The Czech short-term rental market could be about to change significantly, pending a final decision from lawmakers on how rental platforms in the central European republic operate.
Electronic registration and licenses required
A draft proposal has already been partially approved by government and if it now passes successfully through the country’s Chamber of Deputies and Senate, local authorities will gain control over how many short-term rentals are on offer in their respective municipalities. Under the new regime, platforms like Booking.com and Airbnb will not be able to list properties unless they have been registered on an “e-Turista” electronic system, which will give each rental a license number that will have to be displayed on all listing sites.
The idea behind the registration system is to equip local municipalities with more knowledge about how many rentals are functioning and how many tourists each is welcoming. This information is not currently shared with authorities by the rental platforms, who consider it “internal data”.
Increasing scrutiny of tech firms
The Czech move comes as some of the world’s biggest tech firms face increasing scrutiny and challenges to how they work. European Union countries have fined Meta (Facebook) for privacy breaches and charged Elon Musk’s X (Twitter) over his failure to get a grip on malicious content, disinformation and illegal hate speech.
Amid concern over housing stock and rising prices, some territories are phasing out short term rentals or imposing limits on the numbers of short-term rentals able to operate on online platforms and setting rules requiring certain categories of rental to have independent access. While some argue that rental platforms empower ordinary people to make extra income from their assets, others point out that in many cases it is professional landlords with multiple properties who benefit, while long-term renters suffer.
Public order under threat?
In Czechia, landlords with multiple rentals compose 80% of the market, Prague Morning has reported, and around 8,000 short-term rentals are thought to be operating in the capital alone. These figures mean authorities are becoming increasingly concerned. They say that rental platforms’ lack of transparency allows them no insight into how many overnight visitors are coming to their destinations, making it difficult for them to plan effectively for public order, policing, crowd and venue management.
The proposed licensing arrangements would mean that the country’s Ministry of Regional Development could improve oversight of the short-term rental market, as well as being able to impose the correct fees and taxes on owners. A pilot version of the system is set to launch in 2025 and be up and running properly by the start of the peak holiday season in July.
