Location, Location, Justification

Europe is in a housing crisis. Short-term rentals are an important driver of this issue, prompting cities like Amsterdam, Barcelona and Paris to restrict them. But under which conditions can they do that? Within six weeks, the EU has produced two texts answering that same question: the proposed Affordable Housing Act and the CJEU’s Smartflats decision. These texts make it considerably more difficult for governments to restrict short-term rentals.