Florence seeks to ban Airbnb rentals apartments from city centre - mayor

By Federica Urso and Federico Maccioni

ROME (Reuters) -Florence wants to ban residential properties in its historic centre from being used for short-term rentals by platforms such as Airbnb in order to free up more homes for local people in the Tuscan city.

Dario Nardella, the mayor of one of Italy's most popular tourist destinations, said his city would pursue new rules at a local level because he regarded draft nationwide plans to regulate the sector as disappointing.

Under Nardella's proposal, dubbed "save historic centres", the mayor plans to block new short-term rental contracts and offer tax breaks to encourage more permanent forms of residence.

Nardella is a member of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), which is part of the opposition at national level.

As in other European countries, a mixture of low salaries, a property shortage, short-term holiday rentals and high inflation have driven a housing crisis, with low-wage earners and students hit hard in Italy.

The central government is working on a bill, which according to Italian media reports, would require each residential property rented to tourists to have a national identification code to help track and regulate lettings. Those failing to comply would risk a penalty of up to 5,000 euros ($5,500).

Additionally, authorities in the most visited cities would have the right to impose a minimum stay of two nights in the context of short rentals in their city centres.

Airbnb did not immediately comment on Nardella's initiative, but said in a statement that it wanted to see "clear and simple national rules" in Italy.

"We are concerned that proposals regarding one-night stays breach EU and national laws, and we look forward to working with the government to discuss alternative ways forward," it said.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

(Reporting by Federica Urso in Rome and Federico Maccioni in Milan, Editing by Keith Weir and Crispian Balmer)