Voters in Chicago’s 26th Ward will weigh in next week on whether to limit new short-term vacation rentals in their neighborhoods. The non-binding referendum covers most of Humboldt Park and parts of Logan Square, Hermosa and Belmont Cragin; it will appear alongside other citywide advisory questions. Early voting for 26th Ward residents is underway at the Humboldt Park Library, 1605 N. Troy St.
The ward-only question asks residents to weigh support for limiting new short-term vacation rentals, either across the ward or in specific areas, according to Block Club Chicago. Ald. Jessie Fuentes said she has heard from residents about roughly 108 active Airbnb rentals in the ward, a concentration higher than the citywide rate. If residents support limits, she said, she would move to draft legislation targeting Airbnbs precinct by precinct.
What the Advisory Vote Can Change
The vote would measure residents’ views, not enact a restriction. The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners’ 2026 guidelines state that advisory referenda have no legally binding effect. A vote in favor of limits therefore would not itself change rental rules.
A Northwest Side Hotspot for Short-Term Rentals
The Northwest Side has long seen heavy Airbnb saturation, particularly in Logan Square, Humboldt Park, Wicker Park and Avondale, per the same Block Club Chicago report. Short-term rental supply in Logan Square, Avondale and parts of Humboldt Park has grown since 2023 and peaked earlier this year, based on AirDNA data cited in the article, which tracks listings and market trends across Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com.
According to that AirDNA data, Airbnb listings make up 44 percent of short-term rentals across Logan Square, Avondale and Humboldt Park, while Vrbo bookings account for 13.5 percent of bookings in those three neighborhoods. Logan Square alone has about 450 short-term listings across the three platforms, Avondale has roughly 110, Humboldt Park has close to 100, and Hermosa has seven — though the article notes those totals may include duplicate listings advertised on multiple rental sites.
What a Yes Vote Would — and Wouldn't — Change
Fuentes has been clear that any future ordinance would not touch rentals already up and running. She said existing rentals completed proper licensing, which should be respected, even as she weighs new restrictions on future permits. Her approach echoes a citywide push that stalled last year: City Council members attempted in 2025 to pass an ordinance giving alderpeople more power to ban short-term rentals by precinct, but the measure never became law.
That 2025 proposal would have let aldermen block new short-term rentals in a precinct without first gathering petition signatures, according to the Chicago Tribune. Short-term rental companies would have been able to seek a reversal with signatures from 10 percent of precinct voters, and pre-existing units would have been grandfathered in and allowed to keep operating. Under Chicago's current ordinance, a precinct can only ban vacation rentals after 25 percent of its registered voters sign a petition — a bar Southwest Side Ald. Marty Quinn said took his ward 12,000 signatures and seven years to clear, the Tribune reported.
Housing Costs, Property Taxes and Neighborhood Concerns
Fuentes has tied the Airbnb debate to broader affordability pressures in her ward. The issue also raises questions about housing availability. She has also acknowledged that rental income helps small landlords cover rising property taxes, even as those units sit unavailable to people looking for housing — a tension she says the referendum is designed to surface before any policy gets written.
Fuentes has identified a broader need for more housing, especially lower-cost housing, in the ward, and said rising property taxes should be addressed so longtime residents can stay in their homes. She has urged constituents to seek help with property-tax appeals while she pushes for fairer state property-tax policy. Residents have also raised concerns to her about parties and violence affecting their communities, she said, concerns that echo complaints aldermen raised during last year's citywide debate over precinct-level bans.
Airbnb Pushes Back on Restrictions
Airbnb has consistently opposed proposals it says strip responsible Chicago residents of the right to share their homes and earn income from them, arguing that hosts contribute millions to the local economy. The company has pointed to a 78 percent decrease in the rate of party reports made to Airbnb in Chicago since 2020, when it introduced a global party ban, according to Block Club Chicago's earlier reporting on the stalled precinct-ban ordinance.
Airbnb has said its Chicago hosts earned $191 million in 2024, and in the 26th Ward specifically, the typical host earned approximately $17,000 last year, according to Airbnb data. The company says that income helps hosts keep up with rising living costs and high property taxes. Entire-home listings represent roughly 1 percent of the ward's housing stock, per Airbnb, and the company says 78 percent of local hosts share their homes fewer than 90 nights a year while 18 percent share only a private room.
Airbnb data also shows that stays of 30 days or longer made up the largest share of stay lengths last year, accounting for over a third of nights booked citywide, with longer stays often linked to medical care, school, work relocations or emergencies. Fuentes has said the referendum is meant to gather feedback before any policy is developed, and that she will consider using the existing petition-based precinct ban tool depending on what voters tell her next week.
A Precedent on the Southwest Side
Chicago has already used precinct-level restrictions elsewhere in the city. The City Council passed Ordinance O2026-0025367, renewing restricted residential zones in five precincts of the 23rd Ward that prohibit additional shared-housing units and vacation rentals, according to city council records reviewed through Chicago Councilmatic. A separate ordinance, SO2024-0013637, amended the municipal code governing short-term rentals, shared-housing units and vacation rentals, including reporting requirements, registration rules, occupancy limits and license-disclosure requirements in vacation-rental ads.
