Many travellers will have stayed in a short-term holiday let at some point, but in many popular European cities, the proliferation of holiday lets can lead to higher rents and less housing for locals. Across Barcelona, Madrid, Czechia and now central areas in Budapest and Athens, local governments are taking action to curb or even ban short-term let licences.
Locals in one Budapest district vote to ban holiday lets from 2026
Budapest is the most popular tourist destination in central Europe, and in 2023 there were 6.7 million overnight stays in short-term lets. But this week, residents in the city’s sixth district voted (albeit narrowly) to ban short-term rentals in the area from 2026, largely because the sheer volume of them is negatively impacting housing prices and quality of life.
54 percent of voters were in favour of the ban, but some opponents have expressed concerns about the potential impact on business, with a decrease in overnight stays in the neighbourhood potentially leading to lower footfall for nearby restaurants and cafes.
In a statement, the council said: ‘The majority of ‘yes’ votes signals that residents of the district value the peace of their home more than lost revenue.’ Guess that sums it up, eh?
READ MORE: Can popular European cities ever recover from overtourism?
Central Athens bans all new licences for holiday lets
Elsewhere, a ban in Athens is set to begin on January 1, 2025. The city has banned all new licences for short-term lets in three districts in central Athens, as well as an increase on the tax they’re required to pay.
The daily tax goes towards helping the country deal with natural disasters (such as heatwaves and wildfires) and will be increasing from €1.5 to €8 for the summer season, April to October. In the winter months, it’s going up from 50 cents to €2.
As for the short-term let ban, it’s all to do with Athenians struggling to find affordable places to live. ‘I was looking for a house for eight-nine months and ended up in the one I'm in now,’ said Alma Lazi told Reuters, ‘Even during that period when I was looking and expanding the range of areas that I was considering, I didn’t find anything I could afford to maintain.’
The ban will be in place for a minimum of a year, but authorities could decide to extend the timeframe, perhaps permanently. Stay tuned for more updates.
More on overtourism on Time Out
Read our round-ups on all the destinations that want people to stay away and those that are upping their tourist taxes.
Did you see that Santorini and Mykonos will soon impose a €20 tourist tax?
Plus: European nationals will have to pay a fee to enter the UK next year.
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