Last week, the national government came up with new corona measures because the number of infections is on the rise again. The advice is to sit in one house with no more than six people. This also applies to holiday homes. Voucher platform Checkkie.nl sees that providers of holiday homes and tenants are getting into difficulties as a result. It is not 'legally' prohibited to rent a holiday home with more people. Cancellation free of charge is therefore not possible. 

An advice is not a law

As long as the maximum six-person measure is not laid down in an emergency ordinance, it will remain an advice. Enforcement is only possible if the advice is included in an emergency regulation. If this does not happen, it remains legally permitted to stay in a house with more than six people ”, says Remco Kuilman of Checkkie.nl. Canceling a cottage because of government advice is seen by many vacation rental providers as voluntary cancellation. The costs for this are therefore charged to the tenant, as Checkkie.nl notes from the number of reports on the voucher platform. 

Bernd Everts; 'We booked a villa in Winterswijk with ten friends through Belvilla for September 4. We prefer to cancel now because of the advice of the government, but this costs € 1300, while the total rental amount is € 1600. We understand that Belvilla does not want to cancel free of charge, but for example rebooking for free would already be a good option '.

 

Voucher as a solution

Checkkie.nl gives advice to work this out together. A voucher would be a good option in these cases. All parties benefit from this, so the landlord has certainty that the house will be rented out in the future and the consumer can follow the advice of the government. If the tenant and landlord agree now that a voucher is a good solution, there is no obligation for the landlord to pay it back at a later time.  

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