In Milan, for every short rental there are two vacant houses

In Milan, for every one dwelling for short rentals, there are two that owners prefer to leave empty. The main reasons for this are concern over delinquency in traditional rentals and the difficulties involved in managing short rentals, given that two thirds of Milan's short rentals are not entrepreneurially managed rentals. A centripetal market, that of short rentals, which is concentrated in the city centre and which declines the further one moves away from tourist and central city destinations.

This is what emerges from the latest elaboration by Aigab (Italian Association of Short-term Rentals Managers), in collaboration with Wonderful Italy, on data from the Municipality of Milan, to create the city's first 'atlas of short-term rentals'. The study analyses, neighbourhood by neighbourhood, the number of dwellings for short-term rentals, comparing it with the overall real estate stock and resident population.

In Milan, out of a total of approximately 809,000 dwellings (657,000 in the hands of individuals and the others owned by legal and public bodies), the Milanese dwellings available for short rentals amount to 18,250 units, or 2.2% of the total, concentrated mainly in the central and tourist districts, but those permanently on the market are just over a third. Porta Venezia, Duomo, Brera, Sarpi and Stazione Centrale alone account for more than a quarter of the short-term rental market in Milan.
If we consider only the 657,000 units in the hands of small landlords, of these, 56200 are disposable properties (i.e. houses not occupied by the owner and on which there is no permanent lease). These also include short lets, which amount to 18250. So, for every house rented out to tourists, there are two empty ones.

According to the study, outside the centre, short-term rentals are a marginal phenomenon. For example, in Bande Nere, out of 20 thousand dwellings (with 44,000 residents), only 274 are available for short-term rentals, or 1.3 per cent of the total. In Lodi-Corvetto, with 37 thousand residents and 17 thousand dwellings, there are 292 (1.7 per cent). Similar numbers are recorded in Giambellino. These figures show that, in these areas, short-term rentals do not have a significant impact on the housing market. According to the study, short rentals do not affect university districts too much either. In Città Studi, for example, there are 374 short-term rentals out of 36 thousand homes, or 1 per cent, while in Bovisa there are 71 out of 6 thousand (1.2 per cent).

"The research, based on data from the Municipality of Milan," said Marco Celani, President of Aigab and CEO of Italianway, "confirms that short rentals are not present to such an extent as to influence sales or rental prices. Moreover, the study shows that, outside the centre, where housing demand is greatest, short rentals occupy a very small share of the real estate stock'.