Short-term rentals and hard-to-find homes: when traditional letting can become worthwhile

A home contested between those who visit and those who live there

In many neighborhoods of tourist cities, the same apartment can meet two very different needs: that of someone looking for accommodation for a few days and that of someone who needs a home in which to live, work or study. When the owner chooses the first market, that property may leave the residential supply, at least for the period in which it is devoted to tourist stays. The move is understandable on an individual level, but the sum of many similar decisions can help narrow the options for residents. The issue is not whether a family has the right to make the most of its assets, but what happens when the expected return from tourism becomes the benchmark for the housing market as well. The price sustainable for a visitor on holiday does not necessarily match the price sustainable for a worker over twelve months.

Short-term rentals matter, but they do not explain everything

The relationship between tourist accommodation and the availability of homes is not just a matter of perception. In the Bank of Italy survey for the fourth quarter of 2025, real estate agents reported a high relevance of short-term rentals in many cities and a significant impact on rent growth. This is the operators’ view, not a measure of the share of each increase attributable to tourism. It would in fact be reductive to ignore the other factors: concentration of demand in areas with jobs and universities, difficulty accessing home ownership, unavailable or unsuitable housing, and owners’ concerns about letting. Short-term rentals can worsen an existing shortage, with different effects across neighborhoods, cities and seasonal locations; they do not provide a single, uniform explanation for the entire Italian market.

Why the owner prefers the tourist

Behind the choice of tourism is not just the prospect of earning more. What matters is advance payment, the limited length of the stay and the possibility of setting aside periods in which to use the property personally. For anyone who has experienced non-payment or fears the time needed to regain possession of the home, these elements can weigh as heavily as the return. The tourist, however, does not eliminate financial risk: it shifts it to bookings, cancellations, damage, reviews, seasonality and the ability to maintain a competitive service. Personal availability also has a price, because reserving the home for the family during the busiest weeks means giving up potential income. Flexibility is a real advantage, but not a free one, and it should be assessed together with management costs, rather than treated as sufficient reason to abandon any residential alternative.

Tourism grows, but the individual margin may shrink

The growth in tourist flows does not show that every apartment devoted to hospitality is earning more than before. The Istat data for the second quarter of 2026 show an increase in overnight stays both in hotel and non-hotel establishments, more pronounced in the latter: 2.4% and 5.6% respectively compared with the same period the previous year. These figures describe aggregate demand, not the net result for individual operators. If competing accommodation increases in the same neighborhood, part of the growth may be spread across more players; if costs also rise, the extra revenue may not translate into greater profitability. We therefore cannot proclaim a generalized crisis for family-run hospitality, but neither can we infer from tourism records that every new opening is economically justified.

The advantage is measured after expenses

The comparison with traditional renting is often distorted by setting the gross revenue from bookings against the monthly rent paid by a tenant. Tourist management must instead cover commissions, utilities, cleaning, laundry, maintenance, furniture replacement and, where applicable, the manager’s fee. Taxes, periods without guests and family labor also need to be considered, because they remain an economic cost even when not paid separately. A home capable of generating higher receipts may still leave only a modestly higher net income, while requiring far greater effort. The key question is how much remains with the owner at the end of the year and for how much work performed, including a reserve for unforeseen events. It is on this difference, not on the rate for the best week, that a return to residential letting may be decided.

Rules make the easy-income story less credible

In everyday language, any apartment that can be booked for a few days tends to be called a B&B, but hospitality activity and short-term renting follow different rules. The national framework on the CIN sits alongside regional and local requirements, without replacing them; safety obligations must be checked in relation to the actual type of activity. Taxation also requires care: for short-term rentals that can opt for the substitute tax, the rate is 26%, reduced to 21% for a single property unit identified by the taxpayer, while this regime must not be automatically extended to a B&B. That is not a reason to consider every tourist project unprofitable, but it does require a fresh calculation of the applicable rules. Profitability cannot rest on the idea that an ad and a platform are enough to turn a home into a business with no burdens.

Traditional renting can regain its appeal

A return to a residential lease can become attractive when the higher tourist revenue no longer offsets work, expenses and volatile income. A strong housing demand can offer the owner a prospect of continuity, especially if the property is suited to everyday life and the rent is in line with the local market. The choice between a standard 4+4 contract and a 3+2 agreed contract requires an assessment of the applicable conditions, local agreements and the net result, without assuming that the higher nominal rent is always the best solution. Stability has economic value, particularly for anyone who wants to supplement their income without turning into a hospitality manager. That does not mean long-term renting is free of problems: it means assigning a price to predictability and to the time the owner can devote to something else.

Selecting the tenant reduces exposure, but does not guarantee the future

Fear of non-payment should not be dismissed as a pretext: it may stem from concrete experience and deeply influence property decisions. To contain it, one needs a proportionate assessment of income relative to rent, reliable documentation and adequate guarantees when available. A rent that is too high for the household’s resources can increase the fragility of the relationship even when the initial paperwork looks reassuring. No verification, however, fully protects against job loss, personal difficulties or other later changes; any insurance cover must also be read in light of exclusions and limits. Sustainable letting starts with a balanced relationship, not with the accumulation of supposedly infallible guarantees. The quality of the tenant matters, but so do the correctness of the contract, the condition of the home and the reasonableness of the rent.

Overtourism and housing shortages meet in the neighborhood

Overtourism is not simply a matter of a high number of visitors: it emerges when their concentration puts pressure on services, public spaces and daily life. The housing issue can become a particularly delicate part of it. If a neighborhood loses residents, the commercial activities and services that make it livable all year round also change; the problem therefore concerns the organization of the city, as well as apartment prices. At the same time, not every home used by tourists would necessarily be available to a resident family, nor does the closure of a property guarantee that it will enter the residential supply. Effective policies must distinguish between contexts and uses, while the perceived reliability of traditional renting is part of the solution: if that market remains too unreliable in owners’ eyes, simply curbing short-term rentals may not be enough to bring homes back onto the market.

Any possible return depends on the numbers, not on nostalgia

There are not sufficient reasons to announce a generalized return from tourist hospitality to traditional rentals. There are, however, conditions under which the shift can become rational: intense competition, rising management costs, the owner’s limited availability and a residential demand capable of supporting a balanced rent. For some properties tourism will continue to prevail; for others long-term letting may offer a better balance between income, risk and commitment. Investors should keep this possibility open even when designing spaces, avoiding transformations that make a change of use costly. Making the most of a home means choosing the most sustainable use over time, not endlessly chasing what, in a favorable season, produced the most eye-catching income.