Italy: The local government in Florence has ordered the removal of self check-in keyboxes / lockboxes at holiday rental properties, effective from today [25 February].
The mandate has been brought in to address rising concerns around overtourism and its impact on the Tuscan capital.
Speaking last week, Sara Funaro, the mayor of Florence, told an Italian TV channel that the city council would go around the city as soon as the mandate comes into effect and remove any keyboxes that are still in place.
Holiday rental property owners found not to be complying with the mandate could face fines of up to €400 [£331.73 / $417.20], according to city officials.
While short-term rental companies and platforms have used self check-in keyboxes / lockboxes to allow guests to arrive at flexible times, removing the ned for hosts and owners to be there in person for the check-in procedure and save them crucial time, some local residents argue that these keyboxes are eyesores on streets and can pose a security risk if a check-in is not carried out as a physical encounter.
Other cities across Italy and France in particular, notably Rome, Venice, Paris and Marseille, have also taken measures to order the removal of key lockboxes amid concerns over rising visitor numbers.
Massimo Torelli, spokesperson for the ‘Let’s Save Florence to Live in It’ campaign and activist group, told Reuters that Florence “is dying of uncontrolled tourism”, brought on by boxes appearing on everything from bicycle racks and street light poles. Torelli also called for the number of short-term rental properties in the city to drop by around 50 per cent, from approximately 15,000 to 7-8,0000, leaving more supply for long-term housing options.
On a national level, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s administration has introduced regulations that require in-person identification when a guest checks themselves in at a short-term rental.
Meanwhile, short-term rental advocacy group AIGAB [Associazione Italiana Gestori Affitti Brevi] discussed the issue of overcrowding at a hearing at the Tourism Commission of the Municipality of Florence [Comune di Firenze] last week, in which it said that there were in fact around 12,000 listings in the city, and only 6,000 of those are permanently online [less than three per cent of Florence’s total real estate stock].
It added that, according to the Italian National Institute of Statistics [ISTAT], around 13 per cent of the city’s properties are currently vacant, and it is important to understand which houses are empty, to whom they belong, and to understand how they can be filled at controlled prices.
The issue of short-term rental regulations in Florence has threatened to turn into a saga in recent years. Just last September, the Court of Florence [Il Tribunale di Firenze] ruled that the city could not prohibit property owners from renting out their unit or apartment in two flats near the railway station, rejecting arguments put forward by local residents.
The case concerned a building in Via Canour, close to the railway station and the famous Piazza San Marco, where residents had opposed a property management company using two apartments as short-term rentals that were to be listed on online booking platforms. Despite complaints from residents in the flats that the company was violating condominium rules, that it would cause disruption to their lives through the comings and goings of strangers and that it would have a negative impact on the value of their properties, the court judge ruled in favour of the operator, stating that the rental itself did not constitute a nuisance to the residents.
According to the judge, any rules to ban the flats from being rented out as short-term rentals would only have applied if all property managers had unanimously agreed.
