the new rules, questions & answers – Corriere.it

The Minister of Tourism, Daniela Santanch, has proposed a nationwide tightening of short-term rentals with a bill whose text provides for a minimum stay of two nights in metropolitan cities. This means that tourists will need to stay overnight only one night will have to rely on other accommodation services. The intent is to favor hotel structures, but according to an analysis by Aigab (Italian Association of short-term rental managers) it is just 6.4% of the total overnight stays. A figure that – as explained by Marco Celani, president of the association and managing director of Italianway – in economic terms would be equal to 300 million euros. If we also take into account related industries, the figure rises to 1.2 billion. For the short-term rental sector, this is a substantial part of the market, but it is not certain that the turnover will be transferred entirely to the hotel sector.

What would be the impact of the new regulations on the market in Italy?

The typical overnight stayers of metropolitan cities are people who frequent them mostly for the weekend – explains Celani -. If the legislation were to pass, those who go to Airbnb and look for a house for one night without finding it could decide to go to a foreign city or not to leave at all. In this case, as a country system, this second choice made by a foreign tourist would have much more weight for Italy: for example, if a Roman gives up going to Venice for two days, his resources will still be spent in Rome; if he were to give up instead a Parisian, his resources will no longer contribute to the Italian GDP but to the French one. The cities that will be most affected by the minimum stay of two nights are Venice (where the so-called mini-stays are equivalent to 9.1% of the total), Florence (which accounts for 6.9%), Milan (where the figure affects peak at 16.7%) and Bologna (7.4%). This is because – adds Celani – the attraction is closely linked to events, such as fairs, concerts, festivals, and obviously business trips. The hoteliers’ category has put forward a counter-proposal to raise the minimum stay to three nights. According to data collected by Aigab, this would block 25% of bookings, but above all it could play a strong opposition role, because it is a monopolistic request.

Are there similar restrictions abroad?

Looking outside the Italian borders, especially in Europe there have been attempts to limit the sector, which however have always been rejected by authorities and judges. In Spain the restriction on stays of one night it was rejected and we provided the ministry with all the sentences, continues the president of Aigab. In Amsterdam, the municipality has imposed a ban on short-term rentals in three districts and in the southern part of the canal belt to improve the quality of life of the local population, overrun by tourists. However, the Court of Justice held that there was no proportionality between the efforts made by the administration and the housing problem, for which the provision was deemed illegitimate, adds Celani. Similar situation in Scotland: The country has implemented a restrictive one based on a licensing system and after four months the Edinburgh Court of Justice rejected it, repealing it.

How has the judicial authority expressed itself in Italy?

Some local governments agree with the ministry’s dotted line: the short-term rental market needs rules and restrictions. the case of Venice, which in the summer of 2022 applied a model to limit bookings in the historic center and on the islands, in order to protect the historical and cultural heritage but also to favor medium and long-term rentals. Pending national legislation, other cities – such as Florence and Milan – are thinking of applying the same initiative. But the first stops have also arrived in Italy. The Piedmont TAR, for example, contested the provisions that limit access to non-hotel activities and make their exercise more difficult for violation of the freedom to conduct a business: in particular, the legislation required landlords and bed and breakfasts a maximum opening period of 270 days and at least a minimum and continuous opening period of 45 days. A similar sentence had already arrived from the Lazio Regional Administrative Court in 2016, which annulled a regional regulation which imposed a regime of forced inactivity on non-entrepreneurial landlords and bed and breakfasts in certain periods of the year (which the owner had to communicate) as well as a minimum size limit.

National identification code (Cin): what advantages does it bring?

The other two innovations introduced by the bill of the Ministry of Tourism, on the other hand, could be a good sign and bring greater importance to the sector. The first concerns the National Identification Code (Cin). It would be a qualifying and useful element for the objective, also of the public administrations, of controlling the phenomenon of undeclared work and evasion – argues Celani -. For about ten years in Italy unique regional codes have been introduced which, however, have value only on the regional territory and are extremely different from each other, they adopt different software that collect different data and above all do not provide any form of control. Some insiders adopt them, but in fact today a manager or a private individual without an identification code can have the same visibility on the platforms. According to the text of the bill, the lack of the code for a property would result in a fine of up to 5,000 euros for the owners and up to 3,000 for the managers. But, according to Celani, it is not a question of a fine but of the effectiveness of the control: Let’s take the case of Greece as a reference: in March of this year, the government reached an agreement with the OTAs (Online Travel Agencies, travel websites, ed), for which the authorities assign a code to the properties but it is the OTAs who manage them. If this is not verified or checked, the ad will not be promoted online. In this way, about 17,000 were blocked in a few days.

What would change by attributing an Ateco code to property managers?

Another important step, envisaged by the current version of the bill, consists in recognizing the role of property managers and attributing an independent Ateco code (the classification of economic activities adopted by Istat for statistical purposes) to the category. It exists today the Ateco code 552051 which unites landlords, bed and breakfasts, holiday homes, albino shelters – explains Celani -. They are all subjects, however, that have a different economic weight and it is right to differentiate them. Having an identification would directly recognize the dimension of the phenomenon and the work of those who manage short-term rental bookings in a professional way. In Italy there are about 30,000 companies operating in this market.