BOLZANO. «In Bolzano as a Municipality we have already stopped the creation of new beds in bed and breakfasts. In this category we have 1,529 beds and that’s more than enough. However, there is a lot of pressure; there is a risk that illegal activity will increase. This is why it is important that the Province has decided to intensify controls and provides for an increase in the IMI for tourist rentals. In any case, our traffic police are already carrying out a series of controls and have closed about twenty unlicensed bed and breakfasts”. The mayor Renzo Caramaschi applauds the crackdown decided by the Province on short-term rentals which are much more profitable, safe, convenient even at Imi level, compared to traditional rentals.
The crackdown is actually part of a package of measures that councilors Peter Brunner (Urban Planning), Ulli Mair (Housing), Luis Walcher (Tourism) are working on in particular. They are taking action on multiple fronts with a single objective: first and foremost, to provide an answer to those who live and work in South Tyrol and are having increasing difficulty finding a home.
Even intercepting that 10% of housing is estimated to be rented irregularly. “First – says provincial councilor Luis Walcher – we must think about the locals, if we do not want our cities and valleys to empty and fill up with tourists who come for 3-4 days and then leave. The signs of intolerance towards overtourism are already there and cannot be underestimated”.
Twenty illegals closed
“The interest in the short-term rental market for tourism purposes is increasingly strong, which is why we have decided to intensify controls – explains the commander of the Municipal Police Fabrizio Piras – which has led us to close about twenty illegal structures placed on the tourist market with the short-term rental formula. With the closure comes the fine of 450 euros and the reporting to the Guardia di Finanza”.
But are checks carried out?
“In a variety of ways. First of all, by going to online platforms and checking whether those offering short-term rentals have a regular license. Another possibility: in collaboration with the Municipality’s Office of Economic Activities, we check whether those whose application was rejected decided to open the business anyway, even without a license. Then there are the checks that are carried out following reports from neighbors who see a strange coming and going of people with suitcases; or are annoyed by the noises coming from the apartment next door. This is followed by checks and stakeouts by our officers who also intervene in plain clothes, to have a precise picture of the situation and be able to unmask any crafty people.”
External companies for controls
Currently, checks are carried out both by the Municipalities through the Municipal Police and by the Province through the Building Supervision Agency. But it is not enough because the amount of work is enormous and the staff is few.
“The intention – explains Walcher – is to entrust the controls to an external Agency which would be guaranteed a fixed amount and a percentage on each fine issued”.
A heavier Imi
The other measure announced by the Province concerns the increase of the Imi rate for bed and breakfasts and hospitality businesses. Currently, for example, in Bolzano the rate is set at 0.56 for hospitality businesses and bed and breakfasts versus 0.9, which is heavier, for those who rent with “long” contracts to locals. “We,” says Mayor Caramaschi, “have set the highest rate envisaged by the Province, but it is not enough. Because in this way it continues to be much more convenient to rent to tourists.” Andreas Schatzer, president of the Consortium of Municipalities, also agrees: “The rates must be aligned, because at this rate locals will have more and more difficulty finding accommodation to rent.”
Expiring agreements
In the past, the restrictions on houses built under the agreement had a duration of twenty years; then lowered to 10 years. The package of measures on housing plans to go back to the past, reintroducing the twenty-year restriction. “But what is worrying – explain both Councilor Walcher and the President of the Consortium of Municipalities Schatzer – is that the old restrictions placed on thousands of homes built at the end of the Nineties are expiring. Which at this point could be put on the private market and sold, without any more restrictions, for millions of euros – given the prices in Alto Adige – to the highest bidder. That is, tourists and investors arriving from all over the world”.
2024-09-15 20:18:33