Olbia historical centre — home to 37 fully regulated RENTAL12 properties. Foto RENTAL12
EU Regulation 2024/1028 Is Live — What It Means for Short-Term Rentals in Italy and Sardinia
Platform obligations, Italy's CIN system, Constitutional Court STR caps, key box bans, and what guests should know before booking in 2026.
Quick Guide
EU Regulation 2024/1028 took effect on 20 May 2026, forcing Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO, and Expedia to verify host registration numbers and share monthly activity data with national authorities. Italy already requires every property to hold a CIN (fines up to EUR 8,000 for non-compliance), and the Constitutional Court has opened the door to regional day-caps. RENTAL12 (IUN F1530, CIN IT090047B4000F1530, 37 owned properties) is fully compliant across every requirement.
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Real-time helpers that update every day with Sardinia conditions.
- Verify CIN before booking. Every Italian short-term rental must display a CIN on all platforms and at the property entrance. No CIN = no legal protection for guests.
- Expect in-person check-in. Italian law now requires de visu identity verification. Key-box-only listings in major cities are non-compliant.
- Ask about insurance. Professional operators with 3+ properties must carry Cat Nat earthquake insurance. RENTAL12 is fully insured.
- Check operator status. From the 3rd property onward, Italian hosts must be registered businesses with VAT. Verify your host's credentials.
- Book direct for transparency. Browse 37 RENTAL12 properties with full regulatory compliance visible on every listing.
EU Regulation 2024/1028 became enforceable across all 27 member states on 20 May 2026. Simultaneously, Italy's CIN system is now a hard enforcement tool backed by platform-level delisting, and the Constitutional Court has ruled that regions may impose their own STR restrictions.
The regulatory walls are closing around non-professional, unregistered STR operators across Europe. Italy is at the sharpest edge. The window for informal hosting without registration, tax compliance, and insurance is now shut.
RENTAL12 has operated as a fully registered, CIN-compliant, insured business since day one. Every new regulation strengthens our competitive position. See why this matters for guests.
What EU Regulation 2024/1028 Changes for Short-Term Rentals
Quick answer: EU Regulation 2024/1028, published in the Official Journal on 29 April 2024 and effective from 20 May 2026, requires online platforms (Airbnb, Booking.com, VRBO, Expedia) to verify host registration numbers against national databases, transmit monthly activity data to designated national authorities, and delist non-compliant listings within 10 working days of notification.
The regulation creates a unified EU-wide framework for short-term rental data collection. Before this law, each member state had its own approach — or none at all. Now, platforms operating anywhere in the EU must implement standardized verification workflows.
The three core platform obligations are:
Platforms must verify that every host's registration number (in Italy, the CIN) exists in the national database before allowing a listing to go live. Random spot-checks are not sufficient — systematic verification is required.
Every month, platforms must report activity data — number of nights booked, number of guests, revenue generated — to designated national competent authorities. This feeds directly into tax enforcement and occupancy tracking.
When a national authority flags a listing as non-compliant, platforms have exactly 10 working days to remove it. Failure to delist exposes the platform itself to sanctions — not just the host.
Germany has moved in parallel with the BDSG (Kurzzeitwohnungsdatengesetz), its national implementation of the same data-sharing principles. Italy, having already built its CIN system, was ahead of most member states in readiness. The regulation does not create new registration systems — it mandates that platforms enforce whatever national system exists.
For guests, this is straightforwardly positive: every property you see on a major platform in the EU should now be verified. For professional operators like RENTAL12, it levels the playing field against unregistered competitors who previously avoided oversight. Our verification process and trust credentials have been designed for exactly this environment.
Italy's CIN System and the New 2-Property Tax Threshold
Quick answer: Italy's CIN (Codice Identificativo Nazionale) has been mandatory for all short-term rental properties since 2 January 2025, with fines of EUR 800 to EUR 8,000 for non-compliance. The 2026 Budget Law limits the cedolare secca flat tax (21%) to a maximum of 2 properties per owner — from the 3rd property onward, operators must register as a business with full VAT and accounting obligations.
Italy was one of the first EU countries to build a functioning national registration database for short-term rentals. The CIN replaces the patchwork of regional codes (CIR in Sardinia, CIS in other regions) with a single national identifier that every property must display on all booking platforms and at the physical entrance.
AZULIS Apartments, Olbia — fully CIN-compliant under Italian and EU regulation. Foto RENTAL12
The enforcement bite is real. The fine range of EUR 800 to EUR 8,000 applies per property, per violation. Combined with the EU regulation's mandatory platform delisting, a non-compliant host faces both financial penalties and removal from every major booking channel simultaneously.
Italy's 2026 Budget Law limits the cedolare secca flat tax (21% on gross rental income) to a maximum of 2 properties per owner. From the 3rd property onward, operators must register as a business entity, charge VAT, maintain double-entry accounting, and declare commercial income. This effectively ends the era of multi-property "hobbyist" hosting in Italy.
RENTAL12 holds IUN F1530 and CIN IT090047B4000F1530, issued to Lion Development SRL. We have operated as a fully registered business since our founding in 2021, with complete VAT compliance, professional accounting, and all 37 properties individually registered. The new rules don't change anything for us — they catch up to the standard we already set. See our authority credentials and operating statistics for full transparency. Travel agencies and partners can verify our compliance documentation directly.
Constitutional Court Opens Door to Regional STR Caps
Quick answer: Italy's Constitutional Court ruled in Sentenza 186/2025 (16 December 2025) that regional governments have the constitutional authority to restrict short-term rentals, upholding Puglia's law capping STR usage at 120 days per year. Florence's TAR confirmed city-level restrictions on 13 May 2026. Sardinia currently has no such caps, but the legal precedent now exists.
