Italy: Rome plans to crack down on listing new short-term rentals and tighten regulations across Italy in a bid to stop the “desertification” of historic towns across the country.
It comes amid growing criticism from residents and the municipal government that renting houses to tourists is causing a rapid decline in the local population and eradicating the soul of the capital.
While the Eternal City is busy welcoming an influx of tourists ahead of the Christmas holidays, residents are taking the opportunity to register their accommodation on booking platforms in order to boost their income. It is estimated that there are over 25,000 bed and breakfasts today [B&Bs] and vacation homes listed as short-term rentals in Rome [with at least 10,000 said to be operating illegally]which, according to critics, has caused the population of the historic city center to drop to less than 170,000, a decrease of around 20,000 people over the past three decades.
As a result, authorities in Rome are looking to speed up the implementation of new regulations on short-term rentals.
Lorenza Bonaccorsi, president of Municipio Roma I and a politician from the center-left Democratic Party, is working with Mayor Roberto Gualtieri to pressure the national government to enact a law governing short-term rental operations. Bonaccorsi and Gualtieri are also teaming up with tourism adviser Alessandro Onorato on proposals to be heard in early 2023 at the Giulio Cesare room to halt – or at least limit – the short-term rental boom in Rome’s historic center, including including its UNESCO site extending over nearly 1500 hectares.
Onorato said: “At present it is much more profitable to rent an apartment in the center to tourists than to a family or an active person. We must stop the desertification of the historic center of Rome.
Endorsing a joint brief to “limit the release of concessions for short-term rentals, vacation homes and bed and breakfasts”, Bonaccorsi cites “environmental, infrastructural and logistical sustainability” issues for wanting to push the legislation forward, adding that “the excessive number of bed and breakfasts and holiday homes is killing the soul of the centre”.
Potential restrictions could include banning new short-term rental listings outright, reducing the number of listings in certain areas of the centre, limiting the proportion of apartments per building that can be let or allowing to rent properties. for a limited number of days each year, as other major European capitals already do.
London, for example, introduced a 90-day annual cap on which short-term rental hosts can rent out their properties, while Paris introduced a 120-day limit per year.
The municipality of Rome is calling for stricter regulation of short-term rental operations akin to rules announced in Venice, where the Italian government capped the number of rental days per year at 120 in July. Despite this, the city’s mayor has yet to enact the rule.
The authorities of other historic cities in Italy such as Milan, Florence and Bologna are also discussing potential legislation, but are growing frustrated with perceived inaction.
In the meantime, the 27 Member States of the European Union and the European Parliament are due to meet next year to discuss a data sharing proposal this would require the main short-term rental booking platforms to provide national authorities with data on the number of users using their services and the total number of nights spent in accommodation.
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