The city of Annecy is fed up with tourist accommodation such as Airbnb, Booking, Abritel. Today, the number of second homes in furnished tourist accommodation represents 3% of the housing stock. Against this explosion of short-term rentals, the environmental town hall has therefore decided to set up quotas to “take back control of the situation”. “We note that the number of furnished apartments declared in the town of Annecy is four times higher today than five years ago”, underlined the mayor François Astorg during a community council.
These quotas will apply from June 1 in the town, which has been divided into three zones, the most restrictive being the old town, the tourist heart of Annecy. In total, the number of second homes in furnished tourist accommodation will be limited to 2,200 throughout the municipal territory, compared to more than 2,800 currently. “We are trying to bring housing back to its primary function, which is year-round housing,” explains Sophie Garcia, municipal councilor responsible for affordable housing and social diversity, to AFP. The city hopes to bring a few hundred homes back to the market within three years.
The objective of the municipality is now to “regain a balance” between visitors and people who live and work in Annecy. “We have almost entire buildings dedicated to that. [la location touristique]to the detriment of neighborhood life, the serenity of residents and the heritage of Annecy ”, points out the elected Annecy.
Tighter regulations for tourist accommodation
This quota measure is accompanied by a tightening of the regulations on the changes of use of residential premises to tourist accommodation with, in particular, the limitation of authorizations to a single property per owner or the obligation of a renewal every five years.
The new rules are contested by the Syndicat Annecy Meublés, representing the interests of rental companies, which describes this policy as “discriminatory and disproportionate”. It “does not solve the problem of housing and nuisances” in Annecy and will affect the profitability of the property of the owners, estimates its president Marc Stakic, joined by AFP. The union plans to take legal action against these deliberations.
The city of Annecy is one of the first in France to apply quotas in an attempt to regulate the development of short-term rentals. “We also hope to challenge the legislator so that the State takes a position on this phenomenon which we could not have foreseen the growth”, indicates the municipal councilor Sophie Garcia.