The Italian city of Florence has announced a ban on Airbnb rentals in its historic centre as part of a drive to ensure locals can have access to available and affordable housing.

The World Heritage site is one of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations but the city’s mayor, Dario Nardella, plans to introduce rules on short-term occupancy in a bid to improve the availability of properties for full-time residents.

The scheme has been labelled “save historic centres”, with Nardella insisting the time for talking is over, with action required to address the issue. There are plans at a national level to introduce a law requiring residential properties rented to tourists to be coded to help track and regulate them but Nardella wants action now, and is not prepared to wait for central government legislation.

“If we don’t try to take politically disruptive actions, no one makes a move,” said Nardella, who will block new short-term rental contracts. “We are tired of announcements. The problem has become structural.”

Short-term rentals are defined as covering a period of less than 30 days, with Florence now having around 11,000 properties coming under that title. As well as blocking contracts for new short-term residences, authorities plan to offer a tax incentive to owners to convert properties back to long-term rentals.