Paris risks turning into a Venice-style city devoid of real inhabitants, unless it clamps down on property owners who illegally rent out their flats to tourists instead of real Parisians, the city's deputy mayor has warned, reports The Telegraph.
Sky-high demand for small rooms in the City of Light has led to a booming short-term rental market, with the Paris town hall estimating around 30,000 such flats are currently illegally being rented out to foreign tourists at above-market rates.
"Paris is the most visited city in the world and we are very happy about that," said Jean-Yves Mano, deputy mayor in charge of housing.
"But we don't want to become like Venice, a city devoid of inhabitants due to tourism," he told Le Parisien.
According to Mr Mano, short-term property rentals are fuelling real estate speculation and automatically lead to rising rental rates, as many owners take their properties off the traditional market.
It is perfectly legal for Parisians to rent out their main residence while on holiday as long as they declare the rent to the tax authorities.
However, second home rentals require special town hall authorisation and paying into a costly financial compensation system.
Many property owners use online agencies that bypass this compensation system. Agents say such rentals of flats are vital in city reaching saturation rate in terms of hotel capacity.
Read more of this report from The Telegraph.