Naples approves 30% limit for B&Bs in the historic center

The Naples City Council said yes by majority to the crackdown on B&Bs in the historic center, establishing a ceiling with new rules and limitations, no more than 30 percent, leaving 70% of the properties for residential use, and the obligation to change the intended use.

A choice, according to the centre-left, to prevent residents from being forced to leave the buildings in the centre, therefore a barrier to tourism: too many protests in recent times also in relation to the fact that the transformation of numerous homes into B&Bs had caused house prices to skyrocket, especially in some neighbourhoods. And many, unable to afford high costs, were forced to leave.

The rules approved this evening in the chamber, after a long, at times tense, debate, provide that in a building with ten apartments only three may be used for hospitality purposes; the other seven will have to be used as civilian homes and this to avoid the expulsion of residents from the historic center, or from that area of ​​the city where numerous B&Bs have sprung up in recent times. The 30 percent threshold has already been exceeded in some neighborhoods. Now the imposed limit could push to invest even in more peripheral areas.

Another issue is that of the change of intended use. In this way it will be easier to understand how many accommodations will be allocated to non-hotel reception and specific authorizations will be needed to make the change.

For the deputy mayor with responsibility for urban planning, Laura Lieto, who has been working on the new regulation for over a year, it is a government tool that protects residentiality.