The EU has identified short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb, TripAdvisor, and Expedia as a major driver of Europe’s affordable housing shortage, but has stopped short of spelling out how far it intends to regulate them, according to a draft of its forthcoming housing plan seen by Euractiv.
While light on detail, the draft said the Commission will propose new legislation on short-term rentals next year, aimed at limiting their negative effects while “preserving their benefits.”
The initiative would form part of a broader housing package that pairs closer scrutiny of short-term rentals with a review of EU state-aid rules to steer public funding towards housing projects, alongside new simplification measures for planning, permitting, construction and renovation.
Housing shortages have emerged as a top political priority for the Commission, which has appointed Dan Jørgensen as its first commissioner dedicated to housing a year ago. The European Parliament has also established a special committee on the housing crisis.
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The EU already passed a regulation on short-term rentals in 2024 – due to take effect in May 2026 – designed to tackle fraudulent listings and improve data-sharing between authorities and platforms.
But the draft housing plan, set to be adopted by the Commission on Tuesday, argued that stronger measures are needed. It said that between 2019 and 2024, around 70% of the growth of short-stay platforms reduced the availability of affordable housing for local residents. In some popular tourist destinations, short-term rentals account for up to 20% of housing stock.
Against that backdrop, the draft plan proposed a new regulation on short-term rentals to harmonise standards and housing definitions across the EU, curb unfair competition with traditional accommodation providers and small businesses, and strengthen consumer protection.
The draft also characterised short-term rentals as cross-border services, arguing that diverging national rules have created legal fragmentation across the bloc. Existing arrangements, it added, “generate unfair competition” with hotels and other providers that comply with EU safety, tax and consumer-protection rules, while consumer rights in short-term rentals “remain uneven and unclear across borders.”
(cz)
