The Italian government is planning to increase taxes on short-term rentals by owners letting out more than one property.

This is according to a draft of next year’s budget seen by Reuters news agency over the weekend.

The move follows criticism of Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms for leading to a reduction in affordable housing for residents in some of the country’s most popular tourist destinations.

It was announced earlier this month that Florence has banned new short-term residential lets on such platforms within its historic centre as part of efforts by a local authority to provide more homes for residents.

The new regulations also offer tax breaks of three years to landlords and existing short-term lets if they change to ordinary leases.

The mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, said at the time that the city decided to take action as government plans to regulate the sector were inadequate.

“In 2016, we had just under 6,000 apartments listed on Airbnb. Today, we have almost 14,378,” he said, adding that over this time, the average price of typical monthly rents for residents had soared 42%. So far this year, prices have risen by 15.1%, according to the mayor.

As it stands, Italian legislation permits owners to rent out their apartments and pay a 21% tax rate on earnings, Reuters reports.

However, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni aims to increase this to 26% “in the case of the short-term rental of more than one apartment in each tax period,” according to the draft budget.

Yet the government has cut down its initial plans as previous drafts forecast tax also applying to short-term rentals of single apartments.

The PM said at the weekend that the 2024 budget bill would be presented to parliament on Monday, with approval forecast in December.