23 European cities ask EU to limit short term rentals

While the surge of travelers returning to Europe has been a welcome sight for the hospitality industry, not everyone is thrilled with the situation. In response to the rising popularity of short-term rental properties hosted on sites like Airbnb, mayors from 23 European cities, including Paris and Amsterdam, are asking the EU to limit short-term rentals.

The letter argues that problems caused by the rapid rise in short-term rentals go beyond the obvious things like increased noise complaints due to partying vacationers. It’s also drastically raised local rent prices and removed large amounts of housing from the market, effectively pushing locals out of their own neighborhoods.

To put the issue into context, the letter highlights that in Lisbon’s historic Alfama neighborhood, more than 55% of the apartments are now short-term rentals. In Amsterdam, in 2013 there were about 4,500 short-term rental listings, that number jumped to 22,000 by 2017.