EU plans tourist rental clampdown as Italian cities feel strain

The European Union is set to lay out rules helping European cities 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 tools to regulate the booming holiday-let market that has reshaped urban centres across the continent.

The move comes as pressure mounts on Italian cities where short-term lets have accelerated a housing crisis. In Turin, the regional capital of Piemonte, and in Alpine towns such as Bardonecchia and Limone Piemonte, the spread of tourist apartments has coincided with a shortage of affordable housing for residents and seasonal workers.

EU officials have not yet published the full text of the proposed rules. But the reported plan signals a shift in Brussels toward supporting municipal intervention in housing markets, a policy arena long left to national and local governments.

The EU initiative arrives at a moment when several European cities have already acted unilaterally. Barcelona, Amsterdam and Lisbon have imposed restrictions on short-term lets, and Italian municipalities have watched those experiments closely. The reported EU rules would standardise some of these approaches, giving cities a legal framework to limit the number of days a property can be rented to tourists or to require registration of hosts.

For Piemonte, the stakes are concrete. Turin has seen a steady increase in holiday lets concentrated in the historic centre, near the Porta Nuova and Porta Susa stations, and around the Mole Antonelliana. The trend has been documented in the Italian press, which La Veduta cannot cite; what the foreign wire supports is the broader European dynamic of short-term rentals pushing up housing costs in tourist destinations.

The region's Alpine resorts face a seasonal version of the same problem. In winter, ski towns need workers for hotels, restaurants and lift operations; in summer, the same towns fill with visitors. When property owners prefer the higher yields of short-term rentals over long-term leases, the local workforce struggles to find housing. This pattern has been reported across the Alps, from Austria to France, and Piemonte's western valleys face the identical pressures.

The timing of the EU plan is notable. Italy is heading toward national elections in 2027, and housing affordability has become a live political issue in cities across the country. The centre-left opposition has criticised the Meloni government over housing policy, though the EU rules would apply regardless of who holds power in Rome.

What remains unclear is how the rules would interact with Italian legislation. Italy introduced its own national code for short-term rentals in 2024, requiring hosts to obtain a national identification number. The EU plan could either complement that system or require adjustments. The Local Italy reported that the EU proposals are still in draft form and subject to negotiation among member states and the European Parliament.

For Turin, the outcome matters beyond housing. The city has invested heavily in tourism as part of its post-industrial reinvention, marketing its baroque architecture, its cinema museum and its proximity to the Alps. A balance between tourism revenue and residential stability is a delicate one, and the EU rules could give the municipal government a legal basis to strike it.

No Italian official has yet commented publicly on the EU plan, according to the wire. The proposal is expected to be formally presented in the coming months, after which the usual Brussels negotiation process will begin. For now, city authorities in Piemonte and elsewhere can only watch and prepare.