29MAY

Amsterdam cuts short-let nights to 15

2 min read

08:55UTC

Amsterdam halved its city-centre short-let cap to 15 nights a year from 1 April, while Dutch accommodation VAT tripled to 21%, lifting the total tax load on a city-centre stay near 33.5%.

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Key takeaway

Amsterdam halved city-centre short-let nights to 15 and tripled accommodation VAT, pushing the total tax load near 33.5%.

Amsterdam cut its city-centre and De Pijp short-let cap from 30 to 15 nights a year with effect from 1 April 2026, while outer boroughs keep the 30-night limit.⁠¹ Separately, the Netherlands raised national accommodation VAT (value-added tax, the consumption tax charged on a stay) from 9% to 21% on 1 January. Combined with Amsterdam's 12.5% tourist levy, already Europe's highest, the total tax burden on a city-centre stay now sits near 33.5%. The Dutch national short-let registration portal remained unbuilt as of 29 May, so Amsterdam's cap operates independently of the EU framework that reached full application on 20 May, relying instead on the city's own licencing system.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Amsterdam has cut the number of nights per year that city-centre residents can rent their homes to tourists through platforms like Airbnb. From 1 April 2026, the limit in the central city and the De Pijp neighbourhood dropped from 30 nights per year to 15. Outer Amsterdam keeps the 30-night limit. At the same time, the Netherlands increased the national tax on accommodation (VAT, a sales tax) from 9% to 21% on 1 January 2026. Combined with Amsterdam's own tourist charge of 12.5%, the total tax on staying in Amsterdam accommodation now adds up to about 33.5%, the highest of any major European city. The EU has a law (EU Regulation 2024/1028) that requires all 27 member countries to share short-let data through a national digital system called a Single Digital Entry Point, or SDEP. The Netherlands has not built its SDEP yet, so Amsterdam enforces the cap through its own local licencing system rather than the EU-wide framework.

Source Landscape

This story draws on neutral-leaning sources

Amsterdam's 12.5% tourist levy was already the highest in Europe before the January 2026 VAT tripling. The combined 33.5% tax burden on accommodation raises the effective nightly cost for a 150 euro room to roughly 200 euro in taxes, fees and levies, a burden that falls disproportionately on budget accommodation segments that cannot pass costs to price-insensitive premium travellers.

For the short-let supply, the economics invert: a 15-night cap at 180 to 220 euro per night implies gross annual revenue of 2,700 to 3,300 euro, against fixed compliance costs (licence renewal, platform fees, insurance) of roughly 800 to 1,200 euro per year. The net margin is thin enough that professional STR operators in outer Amsterdam (where the 30-night cap still applies) have a structural advantage over city-centre individual hosts.

Consensus view: Amsterdam University's Housing Research Centre and the Dutch Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving (PBL, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency) both assess Amsterdam's 15-night city-centre cap as the tightest absolute night limit in Western Europe. Combined with the Dutch national accommodation Value Added Tax (VAT) tripling from 9% to 21% on 1 January 2026, the total tax burden on accommodation in Amsterdam now stands near 33.5%, above the rate in any other EU capital.

Counter-view: AIRDNA's European STR analytics team notes that 15 nights per year is below the economically rational threshold for most host households: at Amsterdam's average short-let rate of 180 to 220 euro per night, 15 nights yields 2,700 to 3,300 euro in gross revenue, not enough to justify compliance costs.

AIRDNA projects that the 15-night cap will drive de-registration of city-centre listings rather than genuine compliance, shrinking the visible supply without reducing the underlying stock available for informal sub-letting.

Key tension: Whether Amsterdam's cap can be enforced without a functioning national registration system (the Netherlands has not built its EU Regulation 2024/1028 Single Digital Entry Point, unlike Spain, France and Portugal), meaning the city relies entirely on its own pre-existing licencing database to track violations.

Sources:City of Amsterdam

Mentions:Netherlands →Airbnb →Single Digital Entry Point →Portugal →France →Spain →EU Regulation 2024/1028 →Amsterdam →

First Reported In

Update #5 · Thailand halves visa-free entry

City of Amsterdam· 29 May 2026

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Causes and effects

This Event

Amsterdam cuts short-let nights to 15

A municipal night cap and a national tax rise stack independently of the EU registration framework, because the Dutch national portal that would link them remains unbuilt.

Led to

Cyprus hotels lobby to cap short-lets

STEK's proposed cap mirrors the model Amsterdam already adopted, though the hotel lobby's motive is market protection rather than tenant protection.

Occurred 14 Jul 2026

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Different Perspectives

UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy

Nandy told MPs around 3 September that England's register of short lets will be fully operational by March 2027. Wales opened compulsory registration for every paid stay on 1 October, with a deadline of 31 March 2027.

Venice budget assessor Michele Zuin

Zuin told Il Gazzettino on 21 September that a charge of about €30 on peak days from 2027 would be the most concrete solution. He added that the city must set new rules together with government and Parliament.

Saudi Premium Residency Center

The Center added 31 services on 22 September, according to the newspaper Okaz. Primary holders now register employment contracts through the Qiwa platform, and no Saudi Press Agency release confirms the package.

Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Mitsotakis announced at the Thessaloniki International Fair on 5 September that new short-let registrations in central Athens and Thessaloniki stay suspended to 31 December 2027. No ministerial decision has been found, and golden-visa applications fell 39% from January to July.

Cape Town housing group Ndifuna Ukwazi

Ndifuna Ukwazi backs the city's draft by-law, which rates lets available over 183 nights a year as commercial from 1 July 2027. Finance mayco member Siseko Mbandezi said it ensures fairness in the commercial accommodation sector.

Klungkung Regency and KPK

Klungkung took 2.7bn rupiah on Nusa Penida from 1 to 9 September against 1.1bn in the first ten days of August. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) sent files on eight suspects in a residence-permit extortion case to prosecutors on 30 September, alleging 145.5bn rupiah was taken.