Latest / STR Unpacked / One Law, 27 Systems
Transcript
- Ben: Good morning and welcome to your short-term rental bulletin on the 19th of May. tomorrow is a big day and I think it's going to be really interesting. So for those that don't know, the EU's big short-term rental regulation goes live tomorrow. One law, 27 countries, one harmonized system of registration and data sharing between all the platforms and authorities. That is the theory. Here I think is the reality. Airbnb came out yesterday and said the quiet part out loud. Not all member states are ready. Their words. Platforms could be facing 27 different systems from day one. So what's the translation of that? So some countries tomorrow will have a working portal. Some will not. And if your country doesn't, the regulations verify and suspend teeth simply don't bite where you operate, but not yet. Now, Before anyone panics, this was always going to be a phased landing. National portals will stabilise over the coming months. The direction of travel hasn't changed. But here is the bit that nobody is saying. While everybody's been waiting for the regulation to start working, the market has already moved. So Paris is down nearly 23 % in active Airbnb listings year on year. Madrid down 15 and Barcelona is down 11. The supply contraction isn't coming, it is already happening. So tomorrow isn't the start of a squeeze, it's the moment we find out which countries can actually enforce it and which ones are about to spend the rest of 2026 catching up. Watch the portals, not the headline. Tomorrow's a big day, I'll see you for it. Thank you for watching, goodbye.