It’s half past twelve and you are in the lively center of Annecy’s old town. Under the cool early autumn sun, a young woman emerges from an old building in Passage Nemours, a large shopping bag over her shoulder filled with spray cleaning products. He just cleaned a tourist rental. “Here is an Airbnb on the ground floor that faces the street and one that faces the patio, one on the first floor and the entire third floor, these are furnished”he explains, as another young woman sneaks into the narrow courtyard with a bundle of clean linens to change the bedding. Of the eight mailboxes, only two have a label with a name. The others, half-open, house five key boxes, characteristic of Airbnbs.
In this historic heart of the Haute-Savoie prefecture, famous for its pastel-colored houses, cobbled streets, canals, lake access and mountain views, the municipality estimates that between 25% and 30% of The accommodation has been converted into furnished tourist accommodation. “The old town becomes a great hotel.summarizes François Astorg, mayor (several on the left) of Annecy, Although we need housing, the municipality, companies, restaurants have difficulties hiring due to lack of housing. »
A lifelong resident of this area so popular with Instagrammers, Brigitte Cottet, president of the Annecy Old Town Neighborhood Association, walks the streets pointing out the new shops. “Airbnb promotes takeaway food [services de restauration à emporter]“fast fashion, bars, so-called traditional restaurants that serve cheese in plastic”he complains. Overtourism has turned their neighborhood upside down in less than ten years. “It was a town, full of local businesses, we all knew each other, people from all social classes and all origins. It has become a party neighborhood where it is impossible to find accommodation.continue. Thus, this text on Airbnb that has just been voted on in Parliament is truly a moral law. »
Long awaited text
After the Senate at the beginning of the week, it was the National Assembly that definitively adopted, on Thursday, November 7, the bill. “with the aim of strengthening regulatory tools for furnished tourist accommodation at the local level” deputies Annaïg Le Meur (Renaissance, Finisterre) and Iñaki Echaniz (Socialist Party, Pyrénées-Atlantiques). A transpartisan text, eagerly awaited by numerous local elected officials from the right and left, eager to stop the proliferation of seasonal rentals, the number of which has increased from 300,000 in 2016 to 1.2 million today. The law will provide mayors with new tools to regulate the furnished apartment market. In particular, they may establish seasonal rental quotas in their municipality.
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