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European cities and regions have required increased transparency and free access to information regarding short-term rentals, voicing these requests through an opinion drafted by Roberto Ciambetti, President of the Vento Regional Council.
According to a press release by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), during a plenary session on March 15, President Ciambetti pointed out that these requests would help combat illegal activities and would ensure affordable housing for local communities, as many European cities are currently dealing with housing shortages of some sort, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“This opinion intends to protect tourists, tenants, and platform managers in order to counter illegal practices and forms of unfair competition. The tourism market needs legal barriers that protect all stakeholders to safeguard the local socio-economic context by tackling phenomena such as over-tourism and gentrification without compromising the economic benefits that the short-term rental sector offers,” the rapporteur Roberto Ciambetti said.
He also pointed out that the short-term rental sector is on the rise, so it requires a common framework and a set of rules that ensure transparency in the sector of tourism and accommodation.
Tourism represents a strategic sector for the European Union as it accounts for ten per cent of the EU’s gross domestic product and generates jobs for 26 million people. Short-term accommodation rentals are mainly used by tourists, representing nearly one-third of the total tourist accommodation facilities in the EU, which was also boosted by online platforms in recent years.
The EU institutions have brought to attention that over the years, short-term accommodation rentals have put at difficulty big European cities that have excessive tourism flows and are dealing with housing shortages or difficulties.
The lack of clarity and transparency has pushed many EU cities and regions to apply measures to limit the activity of short-term rental services, such as setting a maximum number of days that a property can be rented, banning short-term rentals in specific areas and buildings as well as tightening tax collection.
Therefore, the EU cities are calling on the European Commission for a regulation proposal that would increase transparency, which leads to better policy-making, and local and regional authorities point out they need free access to data to be able to manage and regulate accommodation across European territories. Areas with a very active online platform occur with issues of real estate as house rentals and house prices go up, leaving little and inadequate properties for locals.
As of January 2023, online platforms have started communicating information to authorities for income earned by renting out a property, and regional and local leaders expressed their concerns regarding reporting requirements under EU regulations and wished to clarify that cities must have access to data to customize their tourism, housing, transport and policies.
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