AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The city of Amsterdam will allow residents of its historic center to offer their homes to tourists again, after a court ordered it to lift the ban on vacation rentals.
Amsterdam’s left-wing city council last year banned rentals through Airbnb and other platforms in three areas that make up its central ring of canals, in a bid to reduce what it described as nuisance caused by tourists in the old city center.
But in a case brought by a landowners association, a local court ordered him last Friday to lift the ban immediately because it had no legal basis.
In a response, the city said that starting Tuesday, residents of the zones could apply for the same permit available to homeowners elsewhere in the city, giving them the right to rent their homes for up to 30 nights per year. to a group of not more than four at a time.
In its verdict, the court said the city could cap the number of homes available for vacation rental in any neighborhood and could also choose to determine that certain properties were reserved for residents.
The city said it was still studying the verdict to see what action could be taken.
One in 15 homes in Amsterdam showed up on online rental platforms like Airbnb last year, according to city calculations.
Amsterdam receives an average of around 4.5 million foreign tourists each year, out of a population of nearly 900,000.
Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Steve Orlofsky
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