EU moves to curb tourist rentals as Sardinia's housing squeeze deepens

The European Union is set to lay out rules to help 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 and reported by The Local Italy.

The proposed measures would give local authorities greater power to regulate the booming holiday-let market, which has been blamed for pushing up rents and pricing residents out of historic city centres across the continent.

For Sardinia, the timing is significant. The island's coastal towns have seen an explosion of short-term lets over the past decade, transforming the housing market in places like Cagliari, Alghero and Olbia.

The EU initiative comes as cities across Europe grapple with the side effects of mass tourism. According to The Local Italy's report on the plans seen by AFP, the aim is to provide a common framework that would allow municipalities to impose restrictions on platforms like Airbnb, which have been operating in a regulatory grey area in many member states.

Sardinia's experience mirrors that of better-known tourist destinations such as Venice, Florence and Barcelona, where residents have protested against the proliferation of short-term lets. On the island, the phenomenon has been most acute in the coastal belt, where property owners can often earn more in a few summer weeks than in a year of long-term renting.

The result, local observers have long noted, is a two-speed housing market: lucrative for property owners but increasingly unaffordable for teachers, nurses and young workers who staff the island's hospitals and services. The depopulation of Sardinia's interior is partly driven by this coastal dynamic, as young people struggle to find affordable housing even in the towns where jobs exist.

Under the EU plans, cities would be able to require registration of short-term rentals, impose limits on the number of days a property can be let, and demand that platforms share data with local authorities. Such tools have been sought by Italian mayors for years, though national legislation has been slow to follow.

For Sardinia's regional government, which has repeatedly raised the housing question in its dealings with Rome, the EU framework could offer a legal basis for action that has been difficult to achieve at the national level. The island's special autonomy status gives it some legislative room, but EU-wide rules would provide a clearer mandate.

The tourism industry, a cornerstone of Sardinia's economy, will be watching closely. The Costa Smeralda and other upmarket resorts depend heavily on high-end holiday rentals, and any restriction could alter the character of the island's tourism offer. Yet the balance between tourism revenue and resident quality of life is one that Sardinia, like much of Mediterranean Europe, has yet to strike.

The EU proposal is still at an early stage, and final rules are likely to take months to negotiate. But the direction of travel is clear, and for an island where housing pressures are reshaping communities, the outcome will matter well beyond the summer season.