Property Owner or Manager in Lecce

(Versione in Italiano qui)

When you post a vacation rental ad on VRBO, you are required to comply with the laws in force that apply to this kind of business. For the avoidance of doubt, we need to clarify that our website does not offer any legal advice in this regard and that the information summarized below contains only a rough description of the main regulations in force in the Puglia Region and, in particular, in the city of Lecce. There are also some links that will help you understand which regulations apply to you and what your obligations are.

Obligations for running a vacation rental in Lecce (authorization, declarations, etc.)

What is a vacation rental?

In the VRBO help pages, we use the terms “vacation rental” or “vacation home” as generic definitions and they should not be regarded as legal definitions.

What are my obligations as the owner of a vacation rental?

If you want to run a hospitality business by opening a vacation rental, you need to know that you are required to fulfil various administrative obligations.

Some of the main obligations you might need to fulfil as a property owner are listed below, but we recommend that you contact the local authorities to find out more about the specific obligations applicable to your case.

a) Running your business

To set up a vacation rental, the owners or those who have claim to the property in any capacity are required to register their property in the regional register of non-hotel accommodation facilities to be issued a “Facility Identification Code” (CIS).

b) Facility Identification Code

The Regional Council, with Provision no. 22 of January 12, 2020, published in Official Bulletin of the Puglia Region no. 19 of February 11, 2020, regulated the implementation and management methods of the Regional Register of non-hotel accommodation facilities. From March 4, 2020, owners of accommodation exclusively rented out for the purposes of tourism are required to register the facilities(s) offered for rent with the DMS. To register a facility in the Regional Register of non-hotel accommodation facilities, it is necessary to access and make an account in the DMS (Digital Management System), at www.dms.puglia.it, using level 2 (person/citizen) SPIDcredentials. At the end of the registration procedure, the system will assign you the CIS – Facility Identification Code. Starting from July 1, 2020, the owners of accommodation facilities are obligated to specifically state their facility's Facility Identification Code (CIR) in all advertising, promotion and marketing of the facility in print, online or by any other means. Regional Law no.32 of December 29, 2022 has extended this obligation to all accommodation facilities. For hotel facilities this obligation will apply as of June 30, 2023.

Furthermore, the Regional Register of non-hotel accommodation facilities becomes the “Regional Register of Accommodation Facilities”, where all accommodation facilities will be included.

c) Declaration of guests staying at your vacation rental

Some information about the guests staying at your vacation rental must be communicated to your local police headquarters via the Alloggiati website within 24 hours of their arrival and within six hours of their arrival if the duration of their stay is less than 24 hours. This is also applicable in the case of short-term rentals lasting less than 30 days. Please note that failure to provide this information is a criminal offense, pursuant to articles 17 and 109 of the Consolidated Law on Public Security (T.U.L.P.S.).

d) Insurance coverage

To manage a vacation rental or any other type of accommodation facility, it may be necessary to take out specific public liability insurance to cover the guests who will stay at the owner's property. It is important to do this before starting up any type of accommodation business.

e) Tourist tax

Remember that as the owner/manager of an accommodation facility, you may be required to collect tourist tax from your guests and pay it to your municipality. For more information about the tourist tax, please consult your municipality's website to check if you need to collect it and, if so, what rates apply to your facility. For more information on the tourist tax applicable to the Municipality of Lecce, click here: Imposta di soggiorno (comune.lecce.it)

f) Waste disposal tax

Finally, you need to be aware that as the owner/manager of a vacation rental, you will be required to comply with any obligations applicable to you regarding the waste disposal tax. For more information on the amount of tax payable in the Municipality of Lecce, please click on this link.