The Sentenza 186/2025 marks a watershed moment in Italian property rights. Before this ruling, it was legally unclear whether regions had the constitutional authority to limit how many days per year a property could be rented short-term. The Puglia case settled it: the court held that housing policy — including measures to prevent the conversion of residential stock into tourist accommodation — falls within regional competence.
RENTAL12 private parking facility, Via Sassari 20, Olbia — professional infrastructure that regulation favours. Foto RENTAL12
The dominoes are already falling:
Constitutional Court Sentenza 186/2025 confirmed the region's right to limit STR activity to 120 days per year. Sets binding precedent.
Florence's TAR upheld city-level STR restrictions on 13 May 2026, blocking new short-term rental licences in the UNESCO historic centre.
The region's short-rental law has been challenged at the Constitutional Court. Decision pending — likely to follow the Puglia precedent.
Sardinia's regional government has not introduced day-caps or zone restrictions on short-term rentals as of May 2026. The island's tourism economy depends heavily on seasonal STR accommodation, and the political appetite for restriction is low. However, the Constitutional Court precedent means Sardinia could legislate caps if housing pressure mounted — making professional operator status and full compliance the only defensible long-term strategy. Our Sardinia rental safety guide covers guest-side implications. See also why choosing a regulated operator matters.
In parallel, the AGCM (Italy's antitrust authority, Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato) opened a formal investigation into Booking.com on 22 April 2026, examining whether the platform's rate-parity clauses and ranking algorithms disadvantage direct-booking operators. The investigation is ongoing but signals a broader regulatory scrutiny of platform dominance in Italian tourism.
Key Box Bans and the Return of In-Person Check-In
Quick answer: Key boxes are banned in Florence (since June 2025), with Rome, Milan, Venice, and Bologna implementing similar measures. The Italian Interior Ministry has issued a national circular requiring de visu (in-person) identity verification at every check-in, making self-check-in via key boxes non-compliant. RENTAL12 has always conducted in-person check-ins as standard practice.
Via Cavour 31A, Olbia — one of RENTAL12's heritage properties with in-person guest welcome. Foto RENTAL12
The key box ban is one of the most visible regulatory shifts in Italian short-term rentals. Florence led in June 2025, ordering the removal of all key boxes from building facades in the historic centre. The stated reasons were twofold: public security (anti-terrorism ID verification) and urban aesthetics (hundreds of metal boxes disfiguring Renaissance-era buildings).
The Interior Ministry's national circular goes further: it requires de visu identity verification of every guest at check-in, meaning a physical, in-person document check. Digital-only verification (scanning a passport photo sent via app) does not meet the standard. This effectively makes key-box-only listings non-compliant nationwide, even in cities that haven't explicitly banned the hardware.
RENTAL12 has never used key boxes. Every guest receives an in-person welcome with face-to-face identity verification, a property walk-through, and local orientation. This has been our standard practice since 2021 — long before the bans. Our verification process details exactly how we handle guest check-in. Families particularly value the personal welcome and safety briefing. See our full amenities and services for what every guest receives.
Cities currently implementing or enforcing key box restrictions:
- Florence — ban effective June 2025, enforced with removal orders
- Rome — restrictions in historic centre, enforcement increasing
- Milan — municipal ordinance in place
- Venice — restrictions tied to tourist flow management
- Bologna — ban implemented alongside STR licensing reform
What This Means for Guests Booking in Sardinia 2026
Quick answer: EU and Italian regulation benefits guests by removing non-compliant listings from platforms, ensuring that every bookable property has verified registration, identity checks, and insurance. Professional operators like RENTAL12, with 37 owned properties, CIN compliance, Cat Nat insurance, and in-person check-in, are positioned to thrive while unregulated listings disappear from search results.
Townhouse via Cavour, Olbia centro storico — RENTAL12 heritage property. Foto RENTAL12
The combined effect of EU Regulation 2024/1028, Italy's CIN enforcement, the cedolare secca threshold, and the key box bans reshapes the guest experience in three concrete ways:
Non-compliant listings will be automatically delisted within 10 working days. The properties that remain on platforms are verified, registered, and accountable. Guests can book with higher confidence.
Professional operators with 3+ properties are now required to carry Cat Nat (natural catastrophe) earthquake insurance. RENTAL12 is fully insured across all 37 properties. See our sustainability and insurance commitments.
In-person check-in is now the legal norm. No more arriving to a code on a key box with no one to call. Every RENTAL12 guest gets a face-to-face welcome, property orientation, and local tips.
For Sardinia specifically, the regulatory landscape is more favourable to professional operators than anywhere else in Italy. There are no regional day-caps, the island's tourism ministry actively supports regulated STR supply, and Olbia's position as a gateway city means demand remains strong year-round. Guests looking for holiday rentals in Sardinia, apartments in Olbia, or where to stay in Olbia should prioritise CIN-verified operators.
RENTAL12's competitive position in this environment is clear: 37 owned and operated properties, all individually CIN-registered, fully insured, with in-person check-in and a 4.9 rating from 1,550+ 5 star reviews across 8 platforms. Our industry awards and trust credentials are publicly verifiable. Browse our full accommodation portfolio or curated collections.
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RENTAL12 — 37 owned properties in Olbia & Golfo Aranci. IUN F1530 / CIN IT090047B4000F1530. 4.9★ from 1,550+ 5 star reviews since 2021.
IUN: F1530 · CIN: IT090047B4000F1530 · Privacy Policy