The Congress meeting in Strasbourg this week adopted the report on “Home sharing platforms: challenges and opportunities for municipalities” on 26 October 2021. The report deals with pressing issues in European cities: tourism, housing, and digitalisation. It includes an in-depth analysis of the situation in Europe and examples of practices developed by European cities to deal with the growth of home sharing.
The report considers Home sharing a welcome disruption to the traditional tourism economy by providing a more affordable form of accommodation, extra income for residents, and the revitalisation of city centres. Rapporteur Jelena DRENJANIN, (Sweden, EPP/CCE) stressed the ”negative impact of the overgrowth of home-sharing”. She also referred to correlated risks and adverse effects such as: fraudulent listings, higher accommodation prices, the decline of traditional businesses, inefficiency of regulations and tax collections and that the economic benefits for residents are limited: to a small portion who can rent their homes. She called for “the relevant policies need be reviewed with appropriate political backing from different levels of governance”.
The Congress invites local and regional authorities to adopt a long-term vision of home sharing practices. They must be framed by a flexible, simplified, and accessible regulation, made of various tools: building permissions, urban planning, taxation, health and safety standards... The consultation with platforms – but also with community stakeholders – is crucial to implement balanced policies. Data sharing and transparency lies at the core of the issue, which elucidates the key challenges faced by municipalities. The Congress thereby requests national authorities to support cities and regions in obtaining data from platforms. They must also give them increased powers and means to monitor the implementation of housing regulations. Finally, national authorities must work with local and regional elected representatives on sustainable tourism growth strategies.
*** 41st Session of the Congress***
Agenda - Documents : ENG | FRA | DEU | ITA | RUS
File 41st Session : live webcast, photos, videos and useful links
