As traditional hotels in hotspot tourist destinations end to be expensive, short-term rentals have boomed in city centres across Europe, putting pressure on the local housing market and displacing residents from their own neighbourhoods.
As local administrations fight against the uncontrolled rise of accommodation listed on platforms such as Airbnb, regulations such as licensing restrictions in Athens or Barcelona and night caps in Amsterdam or Paris are becoming increasingly common.
This is squeezing the profitability of housing investments, but some investors have found a new opportunity, so-called ‘mid-term rentals’ (30 days to up to a year).
As of the beginning of this year, Paris leads as the European city with the most accommodation offered on the platform, with over 91,000 rooms and houses, and there are 12,000 in Florence and almost 35,000 in Rome.
