The European Union proposes the Affordable Housing Act to limit short-term rentals and address the housing crisis

A brake on short-term rentals to provide relief from the housing crisis. Now it is the European Union that is directly intervening on the age-old issue that animates the debate in the major European cities. Brussels comes to the aid of local authorities who want to place limits on short-term rentals and house speculation that will be possible if the area involved is considered "under housing stress". This is what emerges from the proposal on the Affordable Housing Act that the European Commission will present on 9 September.

To be such an area must have a ratio between the average price of a house and the average disposable income equal to or greater than eight, a growing trend in the last ten years and not decreasing in the next three years. If these criteria are met, local authorities will be able to identify areas under housing stress and introduce restrictions on short-term rentals and second homes. The limits on short-term rentals will only concern properties other than the host's main residence, leaving out those who occasionally rent the house in which they live.

Mayors will also be able to impose limits on the purchase or use of property that is not the principal home of either the owner or another person, such as a tenant. The measure therefore mainly concerns second homes and properties intended for tourism or investment. The new rules will take the form of a regulation, meaning they will be binding throughout the EU. In this way, the obstacle that the Services Directive has represented up to now has been overcome, under which the freedom of economic exploitation of properties is guaranteed.

The new framework, in essence, will offer local authorities a European legal basis to limit tourist rentals offered through platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com, reducing uncertainty and the risk of litigation. The more prescriptive indications such as those on the maximum number of nights hypothesized in a first phase disappeared from the text. However, the regulation will be accompanied by recommendations to increase the supply of accessible homes, recover empty properties and expand social housing.

The Commission's proposal gives a response to a theme such as that of the housing crisis placed by the EU socialists as a priority at the beginning of the mandate, which also saw the involvement of an alliance of mayors from various countries and the creation of a special commission in the European Parliament. The trade associations, however, have already promised to fight. Aigab, the Italian Association of short-term rental managers, warns that Italy risks losing "millions of beds and millions of arrivals" and that half a million families could see a source of income reduced or choose to resort to the undeclared economy.

"Hands off the house. Enough dirigisme and invasive rules from Brussels bureaucrats: it is unacceptable to think of imposing new constraints on the purchase, use or rental of properties", is the comment of the deputy prime minister and leader of the League Matteo Salvini.

However, the president of Federalbeghi, Bernabò Bocca, applauds, speaking of "a very important step for the accommodation system in general and, above all, for the quality of life itself in the cities most oppressed by the phenomenon" of housing stress. Also on Wednesday, the EU Executive will present another key text of the legislature: the Public Procurement Act, or the procurement reform, which will see the introduction of the concept of "made in Europe".

Administrations may exclude or penalize offers in which goods, services or works originating in the Union or in covered countries represent less than 50% of the total value. The paradigm of the lowest price also disappears, replaced by the rule of the best quality-price ratio, with a minimum weight of 30% for the quality criteria.