EDITOR'S COMMENT
If anything, the juxtaposition between the potential holiday rental ban in Barcelona and the overturning of a rental ban in the historic centre of Florence further underlines the need for a standardised regulatory framework across the European Union. Regulators are seemingly unsure about how they want to apply short-term rental restrictions and the severity to which they apply them, which only drives confusion and anger for local residents, owners and guests alike.
The Regional Administrative Court of Tuscany's [TAR] ruling to overturn a ban on registering short-term rentals for tourists in the historic UNESCO centre of Florence could prove to be a significant turning point in the regulatory landscape, as well as in future urban planning policies and tourism management. Equally, it is too early to say if it will be another false dawn for property managers and advocacy organisations who continue to fight hard for consistent, proportionate legislation, especially if current Mayor Sara Funaro and former Mayor Dario Nardella maintain their hard-line offensive on the short-term rental sector.
The noise generated by protesters in cities such as Florence, Milan, Rome, Bologna and Venice, as well as overseas in Barcelona, Malaga and the Canary Islands for example, is certainly damaging for this segment as it perpetuates the supposition that short-term rentals are solely responsible for the lack of affordable housing and the rise in anti-social behaviour, when politicians should also be in the spotlight for their own urban planning policies. At the same time, the news from Florence could help to counter the wider media narrative and bring about a concerted effort to implement effective - and considered - legislation.
The European Commission is currently in the process of implementing regulation on short-term rental data collection and sharing that will act as a standardised legislative framework for the sector in the EU.
Read our latest piece from Florence here, featuring the thoughts of Italy's Minister of Tourism, AIGAB president Marco Celani, Airbnb and more.
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