Diamantini (Halldis): “It is essential to find rules”
Short-term rentals are in the eye of the storm. The mayors of the major Italian cities, in fact, are asking to stop their diffusion, but clarity is needed on the subject and the new EU directive on administrative cooperation (DAC7) as soon as it enters into force, it can be the starting point for solving the problem as long as it is “Italianised” during the implementation decree phase.
That’s what he claims Michele Diamantini, CEO of Halldis, historic Italian company (whose origins date back to 1986) active in short-term rentals which manages around 1,000 properties including apartments, palaces and villas, in more than 120 Italian and European locations. In Italy, the market for properties intended for short-term rentals concerns approx 600 thousand properties (Halldis elaboration on Istat data and Real Estate Scenarios 2021).
The value of online sales of the non-hotel sector in our country, the third largest in the world market for short-term rentals, preceded only by the United States and France, amounts to approximately 3 billion euros (source: Milan Polytechnic Digital Observatory, 2021). An industry in which it is estimated that they operate 25,000 professional managers, whose turnover is around 1.2 billion euros.
Doctor Diamantini, is it right to regulate the short-term rental sector?
“AND it is essential to find rules that will make this activity a real industry. It is an activity that has always existed, but that for the past 20 years has had a greater development thanks to the internet. We have been talking about vacation rental since the early 1970s and for 10 years we have been discussing how to regulate it. A step that would also bring out that undeclared part that hasn’t emerged even with the introduction of the coupon”.
In Spain, for example, they are ahead of us.
“In Spain 20% of GDP is linked to tourism and in some areas this value even reaches 60-70%. This is why they were quick to legislate and now the performance of a night at home is equivalent to a night spent in a hotel. With us, however, this has not yet happened and it is not known when there will be legislation. In Italy tourism is worth a little less, about 10-11% of GDP, but the problem is that there are many trade associations involved, each of which has its own interests to defend”.
But why is it so complex to regulate the sector?
“Initially short stays were listed as rentals, but as growth followed the boom of Airbnb this matter ended up under the hat of turismo which, however, is of regional competence. So each region can introduce different rules”.
You have called into question a digital platform…
“These operators make theirs available technology to match supply and demand, it’s not up to them to make the rules. I repeat, global standards are needed because this activity has become an industry and demand is changing. In the last 5 years, in fact, there have been an increasing number of digital platforms that intermediate rentals of up to 15-20 months, requested by people who move from one city to another for work, to attend courses and universities or simply because they want to change” .
That is, the needs related to rentals change according to new models of life…
“This is why what the mayor of a large city like Milan is asking for, that is to say, is wrong limit the number of days a property can be rented. Demand has changed and saying that short-term rentals ruin the market is wrong. It is not by limiting the use of houses that demand is changed”.
What solutions then?
“First you have to study a new national legislation involving professional operatorswhile if you want to limit the short-term rental market, it would be enough to do as in Barcelona where they are available numbered licenses to operate. And then we would need a regulation of traditional rents that is more flexible than the current one in order to better protect the owners”.
In Europe, the Dac7 Directive is being discussed. She says it should be Italianized.
“In the guidelines there are steps that can already be implemented in the realities of the various Italian cities e they must only be adapted to our real estate assets. The directive, in fact, identifies which one is the tax performance, defines the VAT regime and related services. Furthermore, it identifies the professional figures and introduces differentiated regulations”.
But is there a regulation that could be imported into Italy?
“There is no model to refer to. Maybe Spain was quicker, but a tailor-made model needs to be created for our country because we have a real estate market that is different from the others and an artistic heritage to enhance”.