Short-stay rental and Airbnb in the Netherlands: what are the rules?

Short-stay rental of a Dutch home, for example through Airbnb, is regulated mainly by the municipality, not by the platform. Under the Housing Act 2014 (Huisvestingswet 2014) a municipality can require a registration number, a notification per let, a maximum number of nights or a permit; the omgevingsplan must also allow the use, and tenants may not sublet their whole home at all without the landlord’s permission.

This article explains the four layers of rules, what a municipality may require, how enforcement and fines work, and the position of tenants and owners. The rules of a homeowners’ association are covered in our article on short-stay rentals and the homeowners association.

Which rules apply to short-stay rental?

Four layers apply at the same time, and complying with one says nothing about the others. They are the Housing Act 2014, the municipal omgevingsplan under the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet), private law (your lease, mortgage, insurance and association rules) and EU law.

At EU level, Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 on data collection for short-term rental services has applied since 20 May 2026. It standardises registration numbers and requires platforms to share booking data with the authorities. There is therefore no single national answer: it depends on the municipality, the address and your own legal title to the property.

When is short-stay rental a withdrawal from the housing stock?

When the municipality has designated the dwelling in its housing ordinance (huisvestingsverordening). Under Article 21 of the Housing Act 2014, it is then prohibited to withdraw that dwelling from residential use without a permit from the municipal executive (burgemeester en wethouders), and letting it to tourists counts as such a withdrawal.

Holiday letting is therefore an exception, not a right. Municipalities that allow it set conditions in the ordinance, such as a maximum number of nights per year, a maximum number of guests, the requirement that the home is your main residence and a notification for each let. Outside those conditions you need a withdrawal permit, which cities with housing shortages rarely grant.

What can a municipality require: registration, notification or permit?

Since 1 January 2021, the Housing Act 2014 gives municipalities three tools for tourist rental, in rising order of severity. They can combine them in the housing ordinance.

• Registration number (Article 23a): you must state the registration number in every advertisement for tourist rental.
• Night cap and notification (Article 23b): the council can cap the number of nights per year and require you to report each let in advance.
• Permit (Article 23c): the council can make tourist rental subject to a permit from the municipal executive.

Amsterdam and several other cities use these tools with their own caps on nights and guests. The figures are in the municipal ordinance and change regularly, so always check the current text for your municipality. Under the EU regulation, the platform must display your registration number and can remove a listing without a valid number.

Does the omgevingsplan allow the use?

A registration number says nothing about planning law. Since 1 January 2024, each municipality has one omgevingsplan under the Environment and Planning Act that assigns functions to locations; where the function is residential (wonen), letting to a succession of guests can be a different use, as running a bed and breakfast is.

If the use does not fit, you need an environment and planning permit for an activity that deviates from the omgevingsplan. The municipal executive has discretion and often refuses in areas with housing shortages. A neighbour can request enforcement, which the municipality must in principle act on, and planning rules stay with the property when it is sold.

How does enforcement work, and how do you respond to a fine?

The municipal executive enforces with two different tools. An order subject to a penalty payment (last onder dwangsom) aims to stop the letting; an administrative fine (bestuurlijke boete) punishes what has already happened.

Under Article 35 of the Housing Act 2014, the fine can reach the third category of Article 23 of the Criminal Code (€11,000 in 2026) for letting without a registration number or without notification, and the fourth category (€27,500 in 2026) for exceeding the night cap, letting without a permit or withdrawing a home without a permit. The municipality sets its own tariffs within those maxima, often higher for repeat or commercial letting. Fines can be imposed on whoever let the dwelling, including a tenant who sublet.

Because the fine is punitive, criminal-law safeguards apply. The municipality must prove which dwelling was let on which dates, for example with platform data, observations or statements, and you do not have to cooperate in your own punishment. Get advice before you explain anything after an inspection.

Under the General Administrative Law Act (Awb), you have six weeks from the decision to lodge an objection (bezwaar) with the municipality (Article 6:7 Awb). Against the decision on objection you can appeal to the district court within six weeks, and then to the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State (Raad van State). A separate recovery decision for forfeited penalty payments has its own objection period.

