The Czech Republic is getting serious about tourist rentals. As the sector recovers from the pandemic, especially in Prague, and the supply of apartments advertised on websites like Airbnb or Booking increases, authorities have decided to tighten up its regulations. And this will partly involve giving the city councils the green light to decide on related issues, such as the number of days an apartment can be rented to travelers, the calendar, or the maximum number of tenants considering the square footage.

It’s part of a Czech recipe for curbing tourism excesses that also includes other elements, such as banning “ridiculous costumes.”

What happened? Amid a recovery in international tourism following the pandemic’s cessation and amid discussions about the sector’s saturation across borders, the Czech Republic has decided to strengthen regulations on websites like Airbnb. After all, the country may not be one of the most visited countries in Europe, but Prague is a busy city. It received 5.4 million visitors between January and September 2023, and authorities were confident it would end the year with seven million visitors.

A few months ago, Expats CZ published an article showing that this influx of travelers has been accompanied by a significant increase in short-term rentals. According to figures managed by the IPR (Prague Institute for Planning and Development) based on a report, around 8,000 apartments in the city, mostly in the center, are rented through Airbnb. That’s a thousand more than in mid-2021.

Review of regulations. Given this scenario, the government is encouraging changes to the regulations. A significant step was taken in mid-July with the approval of a project related to the tourism sector, but ČT24 reported that the initiative still needs to be examined by MPs and senators. According to the Czech press, the new rule will now be announced in September.

A few days ago, the Government published a statement in which it insisted on the goal of achieving a “fairer working environment” in the sector and proposed that municipalities be given leeway in “regulating the conditions” of short-term rentals and rentals, in which we are in favor of “more efficient collection” of fees.

This last nuance is not accidental. The Czech Administration estimates that a significant part of the apartments offered through online platforms are not officially registered, which means that tens of millions of euros are lost to public coffers every year for collection purposes.

Rent yes but controlled. Basically, what the Ministry of Regional Development proposes is to give cities space to regulate short-term rentals of flats through online platforms, referring to websites such as Airbnb or Booking, but the Government does not explicitly mention any of this. . How are you going to do that? Allow municipal councils to decide on two key issues in tourist rentals: timetable and capacity.

Following the change in regulations, municipal authorities will be able to determine the “maximum number of days per year” in which accommodation for short-term rentals can be offered through Airbnb or Booking in their area. This and the period during which it will be available. Another of your privileges will be to decide on the minimum number of square meters per tenant; this will help you avoid, for example, saturated apartments and the noise they can cause.

With one eye on the market… The measure has several aims. One is to partially relieve the pressure on the housing market from tourist apartments, a problem that is by no means specific to the Czech Republic and has also been a headache for Spanish authorities. “The rapid growth in the percentage of shared accommodation could limit housing supply, which could increase the pressure on market rents,” the government says. The problem will mainly affect large cities and mountain destinations.

…And one more in coexistence. The price and supply of housing on the housing market are not the only “problems” caused by rentals designed for tourists. Prague Mayor Terezie Radoměřská warns that these are neighborhoods that also affect the coexistence of neighborhoods. “The quality of life of residents, especially in central areas such as Prague 1, is changing significantly. Apartments in the center are being converted into short-term accommodation, which causes more noise and disturbance in the homes. As a result, “other neighbors choose to leave.”

The Prague councillor hopes that with the next regulatory change, municipalities will “finally” have the necessary tools “to regulate and protect the stability and affordability of residents’ housing.”

“They operate in a gray area”Deputy Minister of Regional Development Lukáš Černohorský goes further, advocating a balancing act where different businesses focused on tourist accommodation operate. “While hotels and other similar businesses must comply with a number of regulations and be subject to inspections and possible sanctions, authorities often do not even recognize accommodation providers on digital platforms,” he recalls.

“These suppliers do not fulfill their obligations and enter the so-called grey zone.” Černohorsky points out that, among other obligations, it is also necessary to notify the police or pay local taxes if necessary. “The aim is to guarantee that all entrepreneurs have the same conditions.” The council member of Špindlerův Mlýn, a popular destination in the north of the country, especially among nature and winter sports enthusiasts, assures that if the town manages to collect taxes properly, it will have “a situation similar to Dubai.”

How many layers are out of focus? Yes. Černohorský offers two pieces of information that give a clear idea. While the government admits that “it is always very difficult to estimate the size of the informal economy,” it estimates that 40% to 70% of accommodation managed through online platforms is not declared. “The state could lose around 800 million Czech crowns a year because of this,” the leader adds. “Municipalities and cities could lose 55 million a year in residence fees.”

To solve this problem, the amendment put forward by the Czech government introduces eTurista, a portal that will make the work of the administration easier and “make the collection of taxes and fees” imposed on rentals more efficient. The aim is to act as a “single meeting point” between the authorities and “accommodation providers.” “It will not be possible to legally provide accommodation services without registering on the portal and providing a registration number,” the Ministry of Regional Development warns.

Offers… and calendar. The Czech government has not only outlined its goals and strategies. It has also gone beyond the program it has been leading. Its idea is that changes to the law “on certain commercial conditions in the field of tourism” will come into force in just under a year, on July 1, with the launch of the eTurista portal, which it hopes will be the system’s renewal. We are ready by the end of 2024.

Once completed and ready for operation, the registry will operate in trial mode for six months with voluntary registrations. “The regulation on short-term rental and accommodation space via online platforms will come into force from the second half of May 2026.”

war on costumes. In any case, this would not be the first attempt to facilitate coexistence between tourism and neighbours, at least in the capital, Euro News recalls. At the beginning of the year, authorities in the Prague 1 district in the centre of the capital proposed a ban on “ridiculous costumes”. It may seem strange, but the proposal had a clear aim: to veto – and in the process tone down – the stag and hen parties that are popular with tourists from the UK and are often held in the neighbourhood. “They are transgressing against generally accepted social customs,” complained a councillor from the central district in May.

The proposal to ban scandalous costumes has sparked controversy in the city. “Stag parties, especially when well organised, form the basis of a healthy tourism industry and provide entertainment, dynamism and great economic benefit to Prague.” Nottingham Post President of a travel agency targeting the British.

A few months ago, it was also approved to restrict vehicle access to part of the old town at night, and even limiting the opening hours of businesses in the city centre in 2023 was discussed, but the measure was not successful.

Images | Anthony Delanoix (Unsplash) and Pedro Szekely (Flickr)

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