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The European Commission has unveiled the Affordable Housing Act, the latest piece of the broader European Affordable Housing Plan launched on December 16, 2025, which has already mobilised more than €43 billion in EU funding for housing. The Act has two parts: a proposed EU Regulation, which gives local authorities a common framework for demonstrating when an area is under "housing stress" and for justifying any measures in a proportionate, transparent way; and a Commission Recommendation, focused instead on accelerating housing supply through faster permitting, better use of existing buildings, and more social housing. And here's the line that matters most — straight from the Commission itself, the kind of statement we at Tuscanhouses have been making for years:Restrictions alone cannot solve housing shortages.That's not our spin. It's written directly on the Act's official page. Local authorities remain free to regulate short-term rentals, secondary homes or vacant dwellings — but only if the measures are evidence-based, necessary and targeted, not blanket restrictions imposed because short-term rentals make an easy scapegoat.Even the European Parliament, in the housing crisis report adopted by its Housing Committee on February 9, 2026, didn't call for a ban. It called for short-term rental legislation that balances tourism with housing affordability — an explicit acknowledgment that this is more complex than a simple "tourists vs. residents" fight.The real issue isn't tourism — it's trustThe EU text acknowledges that housing pressure is concentrated in cities, metropolitan areas, islands and tourist destinations, and that some non-primary uses of housing can make it harder to find a stable long-term home. True. But the question too few people are asking is: why do property owners choose short-term rentals over long-term leases in the first place?For anyone who manages properties day to day, the answer is simple: risk. A landlord who signs a long-term lease and ends up with a tenant who stops paying can spend years and thousands of euros trying to reclaim their own property. With short-term rentals, that risk almost disappears entirely. This isn't an ideological rejection of long-term rentals — it's a rational response to a system that, in practice, protects non-paying tenants more than it protects owners who've invested their savings in a property.Until institutions rebalance that relationship, restricting short-term rentals won't move a single home into the stable residential market. It will simply push those properties out of the market altogether — or into unregulated, undeclared renting.This problem weighs more heavily in Italy than in most of the EU. Italy is among the countries where eviction for non-payment takes comparatively longer: even in straightforward cases it's a matter of months, and if the tenant contests or requests extensions, the process can drag on for years. This is why, when we talk about "trust in institutions," the Italian — and Tuscan — case isn't a footnote. It's the heart of the problem.Two tools, two very different weightsIt's worth clarifying a technical point that often gets lost: the proposed Regulation and the Recommendation don't carry the same legal force. The Regulation sets a common methodological standard — how to measure "housing stress," how to justify measures — and once adopted, it will be binding on Member States. The Recommendation, on the other hand — the part dedicated to streamlining permits and cutting red tape on the supply side — is not binding: it's sound advice the EU is offering to States and municipalities, which remain free to apply it, or to ignore it.In other words: Europe can suggest simplification, but it can't force anyone to actually simplify. It will be up to individual municipalities and regions to decide whether to genuinely follow that path — or to give in to the easier, more politically saleable temptation of punitive measures on short-term rentals, which the binding Regulation still allows, as long as they're "justified and proportionate."The real fix: less bureaucracy, real bargaining power for ownersThe Recommendation that accompanies the Regulation partly points in the right direction: faster permits, fewer administrative burdens, better use of the existing building stock. Those are exactly the right ingredients — simplification, not prohibition. But since it isn't binding, its fate depends entirely on local political will.But to truly turn the housing emergency into an opportunity, one decisive piece is still missing: legal tools that give owners real certainty they can reclaim their property quickly when a tenant stops paying. This isn't about weakening protections for honest tenants — it's about no longer treating non-payment as a risk the owner must simply absorb indefinitely.If authorities legislated in this direction — faster evictions for proven non-payment, less procedural red tape, predictable timelines — many owners who currently choose short-term rentals specifically to avoid this risk would start seriously considering long-term leases again. The housing problem would stop being a constraint and start becoming an opportunity.Our position hasn't changedThe EU itself admits that restrictions alone aren't enough. We'd add one more step: the real lever isn't limiting short-term rentals — it's restoring trust for those who would consider renting long-term. Less bureaucracy, real protection for owners against non-payment: that's the reform that's actually needed, not another crackdown on tourism.Own a property and want it to generate income without the non-payment risk? Tuscanhouses handles every aspect of short-term rental management for you — from guest sourcing to maintenance — so you get a stable return without the headaches. Get in touch for a free consultation.

The real issue isn't tourism — it's trust · Two tools, two very different weights · The real fix: less bureaucracy, real bargaining power for owners · Our position hasn't changed: Read More