Medellín POT Approved 18–3: What Changes for Rentals

Quick answer: The Concejo de Medellín approved the POT revision 18–3 in the early hours of Thursday, November 5, 2026, El Colombiano reports, after a session that began Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. and ran more than 14 hours. The POT (Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial, the city’s land-use plan) is not yet in force: it still needs the mayor’s sanction and publication.

The revision has 757 articles and is meant to guide the city for 12 years. It is Proyecto de Acuerdo 104 de 2026, and as we reported after the first debate, it has moved through the council in stages. We found no confirmation of sanction or publication yet, and the vote tally rests on press reports, as we found no Concejo release at the time of writing. The detail on short-term rentals is still thin, so check the final text before acting.

What the Medellín POT approval covers

The Concejo approved the medium-term review of the POT plus an exceptional modification on hazard and risk, per Vivir en El Poblado. It touches land use, mobility, environmental protection, noise and air quality, renewal, streams and green areas, and climate change.

Key numbers, as reported:

• 18 votes for, 3 against. The session ended early Thursday (El Colombiano).
• 757 articles (Vivir en El Poblado).
• About 222,000 new homes is the Distrito’s construction goal; El Colombiano’s headline rounds it to 220,000 (El Colombiano).
• 8,155 citizen contributions and more than 230 meetings during the process; Vivir en El Poblado says about six in ten contributions were accepted in whole or in part.

Our earlier coverage stopped at the first committee debate and the hazard maps. This is the final vote.

Housing: the 222,000-home goal

El Colombiano cites about 38,206 households that need a new home, and says Medellín Cómo Vamos puts the housing deficit at 16% (El Colombiano). According to the same report, that deficit has not improved since 2014, when the current POT was adopted. Our background piece on stalled construction since 2014 covers why supply has lagged.

Two changes matter to developers, and indirectly to buyers:

• Partial plans are no longer mandatory in renewal zones. Under the 2014 POT most renewal polygons, especially downtown, had to go through a plan parcial. The revision removes that requirement and adds two renewal routes, revitalización and reactivación (El Colombiano).
• Incentives for VIS and VIP housing (social-interest and priority-interest) are part of the package, per Vivir en El Poblado. That source gives no figures.

Councilor Alejandro de Bedout argued the construction index fell on some lots versus 2014; the Departamento Administrativo de Planeación (the city planning department) said the formula produces the same built volume (El Colombiano). That dispute is unresolved in the sources we found.

What it means for short-term rentals

Vivir en El Poblado says only that the revision adjusts the conditions for tourist housing. It does not list the final provisions, and we could not find them in reporting published today.

What we can say comes from the draft stage. Before the vote, the Alcaldía said Medellín had 8,322 registered tourist dwellings (figure as reported in October 2026, our report), and that the plan would concentrate the activity in high-mix zones and areas near metro stations. The Alcaldía’s official Q&A, ¿Qué está permitido y qué no? Preguntas sobre las viviendas turísticas en Medellín, says that under the current 2014 plan (Acuerdo 48) short-term rentals are allowed only in high-mix zones, not in low-mix residential ones.

Asohost, which represents platforms including Airbnb, warned in September that the draft would prohibit the activity in broad residential zones, with no transition period. It said the “established use” protection would not cover hosts already operating in residential zones. Those are Asohost’s claims about the draft. We have not confirmed whether the approved text changed them.

What to do now

• Hosts: Ask Planeación for your property’s zoning classification and read the approved articles on vivienda turística before renewing a lease or buying. Do not assume grandfathering.
• Renters: Nothing in the sources we reviewed quantifies any effect on long-term rents, so we are not predicting one. You can ask your landlord or administración whether your building’s zone permits tourist use, since that determines whether short-stay guests may share your building.
• Buyers: Request the zoning and risk certificate for the exact address, since the hazard maps are part of the same package.

What happens next

Planeación director Luz Ángela González Gómez says the challenge now is to turn what was approved into concrete actions, with resources and management instruments to be allocated and results monitored (Vivir en El Poblado). The agreement still needs the mayor’s sanction and publication before it takes legal effect, and we did not find that date. Check the Concejo de Medellín and the Alcaldía’s press room for the adopted text; we found no official release with it yet.

This report summarizes press coverage as of November 5, 2026. We have not read the 757-article text.

FAQ

What is the POT? The Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial is the city’s land-use plan. It sets what can be built and operated where, including housing, tourist use, mobility and risk zones. Medellín’s current one dates from 2014.

Is Airbnb banned in Medellín under the new POT? We cannot say. Press coverage of the vote does not list the final tourist-housing provisions; the Alcaldía said before the vote that the activity has never been allowed in low-mix residential zones.

When does the new POT take effect? Not until the mayor sanctions the acuerdo and it is published. Until then the 2014 plan applies.

Does it change long-term rents? No source we found quantifies an effect, so we are not predicting one.

How do I check my property’s zoning? Ask Planeación for the zoning classification and the risk certificate for the exact address.