Florence court upholds short-term rental restrictions in historic centre

The Tuscany regional administrative court has rejected 19 appeals against Florence’s rules limiting short-term tourist rentals in the city’s historic centre, confirming the legality of one of Italy’s most closely watched measures against overtourism.

The rulings, published on Wednesday 13 May, 2026, support regulations introduced by the City of Florence in May 2025 to curb the growth of holiday rentals in the UNESCO-listed centre and protect long-term housing for residents.

The appeals had been filed by property managers, trade associations and private citizens, who argued that the rules violated constitutional protections for private property and freedom of enterprise, as well as European Union principles on services and competition.

The court rejected those arguments and referred to a previous ruling by Italy’s Constitutional Court, which had already upheld Tuscany’s regional tourism law.

What the Florence regulation includes

The regulation blocks the creation of new short-term tourist rentals in the UNESCO area unless properties had already been legally used for that purpose during 2024.

It also introduced:

• five-year authorisations for short-term rental activity,
• a minimum apartment size of 28 square metres,
• restrictions on converting additional residential properties into tourist accommodation in the historic centre.

The measures are part of a broader strategy by Palazzo Vecchio to address housing pressure, population loss in the centre and the impact of tourism on daily life in Florence.

In its decisions, the court said that the protection of the urban environment, social and cultural policy goals, and the preservation of historic and artistic heritage constitute overriding public-interest reasons that can justify limits on economic activity.

Funaro: “A historic day”

Florence mayor Sara Funaro described the rulings as a major victory for the city administration.

She said the court had fully upheld the municipality’s authority to regulate short-term rentals and confirmed the legitimacy of measures aimed at balancing tourism with residential life in the city centre.

Funaro also linked the decision to other municipal actions introduced in recent months, including restrictions on keyboxes used for self check-in.

The mayor said Florence now plans to extend some limits on tourist rentals to areas outside the historic centre, a move the administration had already announced while waiting for the court decisions.

Property managers criticise the ruling

The association Property Managers Italia reacted negatively to the judgments, saying it was disappointed by what it described as a highly restrictive approach.

Association president Lorenzo Fagnoni argued that limiting short-term rentals would not solve Florence’s structural housing problems and risked reducing accommodation capacity while tourism demand continues to grow.

The group also pointed to a recent ruling by an administrative court in Sicily that had taken a more critical position toward restrictive regulations on extra-hotel accommodation.

The Florence case has become one of the most significant legal tests in Italy over how far local authorities can go in regulating tourist rentals in historic city centres facing heavy tourism pressure.

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