Regulation of Short-Term Rentals: Policy Responses from Europe

This study reviews short-term rentals regulation in five countries of the European Union- France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain- and investigates the role of European law, in order to examine regulatory choices, similarities and differences and the suitability of regulation to mitigate negative effects of short-term rentals. Although the literature has provided comparative studies on short-term rental regulation at the regional or city level, very few studies focus at the country level or discuss the role of European law. The present paper aims to address this gap with a narrative review of theoretical and empirical literature on country level STR regulation from various disciplines, placing emphasis on legal and economic research and including official EU documents. The study concludes that countries follow a diversified and fragmented approach, divided between the national and the local level and do not address a number of important issues, such as distinction between professional and non-professional providers and health and safety conditions. The effect of European law is limited to the regulation of digital services and consumer protection.