The Italian city of Florence on Thursday announced an immediate ban on new short-term private vacation rentals in the Renaissance city’s historic center, part of an effort to draw full-time residents back to one of Italy’s most popular tourist destinations.
Mayor Dario Nardella called the ban “daring” but legally defensible.
“If we don’t try to take politically disruptive actions, no one makes a move,” Nardella said, referring to expectations that the Italian government would adopt a plan that so far allows only Venice to cap the number of days a property can be rented out at 120.
“We are tired of announcements,” Nardella said. “The problem has become structural.”
Students in Italian cities, including Florence, Milan and Rome, have been camping out in tents on campuses to protest a lack of affordable housing. At the same time, art cities like Florence and Venice have seen their housing stocks depleted by short-term rentals, defined as covering any period less than 30 days.
Nardella is a member of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), which is part of the opposition at national level.
As in other European countries, a mixture of low salaries, a property shortage, short-term holiday rentals and high inflation have driven a housing crisis, with low-wage earners and students hit hard in Italy.
Nardella said the Florence government would not go after the 8,000 short-term private rentals already operating in the city’s historic center, an area under UNESCO protection as a historic treasure that includes the Uffizi galleries and the Ponte Vecchio. The city as a whole has about 11,000 short-term private rentals.
Instead, the city plans to offer a tax incentive to property owners who convert their places back to long-term rentals. Under the plan, property taxes on a second home would be canceled for up to three years, potentially adding up to thousands of euros (dollars) in savings.
The central government is working on a bill, which according to Italian media reports, would require each residential property rented to tourists to have a national identification code to help track and regulate lettings. Those failing to comply would risk a penalty of up to 5,000 euros ($5,500).
Additionally, authorities in the most visited cities would have the right to impose a minimum stay of two nights in the context of short rentals in their city centres.
Airbnb did not immediately comment on Nardella’s initiative, but said in a statement that it wanted to see “clear and simple national rules” in Italy.
“We are concerned that proposals regarding one-night stays breach EU and national laws, and we look forward to working with the government to discuss alternative ways forward,” it said. (AP/Reuters)