Venice housing crisis grips locals

Venice residents are fighting to keep homes occupied in a city where tourist accommodation now rivals, and in some areas exceeds, the local population. Activists in the lagoon city have turned to occupying empty buildings, arguing that abandoned housing and the spread of short-term rentals are pushing younger Venetians out. The pressure has become a recurring theme in reporting on Venice this month as the city continues to expand measures aimed at managing day-tripper traffic. Official and civic data show a city trying to curb visitor flows while still losing housing to tourism. ### Who are the young Venetians moving into empty homes? ASC, short for Assemblea Sociale per la Casa, is one of the groups at the center of the housing fight. Reporting from Venice has described members and supporters occupying unused apartments and buildings, saying they want to keep homes lived in rather than left vacant while rents rise. Photographer and reporter Nicola Zolin wrote in 2024 that the group was repurposing abandoned properties and organizing against evictions. (adventure.com) Marta Sottoriva, a 33-year-old teacher quoted in that report, said she joined after finding rents in Venice too high to manage. Chiara Buratti, another ASC member, said: “We’re not stealing, we’re doing the job someone else should be doing,” according to the same account. ### How tight is the housing market in Venice now? OCIO, a Venice civic observatory that tracks tourism and housing data, said updated figures as of Jan. 19, 2026 showed 60,638 tourist beds in Venice’s island area, compared with 56,165 residents. (adventure.com) The same report said 64% of accommodation beds in Venice-Murano-Burano were in non-hotel structures such as tourist rentals, hostels and bed-and-breakfasts. The long-run population decline remains central to the housing debate. Zolin’s 2024 reporting said Venice’s population had fallen from about 170,000 in the 1950s to fewer than 50,000 residents over 75 years, with younger renters among the groups most affected. The City of Venice maintains official demographic tables through its statistics office, with the latest cited update on that page dated Aug. 27, 2025. (ocio-venezia.it) ### What is Venice doing about short-term rentals? Luigi Brugnaro’s administration presented a regulation on Oct. 24, 2024 covering tourist rentals that run for more than 120 days a year. The city said operators exceeding that threshold would have to enroll in a register and file the required notice, part of what Brugnaro called an attempt to improve compatibility with residents’ daily lives. (adventure.com) The City of Venice said the goal of the measure was to protect Venice as both a UNESCO heritage site and a “living organism” made up of permanent residents. Brugnaro said the regulation was meant as “a pact between the administration and landlords,” according to the city’s statement. ### Why does the tourism debate keep colliding with housing? (live.comune.venezia.it) Venice’s own tourism controls now sit alongside the housing dispute. The official access-fee portal says the application dates for 2026 have been set and that day visitors in the ancient city must pay on scheduled days and times unless exempt. The fee was introduced as part of the city’s effort to manage heavy visitor flows into the historic center. (live.comune.venezia.it) Housing activists and outside reporting have linked the same visitor pressure to a rental market tilted toward short stays. Wanted in Milan reported that Venice was also trying to restore disused municipal apartments and offer some homes at subsidized rents to younger households, while acknowledging that tourist demand had intensified housing costs. ### What formal housing options are still open to residents? (cda.veneziaunica.it) The City of Venice’s 2025 social-housing tender offered 200 apartments in the historic center, islands and mainland areas, according to municipal information reposted on the Famiglie a Venezia portal. The final rankings were approved on Dec. 17, 2025 and remain valid for two years. (wantedinmilan.com) The next official reference points are already public. Venice’s access-fee rules for 2026 are posted on the city portal, and residents seeking municipal housing can consult the 2025 social-housing rankings and the city’s housing office pages for updates from named municipal departments. (cda.veneziaunica.it) (famiglieavenezia.it)