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Cost of monthly apartment rentals in Rome grew by a third

in

2024

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Landlords switching to short-term rentals ahead of 2025

Jubilee

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Government imposing new regulations for services like

AirBnB ( ABNB )

By Joshua McElwee and Francesca Piscioneri

ROME, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Apartment hunters across the

Eternal City are worried their searches might also be eternal,

with the long-term rental market in Rome drying up as landlords

seek to cash in on short-term rentals for pilgrims during the

2025 Roman Catholic Holy Year.

With some 32 million tourists expected to descend on the

Italian capital for the Jubilee, industry groups estimate the

number of conversions from apartments to short-term units has

doubled over the past year.

And monthly rental rates, for what's left on the long-term

market, have risen by around a third in the same period.

"I don't remember a market this tight," said David De Arce,

a rental agent in Rome since the mid-1990s. "The acuteness of

the lack of availability of places, regardless of the price, is

the amazing thing."

The cost of a small studio apartment in many of Rome's

central neighbourhoods has risen to at least 900 euros ($946),

according to rental consulting group Solo Affitti. A one-bedroom

is at least 1,200 euros ($1,261); a two-bedroom at least 1,400

($1,471).

With the average local salary under 2,000 euros ($2,105) a

month after taxes, according to a Reuters calculation from

government data, the increase is forcing many Romans to move

further out from the city centre.

Giorgio Andriani was left scrambling when his landlord ended

the contract on his apartment of 12 years in Rome's bohemian San

Lorenzo neighbourhood in July. Because of the explosion of

short-term rentals, he said: "I found a rental market that is

basically non-existent."

"I was faced with a choice: either go completely outside my

neighbourhood ... or leave Rome altogether," said Andriani.

Rome is the global centre of the Catholic Holy Year, which

opens on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, and runs through Jan. 6, 2026.

Catholic pilgrims who come during the Jubilee can obtain special

indulgences, or remission of their sins, if they fulfil certain

conditions.

Jubilees like this normally occur once every 25 years. Rome

has pooled billions of euros of state and European funds to

overhaul tourist sites, parks and streets.

SWITCHING TO SHORT-TERM

Donatella Petrini is among Roman landlords hoping to benefit

from the Jubilee. In June, she took her one-bedroom apartment in

San Lorenzo off the long-term rental market and listed it on the

vacation rental service AirBnB ( ABNB ).

Petrini said she doubled her income renting the flat with

the service, so she probably will not return to long-term

renting after the Holy Year.

"It has been excellent, I've never missed a payment," she

said. "If it keeps going as well as it is now, why not?"

AirBnB ( ABNB ) said it was unable to provide data about growth in

the number of listings on the service for Rome in 2024 as

compared to previous years. Solo Affitti estimated at least

20,000 AirBnB ( ABNB ) units were added this year, but said its data was

imprecise due to landlords who do not follow regulations for

registering their units.

Newspaper Corriere della Sera estimated in October that

there are now some 40,000 AirBnB ( ABNB ) units in Rome, a city of about

2.75 million people.

Rome's rental issue is particularly related to the Catholic

Jubilee, but there have been protests this year in several

European cities over the holiday apartment market, prompting

action from some authorities.

Barcelona announced in June

it planned to phase out short-term rentals, while lawmakers

in Portugal are currently debating a measure to restrict tourist

rentals in residential buildings.

In Rome, a police task force said in October it had reviewed

some 3,000 short-term units listed for rent in the city and

issued fines to about 1,100 that were operating outside

regulations.

Italy's tourism ministry began requiring all short-term

rentals in the country to register for a new national database

of rental units in September. AirBnB ( ABNB ) told Reuters it would not

accept listings without such registration beginning in 2025,

when the new rules enter into force.

"We recognise challenges faced by historical districts in

cities such as Rome," the company said in a statement. "We look

forward to working with local leaders to support sustainable

hosting."

Ilaria Dotti moved out of her apartment of several years in

September and had trouble finding another one. She eventually

found a place through a friend, but wound up paying about 25%

more per month.

"The prices in the past were much lower," said Dotti, who

works in the local film industry. "And you can't find anything

because anyone who has something available will rent only for

the short term."

Andriani, an artistic director, also found a home. But he

said he worries about a "cultural impoverishment" of his

neighbourhood as more landlords shift to short-term rentals.

"If I leave, in my place will come tourists who change every

three days," he said. "There will not be a continuation of the

history and culture of the area."

($1 = 0.9514 euros)