Day of discussion on furnished tourist accommodation in Bayonne
June 2024
At a time when 4.1 million people are unhoused or inadequately housed, the proliferation of furnished tourist accommodation is fuelling the housing crisis, contributing to a shortage of long-term rental accommodation and rising rents. Students, seasonal workers and single-parent families are particularly hard hit. Businesses are struggling to recruit because of the growing barriers to access to housing. Jean-Pierre Istre, President of the Union des Métiers de l’Industrie Hôtelière (UMIH) for the Basque Country, pointed out that the tourism sector was one of the hardest hit by the recruitment difficulties caused by tensions in the housing market, especially as hoteliers are faced with far greater obligations and regulations than other accommodation providers.
To download : dp_lutte_attrition_logements_permanents_zone_touristique.pdf (620 KiB)
The « housing » remit is at the crossroads of many other powers held by urban areas: urban planning, ecological transition, transport, economic development, etc. Constantly reexamined in the light of new challenges, housing policy must continue to remain the cornerstone of the integration of local and regional public policies. In this way, it must be able to facilitate the construction and renovation of housing, while limiting the consumption of space, in the service of an acceptable and desirable density. Echoing the day organised in La Rochelle on 4 December 2023, the day before the examination of the cross-party Proposition de Loi (PPL) submitted by MPs Annaig Le Meur and Inaki Echaniz, France urbaine and the Communauté d’agglomération du Pays Basque (CAPB) organised another day of work and discussion between local elected representatives, MPs and representatives of civil society on Friday 7 June. The two MPs who drafted the PPL were present, as was Senator Frédérique Espagnac.
The growth in the number of furnished accommodation establishments is having a profound effect on the landscape and tourist habits of major towns and cities, as well as more rural areas, radically altering the supply of local shops (in La Rochelle, 40% of requests to open a shop concern restaurants) and causing tension between residents and visitors. All these phenomena are present in the Basque Country, as Jean-René Etchegaray, Mayor of Bayonne and Chairman of the CAPB, pointed out.
His local authority has introduced regulations governing the creation of furnished tourist accommodation, leading to a reduction in the number of temporary authorisations. It is preparing to introduce rent controls on 1 January 2025, despite the complexity of the current system. It supports student accommodation, enabling the opening of 504 dedicated units in 2024. What is really needed is the mobilisation of all the tools of a housing policy, and the CAPB expects the national executive to strengthen the powers of the Établissements publics de coopération intercommunale (EPCI) rather than tinkering with the Solidarité et renouvellement urbain (SRU) law…
The discussions provided an opportunity for the hundred or so participants, including representatives of local residents (the Alda association) and tourism professionals, to reiterate the recurring demand from local players for better tools to regulate furnished holiday accommodation in the light of local tourism characteristics and the local housing market. It is better to regulate than to prohibit, as several foreign cities are doing.
This was also an opportunity for Marie Nedellec, deputy mayor of La Rochelle, to outline the main expectations of local authorities regarding the regulation of furnished tourist accommodation:
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the completion of the measures taken to put an end to the tax niche enjoyed by short-term seasonal rentals of furnished tourist accommodation; its implementation on income received in 2024,
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a ban on the letting of heating flats via tourist platforms; this will require a return to the five-year time limit for change of use for homes classified D (stock) and DPE classes A to D (flow),
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the possibility for mayors to set a ceiling of up to 60 days, depending on local housing market tensions, on the number of days during which furnished accommodation can be rented out,
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greater regulatory autonomy for local authorities, through the introduction of compensation measures,
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simplification of the fight against under-occupation by unifying the taxation of vacant accommodation (TLV and THLV), a measure approved by the Senate (in the PLF) but rejected by the Government.
All of these measures, which will be painless for the majority of people, will help to support a tourist industry that is more evenly spread across the country, benefiting the areas concerned and curbing speculation and abuse. Although they will not in themselves resolve the critical tensions in the housing market, they will help to give mayors the capacity to act locally and calmly.
As several speakers pointed out, regulation requires legal resources and agents to monitor the implementation of new regulations. This engineering must be shared and nurtured through greater regional cooperation.