This week marked Malta’s first foray into the struggle to rein in short-term tourist rentals, with the tourism authority hinting at plans that would require would-be tenants to seek approval from their condominium neighbours.

Reactions to the news were predictably mixed, ranging from those arguing that the move will hurt homeowners and the housing market, to others saying the plans do not go far enough to solve the problems caused by short-term rentals.

As Malta finally begins to grapple with the question of how to balance its tourism industry with the peace of mind of its residents, it would do well to look into how some of its European neighbours are trying to tackle the situation.

The case of Turkey

MTA’s plans appear to be modelled on Turkey, which introduced new rules late last year in the hope of clamping down on unregulated rentals.

The rules say that anybody thinking of renting out a property first needs to get unanimous approval from all the other apartment owners in their block before they are given a permit.

Even if they are given a permit, they can only rent the property out for a maximum of 100 days in a year.

They would also need to stick a sign at the property’s entrance, clearly marking it out as a rental property.

And if other apartments in the block are already being used as short-term rentals, they may be out of luck entirely – only 25 per cent of apartments in buildings with more than three units can be used for tourist accommodation (unless a single person owns the entire block).

Some cities declared themselves closed for business

Other countries have adopted altogether more draconian measures.

Barcelona famously vowed to ban Airbnb altogether over the next five years, promising to stop renewing the licences for its 10,000 tourist apartments until there are none left in 2029.

Several other Spanish tourism hotspots, including Mallorca and Malaga, will be keeping a close eye on Barcelona, as their own residents push back against overtourism, with the latter now only issuing licences to properties that have their own separate street entrance.

Florence, where every third home in the city centre is listed on Airbnb, is also following in Barcelona’s footsteps, banning all new listings altogether, with Venice also likely to follow suit.

Meanwhile, residents in a neighbourhood in Budapest recently voted to ban short-term rentals in the district from 2026, with the national government saying it is mulling a moratorium on all Airbnb licences while it gets its thoughts in order.

Bans are easier said than done

But outright bans are notoriously difficult to implement.

Berlin, the first European city to introduce a city-wide Airbnb ban back in 2016, had to row back on its plans just two years later, despite studies showing that the ban successfully cut down on tourism rentals and increased housing supply.

In place of the ban, Berlin introduced a series of rules that allowed people to rent out their second property for up to 90 days in a year, upping fines for rule-breakers to a staggering €500,000.

Portugal, too, reversed its plans to stop issuing licences for short-term rentals in many urban areas. The plans had been introduced after local communities piled pressure on authorities to tackle the issue but, just a few months (and one change in government) later, the rules were scrapped altogether, much to Airbnb’s delight.

Minimum and maximum rental periods

Several other cities and countries around the world have tiptoed their way around a blanket ban, instead implementing rules that make it increasingly difficult for landlords to list their property on Airbnb.

Some have gone down the route of introducing upper limits on for how long a property can be rented out, ranging from just 30 days in a year in Amsterdam, to 90 days in London and Austria, and 120 days in Paris.

Others have gone in the opposite direction, imposing a minimum rental period in a bid to effectively kill off short-term rentals.

In Singapore, a property can now only be rented out for a minimum three-month period, effectively killing the short-term rental market entirely. The Hawaiian city of Honolulu introduced a similar 90-day minimum rental period in its tourist hotspots.

Some, such as New York, have adopted a more creative approach.

The city introduced a controversial new law last year saying that a property can only be registered for rental if the owner physically shares the living quarters for the duration of the rent and, even then, to no more than two guests at any one time.

But whether or not the rules have been successful in improving the city’s housing market remains up for debate. Critics say that although short-term rentals plummeted as soon as the rules were introduced, long-term rental prices continued to increase, with the city’s hotels licking their lips as they watch their profits rise.

Meanwhile, Marseille’s mayor is pushing for laws which would oblige Airbnb landlords to buy another property in the city which they would then put up for long-term rental to increase housing supply in the city.

6,000 short-term rental properties in Malta

How Malta will implement its own short-term rentals rules remains to be seen.

Current rules state that anybody who wants to rent out their property as a holiday home needs to be licensed by the Malta Tourism Authority.

Last summer, MTA had over 6,000 licensed properties on its books, a little over a fifth of them in Gozo.

But MTA figures suggest that this is likely to increase, with over 1,100 new applications for licences received in the first eight months of 2024 alone, as many as in all of 2023.