EU moves to curb tourist rentals as Umbria's hill towns feel the strain

The European Union is set to lay out rules helping European cities to curb short-term rentals such as Airbnb in a bid to tackle rising house prices, according to plans seen by AFP on Friday. The proposal, reported by The Local Italy, would give local authorities new powers to limit the spread of holiday lets that have transformed housing markets across the continent's most visited cities.

For Umbria, the timing is significant. The region's hill towns — Perugia, Assisi, Spoleto, Orvieto — have watched the same dynamic that hollowed out Venice and Florence arrive at a smaller scale: properties bought up and converted to short-term lets, pushing rents beyond the reach of local families and accelerating the depopulation of the historic centres.

The EU measure arrives as Italy's inland regions confront a demographic decline that international coverage has repeatedly documented. A tool to restrain tourist lets could help slow the bleeding, though its effects will depend on how aggressively Italian municipalities choose to use it.