The Short-Term Rental Model for Shrinking Places
Short-term rental regulation has long focused on housing scarcity, as in New York and Barcelona. But a growing number of regions face the opposite: housing vacancy amid population decline. Japan has about 9 million empty homes, 13.8% of its housing stock. Italy's 'albergo diffuso' model converts empty homes into a unified hotel, creating jobs but hard to scale. Germany's Black Forest and others are piloting it.
Impact and considerations
Offers a tourism-driven model for reusing housing in depopulating regions, potentially influencing short-term rental platforms and hotel strategies in shrinking markets.
Key points
- New York's Local Law 18 cut Airbnb listings under 30 days by 83% in a year, from 21,900 to 3,700.
- A study estimated Airbnb activity raised average rents in Barcelona by 1.9%, and by roughly 7% in high-activity neighborhoods.
- Japan has about 9 million empty homes, 13.8% of its housing stock.
- Italy's scattered hotel model has only about 150 full properties in 40 years; a typical 20-room property employs ~5 permanent and ~11 seasonal workers.
- Japan's NIPPONIA has restored 220 buildings across 108 regions.
- Germany's Black Forest launched a five-village pilot in 2025-26.
Sources and time
- Primary source
- Skift
- Other sources
- 0
- First source publication
- 3 Sept 2026, 20:17
- Page published
- 3 Sept 2026, 20:31
- Last updated
- 3 Sept 2026, 20:17
- Original links
- Skift Feed：The Short-Term Rental Model for Shrinking Places (opens in a new tab)Primary source · en · Published 3 Sept 2026, 20:17