduced in 2025 could extend to STR density limits if amended.
Santiago de Chile does not operate a single dedicated STR enforcement agency. Regulatory authority is distributed across municipal and national bodies depending on the specific issue (tax compliance, zoning, consumer protection).
Municipalidad de Santiago
Address: Plaza de Armas 92, Santiago Centro, Región Metropolitana
Phone: +56 2 2386 1000
Website: municipalidaddesantiago.cl
Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) national tax authority responsible for tourist accommodation tax registration and income reporting obligations.
Phone: 22 395 1115
Website: sii.cl
Registration Portal: sii.cl (Inicio de Actividades)
Servicio Nacional del Consumidor (SERNAC) handles guest complaints against hosts regarding consumer rights violations.
Phone: 800 700 100
Website: sernac.cl
Think a neighbor is breaking the rules? There are two main ways to report them. For zoning violations or unlicensed commercial activity, you go straight to the local municipalidad where the property sits, like the one in Las Condes. Each one has its own inspection unit (Dirección de Obras Municipales).
Let's be blunt: this page isn't legal advice. It's just a guide. The short-term rental regulations in Santiago de Chile are a tangled mess, and they can change overnight based on something as small as a new enforcement circular from a single municipality.
You must consult with a qualified Chilean lawyer and a professional to make sure you're actually compliant. The rules are constantly evolving, and ultimately, it's your responsibility to keep up.
Founder, Mr. Props · Short-term rental investor
Helvis has spent the better part of a decade buying and selling real estate, and now focuses on scaling his short-term rental portfolio. He joined forces with the property OG himself, Mr Props, to share what's actually working — the systems, numbers, and hard lessons — so other hosts can grow faster and with fewer headaches.
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