Italy's Key Box Crackdown: Milan and Florence Ban Lockboxes as Courts Back In-Person Check-In
If you've rented an apartment in Italy in the last few years, you probably met the key box. A small grey safe bolted to a railing or a door frame, a code sent by text, no host in sight. It made short-term rentals cheap to run. It's now on its way out in the big cities.
The fight started with a circular. On November 18 2024 Italy's Interior Ministry told the police that guests in rented accommodation have to be identified in person, face to face, under the old public security law. A photo of a passport uploaded to an app and a code to a lockbox didn't count. Hosts pushed back hard.
They won the first round. In May 2025 the regional administrative court in Lazio annulled the circular and called it unjustified. For a few months remote check-in looked safe. Then on November 21 2025 the Council of State, Italy's top administrative court, reversed that ruling and upheld the ministry. Uploading a document and getting an automatic code doesn't meet the law. Someone has to check the guest against the ID.
The cities moved first
Florence didn't wait for the courts. On February 10 2025 it banned key boxes on public property in its UNESCO historic centre, and removals started on February 25. The city had counted about 380 boxes. More than half came off when owners took them down themselves. Police cut off another 187. Fines go up to €400.
Milan followed. Its city council approved a ban in December 2025 that took effect in January 2026. It covers boxes on public land and street furniture, poles, gates, railings and doors that face the street. Boxes inside a building's courtyard or lobby aren't covered. Fines run from €100 to €400, plus the cost of removal.
What it means for a guest
Expect to meet someone. A host, a cleaner, an agency rep, or a check-in desk shared by several apartments. Some hosts now do a video call with the guest holding up their passport, then release the code. Whether that passes the Council of State's test is a question the next court case will answer.
Two other rules sit on top of this. Since January 1 2025 every rental in Italy needs a CIN, a national ID code that has to appear on the listing and on the door. A missing CIN costs the owner €800 to €8,000. And since May 20 2026 an EU regulation makes platforms show a registration number on every short-term listing and pull the ones with invalid numbers.
For a traveller the check is easy. No CIN on the listing, book something else. The picture above, by the way, shows love locks on a cable, the romantic cousin of the key box. Those get cut off by city crews too.