Short-term lettings: the Constitutional Court overturns the Emilia-Romagna law

The law passed by the Emilia-Romagna region at the end of 2025 concerning short-term lettings. The Constitutional Court, in its ruling no. 19/2025, struck down two key provisions of that legislation, arguing that the restrictions imposed by the Region are excessive and disproportionate to the objective of limiting tourist lettings.

The decision follows another ruling by the Constitutional Court (No. 186/2025) which, in contrast, had ruled in favour of the Region of Tuscany on a similar issue, against an appeal lodged by the Government. In this case, however, the judges explain that whilst it is right to limit overtourism, this must be done through proportionate measures.

In essence, the judgement does not challenge the Region’s jurisdiction but rather the measures adopted, namely the establishment of a specific land-use designation known as ‘short-term letting’ and the possibility of identifying, within its town planning instruments, specific areas of the municipal territory in which the establishment of the ‘short-term let’ land-use category is subject to compliance with specific conditions.

Palazzo Chigi argued that the regulations would result in ‘a distortion of competition between short-let operators – the sole targets of the restrictive measures in question – and operators of other types of tourist accommodation, including non-hotel accommodation’. The new registration requirement would constitute ‘a de facto obstacle’ for short-term let operators and a restriction on the market.

The basis for the challenge, as stated in the judgement, ‘is correct’. The Court subjected the contested provisions to a proportionality test, finding that the aim pursued (the limitation of overtourism) is worthy of protection, but that the Emilia-Romagna law, on this point, is disproportionate to that aim, as it applies to the entire region. Furthermore, Article 4 of the legislation creates an unreasonable disparity between operators of holiday lettings and operators of non-hotel accommodation facilities, in that the obligation to change the property’s designation from residential to tourist accommodation applies only to the former, ‘even though tourist rentals may be sporadic, whilst non-hotel accommodation must be managed on a commercial basis’.