Short-stay rentals in a VvE: what the deed of division allows

Whether you may let your apartment for short stays is decided first by the deed of division (splitsingsakte), not by the municipality and not by the house rules. If the deed designates the units as dwellings or bans commercial use, courts regularly hold that letting the flat again and again to changing occupants, at commercial rates and with services such as cleaning or linen, is not residential use; the main exception is a deed that expressly allows use for short periods.

If short-stay is not allowed, the owners association (Vereniging van Eigenaars, VvE) can end the letting, if necessary through interim relief proceedings with a penalty payment for each day of continued breach. A municipal permit does not change this: public law and the deed of division apply side by side.

What counts as short-stay?

Short-stay is temporary letting for a limited period, in practice roughly one to six months, to a defined group such as expats, students or project staff. Dutch law has no single statutory definition.

In practice, three categories are used. Holiday or tourist letting covers nights or weeks to changing guests and is regulated by municipal housing rules. Short-stay covers roughly one to six months. Ordinary residential letting means durable occupation with full tenant protection under Articles 7:232 and following of the Dutch Civil Code (BW).

Short-stay sits between the other two, and courts and the tax authorities increasingly treat it as a commercial service. A flat that is marketed continuously, furnished for immediate occupation, offered with cleaning or utilities included and occupied by a series of different people works like accommodation rather than a home.

Who decides: the deed of division or the house rules?

The deed of division decides. House rules and meeting decisions can only work out what the deed already says; they cannot add a new restriction on how you use your own apartment.

At the top is the deed of division, a notarial deed registered in the public registers, which usually declares a model set of division regulations applicable (the most recent is the 2017 model). Below it sit the house rules (huishoudelijk reglement) and the ordinary decisions of the meeting of owners.

A ban on short-stay restricts the use of the flat itself and therefore belongs in the deed. A VvE that bans short-stay only by a majority decision in the house rules is on weak ground. You can ask the subdistrict court (kantonrechter) to annul such a decision within one month of the day you learned, or could have learned, of it (Article 5:130(2) BW).

The Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) explained in its ruling of 21 June 2019 (ECLI:NL:HR:2019:1022) when that month starts. If it is not customary to circulate decisions, an absent owner is expected to make enquiries within a week after the meeting, so do not wait for the minutes.

The reverse is also true. If the deed already contains a residential designation or a ban on commercial use, the VvE needs no new decision to enforce it. Most model regulations also require an owner who lets the flat to have the user sign a declaration promising to comply with the deed and the house rules.

The deed can also work in the owner’s favour. In its ruling of 8 February 2022 (ECLI:NL:GHAMS:2022:336), the Amsterdam Court of Appeal held that short-term letting of apartments in Zandvoort was allowed, because the deed expressly let owners allow others to use the flat for periods of less than two months.

How do courts decide whether use is residential?

Courts look at how the flat is actually used, not only at the contract or the number of nights. Residential use implies a degree of permanence; a steady turnover of occupants points to exploitation.

In its ruling of 21 October 2025 (ECLI:NL:GHAMS:2025:2788), the Amsterdam Court of Appeal stressed the lack of lasting, future-oriented occupation. The deed limited each flat to one family, and a rotating group of four unrelated students did not meet that test; the court also upheld a €1,000 fine imposed by the VvE.

Factors that recur in judgments include:

• how often the occupants change;
• how the flat is marketed, and to whom;
• whether extra services are supplied, such as cleaning or linen;
• whether the rent is commercial compared with ordinary letting in the area;
• whether the owner runs the flat as part of a wider portfolio.

A chain of four-month lettings to successive expats can still be short-stay exploitation. Letting the whole flat once to one family that genuinely lives there is normally residential use, even for a fixed term. The pattern counts, not the individual contract.

Does a municipal permit settle the matter?

No. Municipal rules are a separate layer of public law under the Housing Act 2014 (Huisvestingswet 2014) and the local housing by-law, and a permit does not protect you against the VvE.

Municipalities can require a permit for taking a dwelling out of the housing stock, for converting it into rooms or for holiday letting, and the larger cities impose registration numbers and night limits. The environment plan (omgevingsplan) may separately prohibit using a dwelling for accommodation. You may hold every permit and still be ordered by the civil court, at the VvE’s request, to stop letting; a permissive deed equally does not help you without a required permit.