May you rent out your home on Airbnb as a tenant?

Not the whole home, unless your landlord agrees. Under Article 7:244 of the Dutch Civil Code (BW), a tenant of residential accommodation may not give the property wholly or partly into use by others; the only exception is that a tenant of a self-contained home who lives there may let part of it.

The consequences are serious. Landlords, especially housing associations, ask the subdistrict court (kantonrechter) to dissolve the lease and order eviction, and courts regularly grant this for repeated commercial letting. The landlord can also claim the profit you made as damages under Article 6:104 BW. The municipal fine comes on top. Our overview of tenant rights in the Netherlands sets out the wider framework.

Guests themselves do not acquire tenancy protection. Under Article 7:232(2) BW, the residential tenancy rules do not apply to use that is by its nature of short duration. Courts apply that exception narrowly: a “short-stay” contract used to house someone for months is likely an ordinary residential tenancy, with all protection, including the rules of the Affordable Rent Act.

What should owners check in their mortgage, insurance and association rules?

Most mortgage deeds contain a letting clause (huurbeding) under Article 3:264 BW, which bars letting without the lender’s consent; commercial short-stay letting is normally caught. Many home insurance policies exclude damage caused by paying guests or require you to report commercial use.

In an apartment building, the deed of division and association rules decide whether short-stay letting is allowed at all, and the association (VvE) can enforce them independently of the municipality. Check in this order: deed of division and association rules, housing ordinance and omgevingsplan, then mortgage and insurance.

Do you have to pay tourist tax?

Usually yes. Municipalities may levy tourist tax (toeristenbelasting) under Article 224 of the Municipalities Act (Gemeentewet) on overnight stays by non-residents, normally assessed on the host, with rates set each year in the local tax ordinance.

Paying tourist tax does not make an unlawful let lawful, and a registration number does not settle your income tax or VAT position. For those questions, consult a tax adviser.

What should you check as a tenant?

As a tenant you face the strictest rule. Check:

• Whether you have written permission from your landlord; without it, letting the whole home breaches Article 7:244 BW.
• Whether your lease contains a specific ban or penalty clause on subletting.
• Whether the municipality requires a registration number, notification or permit for your address.
• Whether you could lose your home: dissolution and eviction are a real risk.
• Whether you received a warning letter from your landlord or housing association, and the deadline it sets.

What should you check as an owner or landlord?

Owners who let themselves, and landlords facing a subletting tenant, need different checks:

• Whether the housing ordinance designates your dwelling and which tools (Articles 23a-23c Housing Act 2014) apply.
• Whether the omgevingsplan allows the use at your address.
• Whether your mortgage deed contains a letting clause (Article 3:264 BW) and your insurer covers paying guests.
• Whether the deed of division and association rules allow short-stay letting.
• As landlord: whether you have evidence of subletting (listings, reviews, platform data) before you claim dissolution or profit under Article 6:104 BW.

What can we do for you with short-stay rental?

We advise owners, tenants, landlords, investors and homeowners’ associations; see also our real estate lawyer page and our real estate law guides.

• We check the housing ordinance and omgevingsplan for your address before you list.
• We review your lease, deed of division and mortgage deed for letting restrictions.
• We draft the objection (bezwaar) against a fine or penalty order within the six-week deadline.
• We represent you on appeal before the district court and the Council of State.
• We act for landlords and tenants in dissolution, eviction and profit claims before the subdistrict court.

Summary

• Short-stay rental is regulated by the municipality under the Housing Act 2014, the omgevingsplan, private law and EU Regulation 2024/1028.
• Municipalities can require a registration number, notification per let, a night cap or a permit (Articles 23a-23c).
• Fines can reach €11,000 or €27,500 (2026 maxima); objection must be filed within six weeks.
• Tenants may not let their whole home without the landlord’s permission (Article 7:244 BW).
• Owners must also check the mortgage letting clause, insurance and association rules.

Frequently asked questions