Homes that are rented out to more than eight people, so that local residents can no longer park their cars. Parties that go on well into the night while you have to work the next day. Or your own garden furniture that is suddenly in the garden next to you.
Residents of coastal municipalities more often experience nuisance due to tourist rental of homes. According to residents, the quality of life is sometimes compromised. It is also becoming increasingly difficult for first-time buyers to buy a home in their own municipality. Investors buy houses at uncompetitive prices and then rent them out.
Municipalities are therefore taking measures to limit the rental. Since April, houses in Bergen may be rented out for a maximum of three months per year. “We want to keep homes that have ‘residential’ as their destination. Anyone who wants to rent out to tourists must register via a registration number,” says a spokesperson for the municipality.
Also in the municipality of Schagen they regularly received reports from local residents and this year they started inspections and it is checked whether homes are not rented out illegally. A fine for this can be up to a maximum of 50,000 euros.
Also limit in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen?
The municipality of Sluis in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, with places such as Cadzand, Nieuwvliet, Oostburg and Sluis, now also wants to limit renting to tourists. Of the 3600 second homes, about 300 are rented out for recreational purposes, according to the municipality.
According to Wigbert Steenbeek of the Cadzand village council, this is an estimate and the actual number is much higher. There is now a proposal to allow the rental for a maximum of sixty days, but the city council of Sluis wants 120 days.
The most recent figures from the Dutch Association of Real Estate Agents show that holiday homes are popular. More than 7,300 of these types of homes were sold last year, an increase of 70 percent compared to 2019. The association calls the low interest rate one of the biggest drivers of this trend.
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