The city of Lucerne in Switzerland has voted to limit short-term rentals, including those offered on Airbnb, to a maximum of 90 days per year.
Over 64% of voters in the city supported the restriction proposed by the Social Democrats, which aims to cap large-scale temporary rentals by commercial providers and free up living space for residents.
The city is currently experiencing a significant housing shortage. However, opponents of the initiative warned that it could harm tourism in Lucerne, one of Switzerland’s main tourist destinations.
The local government had proposed a watered-down counter proposal, which would have limited the percentage of short-term rentals in non-touristy neighbourhoods, but it failed to gain sufficient support.
The left hailed the vote as a victory against the real estate lobby, with the national Socialist Party’s co-president, Cedric Wermuth, calling it a “fantastic victory” on Twitter.
Lucerne joins a number of European cities that have taken steps to limit the impact of home rental platforms like Airbnb on the housing market.
Caps on short-term subletting to holidaymakers are already in place in the western regions of Geneva and Vaud in Switzerland.
The participation rate for the Lucerne vote, which was one of many held on local and regional issues across Switzerland on Sunday, stood at 34.6%.
↯↯↯Read More On The Topic On TDPel Media ↯↯↯