Amsterdam is appealing a ruling by the administrative judge on the ban on holiday rentals in three districts in the center. On March 12, the judge then ended a case brought by, among others, Amsterdam Gastvrij, which represents the interests of homeowners who rent out their homes through Airbnb or another platform.
Alderman Laurens Ivens (living) said in the city council that he wants more legal clarity and that he is therefore going to appeal. He called the court's substantiation "crazy reasoning" and hopes that an appeal judgment will give him more control to act.
The offending ban on holiday rentals applied since 1 July last year in the districts of Burgwallen-Oude Zijde, Burgwallen-Nieuwe Zijde and Grachtengordel-Zuid. The municipality had introduced this because tourism would put pressure on the quality of life for residents and homes would be withdrawn from the housing stock. There was also nuisance.
Housing Act
According to the judge, Amsterdam was not allowed to pronounce on holiday letting in an entire neighborhood, because the old Housing Act from 2014 does not provide for this. The city can, however, make other changes, the judge said, namely as is already the case in the neighborhoods where no ban was issued. There, holiday rental is only allowed with a permit and then for a maximum of thirty nights per year for a maximum of four people.
Ivens says he will be monitoring next summer “whether the weather is as busy as before the pandemic, especially in these three areas”. If that is the case, he hopes to impose a new ban on holiday rentals next year. To this end, the alderman can appeal to the Tourist Letting Act, which came into force this year, which is an amendment to the Housing Act.
No noticeable effect
As a shot ahead, Airbnb presented a study on Tuesday arguing that vacation rental of the home has no noticeable effect on house prices or the availability of homes. That is therefore “not a real threat and not a valid argument for further curtailing private holiday rentals in Amsterdam”, according to the rental platform.
Also, further restrictions would not solve the problems of overtourism and nuisance in the city center, say the researchers. Nuisance in the city center would not be linked to stays via Airbnb, but rather to a combination of factors, including day trippers, hotel capacity, the number of tourist attractions and the number of coffee shops per 1000 inhabitants.
Also read: Night train Brussels-Amsterdam-Berlin-Prague in the making
