Tallinn has prepared a new development plan and wants to reduce the number of apartments available for short-term rental in the capital’s oldest part, making it more accessible to long-term residents, ERR News reports.
It is not yet entirely clear how to do this.
Several European cities, including Barcelona and Amsterdam, have been working for a long time to reduce the number of tourist accommodations in the city center. The recently adopted Tallinn Old Town plan also seeks to address this problem.
Tallinn’s deputy mayor Madle Lippus noted: “The Old Town is currently an important tourist destination, and we want to keep it that way. At the same time, it’s also important to preserve the local population and make the area attractive for domestic tourists as well.”
Ville Jehe, a resident of the Old Town, is used to the tourist crowds, but prefers to spend the hottest tourist season outside the city. He said he tries to spend as little time in the city as possible during the summer, as even getting to the building where he lives is often difficult.
Jehe says that
noise from entertainment venues and accommodation is a normal part of everyday life for residents of the old town.
For example, the building where he lives has a short-term rental apartment that can accommodate up to 16 people at a time.
Ain Käpp, a board member of the Estonian Hotel and Restaurant Association, points out: “The problem today is the lack of regulations. It can mean that one guest apartment has 16 beds, which may cause significant distress and daily conflict for local residents. If someone discovers that the home they’ve bought is effectively a hotel, they might not be very happy or satisfied with that.”
The city council has no clear plan for how to monitor short-term rental housing. Käpp believes that requiring such apartments to be registered could help, while Jehe thinks that the house council should also be involved. He told the media that he would like each house council to have the right to decide whether to allow short-term rentals in a building, and if so, to apply certain conditions.
A study on short-term rental housing commissioned by the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications is scheduled to be completed by the fall, which will allow for the development of guidelines for further action.
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