Mahima
The city of Amsterdam is all set to allow its residents to open their homes for tourists. Recently, the court has scrapped its previous order banning vacation rentals.
Amsterdam’s city council had issued an outright ban on vacation rentals through Airbnb and other platforms in the three areas which make up the central canal ring to curb problems and nuisances caused by the tourists in the historic city centre.
However, a local court ordered the lifting of this ban in line with a case brought in by an association of property owners as it had no legal grounds.
The city council has responded that residents can apply for permits which are available to homeowners in other parts of the town as well. The permit entitles the residents with the right to rent out their homes up to 30 nights a year and not more than four people at a time.
The court has also indicated that there could be a capping of the number of houses available as vacation rentals in a given district by the city. The city can also opt to determine that certain properties are exclusively for the residents.
However, the city has maintained that its course of action shall be decided after studying the verdict.
According to the city’s prior calculations, one in every 15 residential properties shows up on the online rental platform in Amsterdam where a population of almost 900,000 hosts around 4.5 million foreign tourists.