diff --git a/synapse/events/spamcheck.py b/synapse/events/spamcheck.py
index 8b01c091e9..595b1760f8 100644
--- a/synapse/events/spamcheck.py
+++ b/synapse/events/spamcheck.py
@@ -61,3 +61,53 @@ class SpamChecker(object):
             return True
 
         return self.spam_checker.user_may_invite(userid, room_id)
+
+    def user_may_create_room(self, userid):
+        """Checks if a given user may create a room
+
+        If this method returns false, the creation request will be rejected.
+
+        Args:
+            userid (string): The sender's user ID
+
+        Returns:
+            bool: True if the user may create a room, otherwise False
+        """
+        if self.spam_checker is None:
+            return True
+
+        return self.spam_checker.user_may_create_room(userid)
+
+    def user_may_create_room_alias(self, userid, room_alias):
+        """Checks if a given user may create a room alias
+
+        If this method returns false, the association request will be rejected.
+
+        Args:
+            userid (string): The sender's user ID
+            room_alias (string): The alias to be created
+
+        Returns:
+            bool: True if the user may create a room alias, otherwise False
+        """
+        if self.spam_checker is None:
+            return True
+
+        return self.spam_checker.user_may_create_room_alias(userid, room_alias)
+
+    def user_may_publish_room(self, userid, room_id):
+        """Checks if a given user may publish a room to the directory
+
+        If this method returns false, the publish request will be rejected.
+
+        Args:
+            userid (string): The sender's user ID
+            room_id (string): The ID of the room that would be published
+
+        Returns:
+            bool: True if the user may publish the room, otherwise False
+        """
+        if self.spam_checker is None:
+            return True
+
+        return self.spam_checker.user_may_publish_room(userid, room_id)
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/directory.py b/synapse/handlers/directory.py
index 943554ce98..a0464ae5c0 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/directory.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/directory.py
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ class DirectoryHandler(BaseHandler):
             "directory", self.on_directory_query
         )
 
+        self.spam_checker = hs.get_spam_checker()
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def _create_association(self, room_alias, room_id, servers=None, creator=None):
         # general association creation for both human users and app services
@@ -73,6 +75,11 @@ class DirectoryHandler(BaseHandler):
         # association creation for human users
         # TODO(erikj): Do user auth.
 
+        if not self.spam_checker.user_may_create_room_alias(user_id, room_alias):
+            raise SynapseError(
+                403, "This user is not permitted to create this alias",
+            )
+
         can_create = yield self.can_modify_alias(
             room_alias,
             user_id=user_id
@@ -327,6 +334,14 @@ class DirectoryHandler(BaseHandler):
         room_id (str)
         visibility (str): "public" or "private"
         """
+        if not self.spam_checker.user_may_publish_room(
+            requester.user.to_string(), room_id
+        ):
+            raise AuthError(
+                403,
+                "This user is not permitted to publish rooms to the room list"
+            )
+
         if requester.is_guest:
             raise AuthError(403, "Guests cannot edit the published room list")
 
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/room.py b/synapse/handlers/room.py
index 5698d28088..535ba9517c 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/room.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/room.py
@@ -60,6 +60,11 @@ class RoomCreationHandler(BaseHandler):
         },
     }
 
+    def __init__(self, hs):
+        super(RoomCreationHandler, self).__init__(hs)
+
+        self.spam_checker = hs.get_spam_checker()
+
     @defer.inlineCallbacks
     def create_room(self, requester, config, ratelimit=True):
         """ Creates a new room.
@@ -75,6 +80,9 @@ class RoomCreationHandler(BaseHandler):
         """
         user_id = requester.user.to_string()
 
+        if not self.spam_checker.user_may_create_room(user_id):
+            raise SynapseError(403, "You are not permitted to create rooms")
+
         if ratelimit:
             yield self.ratelimit(requester)