New pan-European short-term lease regulations getting closer...
On 29 February 2024, the European Parliament passed a regulation “concerning the sharing and collection of data for short-term accommodation rental services.”The regulation, passed by the European Parliament, clears the way for Member States to prepare domestic regulations. This is an important and much-anticipated event on the European scale.
The new rules will help to identify real estate landlords offering short-term leases, with the regulation introducing, among others, a unique registration number, which is to be included in the lease offer under the registration requirements. As a result, on-line platforms will not only have to publish offers that include this registration number, but also make random checks of whether landlords complete the required registration of their premises and provide the correct numbers. Local governments will have the authority to “suspend” registration numbers and request platforms to remove from their websites offers that do not meet the requirements. On-line platforms will also be obligated to provide local governments with data about landlords, and, for instance, the number of leased premises or guests. Sanctions are foreseen for landlords who fail to follow the new regulations, which also enable local governments to obtain, among others, the data of landlords who provide such services, as well as the location and duration of provision of such services.
It is worth noting that the emergence of international on-line platforms has revolutionised the short-term lease market, which is why tourist cities belonging to the European City Alliance , including Krakow, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Vienna, Madrid and Brussels, have been calling for such European-wide rules to address this phenomenon. The Alliance is led by Amsterdam.
Ms. Femke Halsema, Mayor of Amsterdam, has issued an open letter on behalf of the City Destinations Alliance.