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This article looks at what you can do to prepare your Sicilian holiday home for hosting paying guests, and is part of our comprehensive series of guides for owners..
What legal responsibilities do I have before I rent out my Sicilian home?
There are specific legal requirements for hosting paying guests. Under Decree Law 145/2023, every short-term rental unit must have its own portable fire extinguisher as well as working combustible gas and carbon monoxide detectors. These are necessary within the living unit even if the building already has them in shared areas.You must display a sign showing any emergency exit routes. Finally, it is mandatory to provide a first aid kit. We cover this in our Health & Safety guide.
All documentation pertaining to the property must be in order, including the declaration that the premises are liveable (certificato di agibilità ) and certificates guaranteeing all construction work and home improvements.
You’ll also need to give guests a written tourist rental contract (locazione turistica), display your CIN clearly on both your advertising and the premises themselves and register every guest’s details with the police and the local authorities within 24 hours of arrival. For more information on contracts, CIR/CIN and police registration, see our page on Legal Obligations.
Make sure that you are covered by an appropriate insurance policy which includes your third-party liability (responsabilità civile) and cover for weather-related events.
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How can I best prepare my Sicilian holiday home for hosting paying guests?
Start by thinking about what you’d want to find in a holiday home, then balance that against your budget. The choices you make about furnishings, supplies and house rules are what every guest will encounter, so they are worth getting right. We think that a functional kitchen is essential, as this opens up the possibility of longer-term lettings over the winter months.
Create a single storage space for cleaning supplies, washing-up liquid and bin bags somewhere easy to find. It’s a smart idea to create a house manual, translated into a few key languages. Covering common questions but keep it short and easy to read.
Certainly don’t expect that every guest will read this cover-to-cover! Informative but friendly signs in key areas, like the kitchen, boiler and WiFi router, will probably catch the eye more. Your key house rules should certainly be displayed somewhere unmissable.
Recycling and waste disposal policies can cause particular confusion. Italian laws on this theme are strict and you don’t want to risk fines because your guests haven’t respected the rules. Invest in a smart set of bins and clear labelling to help your guests sort their trash, and use signs to make it crystal clear where and when it should be left.
How Solemar can help
We assist the owner with the practical preparation of the property, providing precise guidance on everything needed to make it ready to welcome guests, and drawing up a comprehensive inventory of furnishings, equipment and necessary services.
How can I keep my property taken care of when I am not in Sicily?
Taking care of properties while their owners are abroad is the job of a good property manager. If you are in one of the regions in which Solemar works we would love to support you, but failing that, look for someone trustworthy who can act as a keyholder, arrange cleaning between guests and check the property with a fine tooth comb before the next arrival.
A detailed inventory is essential. Have this list checked carefully before and after every stay to document any breakages or missing items, and make it available to guests in some form – knowing it exists is a deterrent in itself. We recommend asking your property manager to take regular photos, in order to prove when breakages took place in the event of a dispute.
Some landlords, even for short term letting, will take a security deposit. If you are going to do this, make sure it doesn’t come as a surprise on check-in or it can create tension.
When choosing a property manager, ask for specific information about their service. Important things to check are whether you will have real-time access to your booking calendar, how income is handled and whether the staff who will work on your home are third-parties or in house.
Of course, every property should have home and contents insurance..
How Solemar can help
All of our staff are in-house, carefully recruited and with excellent references. We are proud of how well we maintain these relationships to give you complete peace of mind. Whether our staff are carrying out routine cleaning tasks or extraordinary maintenance they will work with diligence and are always in close contact with our office personnel.
Will I still be able to use the Sicilian holiday home myself?
Yes, no matter how popular your holiday home is, you should always be free to use it yourself! We think the hybrid model is the perfect one to reward investors, and will never complicate things if you want to block off some time to visit or share it with friends. There can be no better litmus test for a tourist rental property than whether the owners would like to spend time there themselves.
Sicily’s fabulously sunny climate makes it enjoyable to visit at any time of year, allowing you to earn throughout the high season and still find time to make your memories. In fact, we think the very best month to visit Sicily is October: the sea is still warm enough to swim in but the crowds have gone, so the beaches return to public use.
This lets you maximise revenue during the European and American holidays – and enjoy a quieter, more traditionally Sicilian experience afterwards. Truly the best of both worlds.
If you have a town apartment, for example in the regional capital Palermo, you can pop in for long weekends to tie in with the city’s 365-day cultural calendar. The beauty of smaller communities like seaside Cefalù can be found in really getting to know your neighbours in the calm winter months.
How Solemar can help
We have selected the areas in which we operate based on a simple question: would we like to spend time here out of season? So if you’re in a Solemar town you know that you will be able to get plenty out of your holiday home all year round.