EU plans to help cities curb tourist rentals as Alpine towns feel 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, expected to be presented by the European Commission, would give local authorities new tools to regulate the booming short-let market, which has been blamed for squeezing residents out of city centres across the continent.

For Trentino-Alto Adige, the EU's move lands at a moment of acute housing tension. The region's Dolomite valleys and lake towns have become a magnet for platform-based holiday lets, and local mayors have long complained that the influx of tourists is driving up rents and pushing young families toward the urban fringes. The new Brussels framework could offer a legal backbone to policies that regional municipalities have struggled to enforce on their own.

The wire report, carried by The Local Italy, notes that the EU sees short-term rentals as a factor in the housing affordability crisis affecting many European cities. While the plans are still preliminary, they signal a shift in Brussels from laissez-faire oversight toward active intervention in a market that has grown rapidly since the pandemic.