Presented in the form of a working document in today's NAT Commission meeting by our rapporteur Roberto Ciambetti, the idea to regulate the short-term rental sector garnered resounding support from fellow CoR members.

President of the Veneto Regional Council, Mr Ciambetti knows only too well the challenges linked to the increasingly growing professionalisation of short-term rentals. Recognising their obvious benefits such as "cost, trackability and the opportunity to choose those with good reviews and feedback", he was more eager to draw attention to the issues they cause to the inhabitants of the local communities they are found in. Citing his own city of Venice as an example, Mr Ciambetti explained to participants that "in cities like Amsterdam, Barcelona or Venice the phenomena of short-term rentals is causing issues for people to gain access to housing and even going as far as depriving local communities of having a sense of belonging to their community".

Eighteen Eurocities members form a European Cities Alliance on Short Term Rentals and Mr Ciambetti made reference to an open letter they sent, supported by many MEPs, in July 2022, requesting a legislative initiative to regulate short-term rentals.

The letter specifically insisted on the subsidiarity principle, highlighting that local, regional or national authorities should decide on the exact requirements “so they can tailor their approaches to the specific needs.”

This is essentially what Roberto Ciambetti pleaded today that these, often historical, areas that are becoming more and more swarmed with short-term rentals must be "regulated with carefully defined proportional measures". 

The reactions and interventions of members from other political groups made it very clear that many agree that local and regional authorities should regulate this sector autonomously.

The discussions and feedback from today's meeting will now feed into the next step for Mr Ciambetti, which is to draw up an opinion that will be up for adoption in November.