Green party pushes Airbnb ban as Amsterdam housing prices skyrocket

GroenLinks wants to ban Amsterdam residents renting their homes to tourists through sites like Airbnb if it turns out that this increases housing prices in the city, AT5 reports. Last month ING presented a report which stated that housing prices can increase by up to 100 thousand euros due to holiday rentals to tourists. And Amsterdam residents are willing to pay that extra money because of the extra income they can make by renting to tourists. "We find the value increase a problem. We see that Airbnb boosts inequality in the city. As far as we're concerned, whether people get a higher mortgage limit is almost irrelevant", Jorrit Nuijens of GroenLinks said to AT5. The party wants to ban rentals to tourists if it increases the housing prices. "If that is the only way to avoid price increasing effects, we should consider it. Otherwise Airbnb feeds inequality, that can not be allowed." The Amsterdam municipality is planning its own investigation on Airbnb and other tourist rentals' effect on the capital's housing market.