Netherlands: The Dutch capital city of Amsterdam is delaying the enforcement of new rules governing home swapping until 1 March 2024.
Housing alderman Zita Pels [of the GroenLinks green political party] confirmed the delay from the initial 1 October 2023 date at a city council meeting in Amsterdam on Wednesday. French home exchange platform HomeExchange also recently informed its users about the upcoming rule implementation.
Under the incoming new rules, home swappers will be required to register with the municipality and swap their homes with tourists for a maximum of 30 days a year. The rules will mirror those affecting short-term rentals booked through platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com.
Those who do not abide by the incoming rules will face fines from 1 January 2025.
Pels, who was handed a petition with more than 4,200 signatures opposing the incoming rules, said that she wanted to prevent a proliferation of home swaps akin to the rapid growth in presence of platforms such as Airbnb in Amsterdam.
She said: “During the entire year of 2024, we will only issue warnings. At the same time, once the housing regulation has been adopted, we will start a communication campaign so that every Amsterdam resident knows where they stand. And then we can prevent Amsterdam residents from getting into trouble with their holidays in the coming year if they use home exchange.”
Amsterdam previously banned short-term rental listings in a number of city centre neighbourhoods, but the city’s administrative court later ruled the bans illegal.
Emmanuel Arnaud, CEO of HomeExchange, will be an expert speaker at the upcoming ShortTermRentalz Summit in London on Wednesday 18 October. Secure your tickets now at this link.
