Short leases: between sustainability and unsustainability

28 March 2023

That of tourist rentals and short term rentals is a hot topic on several fronts, the one we would most like to highlight is that related to sustainability and the environmental, social, cultural and economic impact that this phenomenon is gaining over time. That a private individual can rent part or all of his or her home for a short period is not only a right but is at the very core of the definition of non-hotel accommodation.
It is with this definition in fact that the legislator has defined and regulated this type of relationship between private individuals.

As early as the 1970s, especially on Lake Garda, houses slowly became hotels and camps became campsites, until in the early 2000s they had an important accommodation capacity.

In other areas, however, the flow of tourists was not sufficient to guarantee the development of accommodation facilities and was articulated, as with the Irish model, in the development of a series of B&B or Agriturismi on which secondary tourist destinations began their development. The owner/accommodation structure relationship was very strong and characterised the offer itself.
The legislator took this element into consideration and the legislation therefore followed, in its own time, these development logics, sticking to the living fabric of the Italian territory.

With the mini-boom of 2012, the possibility of travelling was extended to many countries and people who previously did not have a sufficient budget to travel around Italy in hotels. The search for less expensive solutions on the one hand and Italy's economic uncertainties on the other, led to an increase in the supply of rooms or flats. The growing demand was facilitated by the development of online platforms that made it easy and convenient to manage supply. The development has been so rapid that legislation has not been able to keep up, only now trying to regulate a phenomenon born years ago and which in some areas, such as in cities of art, has now degenerated.

From the data in our possession, it is clear how the phenomenon defined as 'second homes' creates an anthropic pressure, for example in the production of waste, that can only be estimated. In fact, there is no precise and targeted control system as tourist or short-let activities are equated with domestic users.  Water consumption, given the variable number of occupants, is also difficult to predict. Emissions are difficult to assess, as the regulations governing the hotel and open-air sector are not mandatory.

So, if the business is there, and the speculation phenomena are proof of this, it is a business that has the opportunity to become sustainable for local territories and communities, for the business fabric and for the environment.  What we can hope for is that regulations will be drafted to give precise directives to tourist and short-let lettings and that among them the environmental impact and level of sustainability will start to be taken seriously.

It is difficult today to assess whether for the hotel accommodation sector this type of phenomenon could represent unsustainable competition, what is certain is that in the absence of rules for carrying out an activity in a modern logic of sustainability, unsustainability would in fact not be ruled out.
On the other hand, the phenomenon must absolutely be taken into consideration, if not encouraged, in the low or very low seasons, where tourist flows do not justify a partial or total opening of the hotel sector in view of the high and different management costs.