If you were thinking of renting an Airbnb room or apartment in Florence your goal was just made harder. The cty where the Renaissance was born is to stop short holiday rentals in its UNESCO areas, Mayor Dario Nardella said Thursday. The measure is not retroactive, he added.
There has been much pushback against the ravages of short-term tourist rentals such as Vrbo and Airbnb. Airbnb can have negative impacts on locals’ quality of life. This is one of the lesser-known Airbnb problems. Tourists hiring a place on Airbnb to enjoy a “cheaper” holiday actually pushes rent prices up for locals who need to live in the city. Tourists are visitors competing with locals for accommodation. In addition, tourist rentals irrevocably change the residential quality of neighborhoods as more and more homes take on the function of small hotels.
According to Nardella, in Florence the aim is to stop Airbnb and other holiday rental companies from hollowing out the historic center of the cradle of the Renaissance. Nardella’s aim is to preserve local residence in those areas.
The Italian government is working on a bill to impose restrictions on the short-stay holiday rental market.
The aim of the bill is to stop tourism being “out of proportion” with respect to the local accommodation capacity and to “safeguard the residential nature of city centres” and prevent local people being priced out of the housing market, a draft said.
The bill would make the owners of properties used for short-stay rentals obtain a special CIN identification code.
The owner of a property rented out without a CIN would face a fine of up to 5,000 euros, The bill would also make it obligatory for such rental agreements to be for at least two nights in big cities, except in the case of families made up of three children and at least one parent.
Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche’ has pledged to present the bill by the end of June.
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