Two developments have tightened the picture. Since 1 January 2026, accommodation (logies) is taxed at the general VAT rate of 21% instead of 9%. And since 20 May 2026, EU Regulation 2024/1028 on data for short-term rental services applies: where a registration scheme exists, the number must be shown in the listing, and platforms share data on hosts and bookings with the authorities.

How does a VvE enforce a ban on short-stay?

In steps: a written warning, then the contractual penalty, then interim relief proceedings if needed. Associations that skip a step usually pay for it in legal costs.

The warning names the provision of the deed or regulations, describes the conduct and sets a deadline. A contractual penalty requires a ban that already exists in the deed or the model regulations, and the procedure in the regulations must have been followed. Under Article 6:94 BW, a court can reduce a penalty if fairness clearly requires it.

If the letting continues, the VvE can ask the preliminary relief judge (voorzieningenrechter) for an order to stop, backed by a penalty payment (dwangsom) per day or per breach, usually within weeks. In serious cases, most model regulations allow the meeting, after a written warning, to deny the owner or occupant further use of the apartment; courts review that measure closely.

The VvE must act consistently. Tolerating short-stay by three owners for years and then acting against the fourth can be challenged as contrary to reasonableness and fairness (Article 5:130(1) BW). If the association stays passive instead, see our article on what you can do when a VvE fails its duties.

What do you risk as an owner?

Usually more than the rental income. An injunction, daily penalties, legal costs and gaps in insurance cover can quickly outweigh what the letting earns.

Building policies taken out by associations may exclude or limit cover for damage caused by commercial use. If a fire or leak starts in a flat let in breach of the deed, the insurer may reduce or refuse cover, leaving the VvE and other owners with a shortfall. Our overview of who pays for damage in an apartment building explains how those losses are divided.

Tenancy law adds another layer. A letting that is genuinely short by its nature falls outside tenant protection (Article 7:232(2) BW), but that exception is read narrowly. Since the Act on Fixed-Term Tenancies (Wet vaste huurcontracten) took effect on 1 July 2024, fixed-term tenancies for self-contained homes are in principle no longer possible. If you are wrong about the exception, you may face a tenant who cannot easily be asked to leave and a VvE that objects at the same time. The obligations that rest on a landlord then apply in full.

What should you check as an apartment owner?

Read the documents before you let or buy. Check:

• the designation of the units and any ban on commercial use in the deed of division, available from the Land Registry (Kadaster);
• which model regulations apply, and whether they require a user declaration;
• the house rules and recent minutes, to see what policy the VvE actually applies;
• the municipal permit, registration number and night limits for the address;
• whether the building insurance excludes damage from commercial use;
• whether a challenged VvE decision is still within the one-month period of Article 5:130(2) BW.

Our note on pitfalls in Dutch property law covers what else to check before you buy.

What should you check as a VvE board?

Get the documents in order and enforce consistently. Check:

• whether the deed contains a residential designation or a ban on commercial use that covers short-stay;
• if the deed is silent, whether to amend it, which under Article 5:139 BW needs all owners or a four-fifths majority of votes, followed by a notarial deed;
• whether the penalty clause and its procedure in the regulations have been followed;
• whether comparable cases in the building are treated the same, and the policy is recorded in the minutes;
• whether the building insurer has been informed of any change of use.

Where relations between owners have hardened, mediation often achieves more than a court hearing.

What can we do for you with short-stay rentals in a VvE?

We advise owners associations and apartment owners on the deed of division and short-stay letting; see also our real estate lawyers and tenancy lawyer pages.

• We read your deed of division and model regulations and tell you whether short-stay is allowed.
• We draft the warning or the response to a VvE warning.
• We file or defend a petition to annul a VvE decision within the one-month period of Article 5:130 BW.
• We conduct or defend interim relief proceedings about short-stay letting and penalty payments.
• We prepare an amendment of the deed under Article 5:139 BW together with the notary.

Summary

• The deed of division decides whether short-stay is allowed in your building; house rules cannot add a new ban.
• Courts look at the actual pattern of use: frequent turnover, commercial pricing and services point to exploitation, not living.
• A municipal permit and a permissive deed are separate requirements; you need both.
• A VvE enforces through a warning, a contractual penalty and, if needed, interim relief proceedings with daily penalties.
• To challenge a VvE decision, you have one month under Article 5:130(2) BW.

Frequently asked questions