Amsterdam to require a permit for second homes in the city
Starting Monday, people whose second homes are located in Amsterdam will need a permit for that residence. This applies to pied-à-terres, properties where the owner or tenant stays occasionally, but does not consider it to be their primary, fixed address. “Amsterdam wants as many homes as possible for Amsterdam residents to live in permanently,” the city said.
People who already have a second home during the last three months of 2025 are eligible for a permit if they are not registered residents of Amsterdam, have only one second home in the city, and they or their family members use the home for personal use. That excludes using the home as an office or for holiday rentals. Social housing units also will not qualify for a permit.
People who want to buy a second home in Amsterdam from next year will only be allowed to do so if they meet the above requirements, as well as some additional conditions. These include that they work in the city for at least two days per week, for a period of at least six months, or if they are an informal caregiver spending at least eight hours per week assisting a loved one in Amsterdam.
Those who qualify will be eligible for a three-year permit. From January, permit applicants will not qualify if the home is valued below the mandated owner-occupancy threshold. Current city rules require property owners to make a residence their primary home if it is valued below about 623,000 euros. That figure will likely be adjusted with inflation, and can be further adapted if city politicians want to use the measure in an effort to make it easier for people to afford a home in Amsterdam.
According to Housing Alderman Zita Pels, GroenLinks-PvdA’s top candidate for the municipal elections next year, the new second-home rules are another attempt to address the housing shortage. Just building more homes is not enough, she said in an opinion piece in Vrij Nederland. Politicians also need to fix the system that caused the current housing crisis.
“Housing has been deliberately turned into a profit model instead of a basic right. Where housing was once a public responsibility, the market now rules,” Pels said. The wealthy have benefited from this policy, living in spacious homes while they rent out the others they own at exorbitant prices, she continued.
“The rest of the Netherlands is left to pay the price: people who pay way too much, live in cramped housing, or have nowhere else to go.”
“None of this will change when we build new neighborhoods or cities,” Pels wrote. She stressed that more housing is obviously necessary. “But if we continue on our current path, we are primarily contributing to inequality.”
That is why Amsterdam is also focusing on changing the system. Requiring a permit for owning a second home in the city is part of that.
