Amsterdam lowers first fine for breaking holiday rental rules

The municipality of Amsterdam is reducing the first fine it issues to people who rent out a home to tourists against the rules using holiday rental platforms such as Airbnb. Amsterdammers who commit their first violation of the holiday rental rules were previously fined 8,700 euros. That amount will be reduced to 3,000 euros, the municipality announced on Friday.

Those who are found to be illegally operating a hotel will still have to pay the higher fine for an administrative violation. "But we see with holiday rentals that a different type of offender has emerged in recent years. Instead of full-time landlords renting to tourists, it is Amsterdammers who actually live in their home, but occasionally rent it out to tourists and do not comply with the rules," the municipality said. It has therefore been decided to reduce the fine.

Last June, the municipality decided to completely stop issuing fines to hosts from platforms like Airbnb pending the new policy. The municipality had received several messages from Amsterdammers who had to pay exorbitant fines due to administrative errors. Now that the reduction has been implemented, fines will again be handed out to hosts again, a municipality spokesperson confirmed.

The reduction of the fee will take effect retroactively from 1 October 2021. As a result, the municipality will partially reimburse 77 fines. This is expected to be completed before April 2023.

Anyone who rents out their home in Amsterdam via websites including Airbnb and Booking.com is required to add a registration number to the advertisement. This rule has been in place since last year, and the municipality enforces it. The rule is one of the measures meant to limit the rental of houses and apartments to tourists.