Short-term rentals, now Puglia also prepares the squeeze

The municipalities of Puglia may soon have the power to limit the number of properties available for tourist rentals. By identifying areas in which the phenomenon has exceeded the guard level and must, therefore, be restricted. This is the heart of the draft law on short-term rentals that the Apulia Council, led by Antonio Decaro, is defining in these weeks, after having closed a consultation phase with social partners that will lead to the formal presentation in the Regional Council.

This is a very important intervention, also at a national level, because Puglia (where there are 44,883 'active' properties for tourist rental registered in the regional database, one of the highest concentrations in Italia) would be the third Region to regulate the phenomenon, after Toscana and Emilia-Romagna. Both of these regions, however, were the victims of a government challenge. The approval of another regional law, in short, would be yet another sign that the phenomenon requires uniform regulation at the national level.

Narrating the intervention is Graziamaria Starace, the Region's councillor for tourism: 'We wanted to give a signal in response to what we received during the election campaign. There are communities that are deprived of the possibility of finding accommodation for ordinary long-term rentals because so many owners decide to opt for short-term rentals, because they are more remunerative and because the tenant leaves at the end of the holiday".

The Apulia bill revolves around Article 2: here the path is chosen of a planning regulation of the phenomenon, managed by mayors. The municipalities with the highest tourist density and all the provincial capitals, according to the proposal, will be able, by means of their own regulations, to identify zones or areas in which "to define specific criteria and limits for the performance of tourist leasing activities". These limits will have to take into account measurable elements, such as the ratio 'between the number of bed places in the real estate units for residential use subject to tourist rental and the resident population', the accommodation capacity of hotels and non-hotel structures, the characteristics of the urban fabric, the need "to protect, also with reference to environmental sustainability,the archaeological, historical, artistic and landscape value", and the quality standards of the hospitality service. Starace continues: 'We have decided to give as much freedom as possible to the municipalities, so that they can limit this phenomenon both quantitatively and by perimetering the areas of their territory, establishing that in some of these areas no short-term rentals can be made'.

This approach takes up what has already been approved by Tuscany (in Article 59 of Regional Law no. 61/2024) and positively assessed by the Constitutional Court at the end of 2025, with sentence no. 186. Starting from a practical principle: where the excessive number of properties for short-term rental creates excessive imbalances and problems for the territory, the municipalities may have the power to intervene, to regulate the phenomenon.Mayors will thus be able to limit tourist rental activities; they will be able to identify "a specific ratio that must exist between the surface area of the property and the number of guests admitted"; they will be able to define "requirements and quality standards that tourist rental properties must possess with reference, in particular, to the accessibility of spaces, hygiene and sanitation standards, the decorum of the environments, and the presence of connectivity services".