Court ruling: short stay let of Amsterdam apartments to tourists is not permitted

Renting out your apartment to tourists for short periods of time is a form of commercial exploitation and therefore not permitted. This was recently decided by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal confirms herewith the earlier ruling of the Amsterdam district judge: short stay rental of an apartment is not allowed, unless explicit permission by the Association of Owners is given. Dutch real estate lawyer Thomas van Vugt, explains.

Property Division Regulation: designated use is residential

An owner of an apartment in an Amsterdam housing complex, occasionally rented out his apartment on temporary basis (maximum a week) to tourists, once or twice a month. Some of the other apartment owners within the Association of Owners made objections to this practice, especially because the tourists caused substantial noise nuisance. The relevant Property Division Regulation stated that the apartment’s designated use is “residential’. According to the judge of the District Court “residential use” means “having a permanent stay in the house”. This is not the case when renting out a flat for short stay rentals (or B&B’s). Regularly renting out the apartment is therefore considered a breach of the Property Division Regulation.

Short stay rental is commercial rental

The Court’s decision shows that even renting out your apartment for a few days as little as once or twice a month can be considered to fall under commercial rental activities.