Tourism09 September, 20263 min read
European Union Proposes Affordable Housing Plan To Curb Airbnb-Style Rentals In Housing-Stressed Areas
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EU plan gives cities power to limit short-term rentals in housing-stressed areas. It provides a framework establishing conditions for restricting tourist rentals.
EU framework for cities
The European Union presented an “affordable housing” plan to support cities that want to limit short-duration rentals such as Airbnb in tourist-heavy areas where it is “more difficult finding housing.” The SWI swissinfo.ch report says the Commission wants to offer city councils “bases jurídicas” to regulate short-term rentals in zones where the share can reach “hasta el 20%” in some tourist neighborhoods, even though short-term rentals represent “alrededor del 1,2%” of the European housing stock.
Euronews adds that the framework is designed to create clarity and predictability in how local rules are applied, and it says the Commission plan is to help authorities identify “areas under housing stress” using a common methodology. Euronews also reports that the Commission says where authorities restrict housing use for short-term rentals or vacant dwellings, they must show it contributes to local housing pressures and that measures are “targeted, necessary and proportionate.”
Ribera, von der Leyen, Airbnb
Teresa Ribera, the European Commission vice-president, said when “el mercado fracasa a la hora de aportar algo tan fundamental como un alojamiento asequible, los poderes públicos tienen la responsabilidad de actuar,” as the measures were presented with a maximum validity of five years. Euronews reports that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a press statement that “Essential workers and students cannot afford to live where they serve and study,” framing the plan as about fairness.
Airbnb criticized the Commission’s approach, with Euronews quoting the company saying the Affordable Housing Act “will not add a single home to the long term rental market, while adding regulatory uncertainty for hosts across European cities.” France 24 reports that the Commission’s Affordable Housing Act aims to provide cities with legal cover so local authorities can take action without falling foul of EU single market rules, and it says the legislation will not affect landlords who rent out their own primary residence for short periods of time.
Stakes: housing stress and limits
The EU draft described in La Razón says housing stress already affects “más de 50% de los residentes urbanos” based on Eurobarometer data, and it says the proposal would allow cities to restrict certain forms of tourist rental when they can demonstrate their housing market is under strong pressure. La Razón reports that local authorities must assess affordability using the ratio between housing prices and available income, and it sets an initial activation threshold when the average purchase price is equal to or exceeds “ocho años” of local population’s available income.
Smart Travel News says the draft does not establish a European ban on Airbnb or automatically impose identical limits on all destinations, and it says Brussels intends to set conditions under which cities could adopt more restrictive measures without continually clashing with EU rules. Smart Travel News also reports that once housing pressure is proven, the draft opens the door for administrations to set quantitative limits on short-term rentals while requiring restrictions to be non-discriminatory and proportionate, and it notes that the Commission wants decisions based on objective indicators such as the evolution of the relationship between house prices and household incomes.