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Netherlands

52.3676° N · Western Europe · Schengen

Dutch short-stay rules are municipal — Amsterdam is the strictest gate.

The Wet toeristische verhuur van woonruimte (2020) amended the Huisvestingswet 2014 so gemeenten can impose registration, night caps with meldplicht, and permits. Amsterdam requires a registratienummer, a vakantieverhuurvergunning, advance night reporting, a 30-night citywide cap (15 in eight designated centre / De Pijp wijken from 1 April 2026), and a maximum of four guests — then toeristenbelasting on top.

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NextStay relevance · Netherlands

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Essential

Dutch STR is municipal under the Wet toeristische verhuur van woonruimte — Amsterdam pairs a national registratienummer with a vakantieverhuurvergunning, pre-stay night reporting, and 30/15-night caps that digital check-in cannot waive.

At a glance · Netherlands

  • Framework

    Municipal (Huisvestingswet)

  • Amsterdam nights

    30 / 15 (designated)

  • Registration

    toeristischeverhuur.nl

  • Amsterdam tax

    12.5% of overnight price

Who this is for

What hosts and hotels actually need to know

There is no single national STR licence that unlocks every Dutch city. The national Wet toeristische verhuur van woonruimte (Stb. 2020, 460) gives municipalities optional instruments — registration number display (art. 23a Huisvestingswet 2014), night limits plus reporting (art. 23b), and permits (art. 23c). Amsterdam stacks all three for vakantieverhuur of a main residence. Rotterdam and Utrecht emphasise registration, meldplicht and a 60-night holiday-rental cap; Den Haag adds a permit and a 30-night cap. Hotels and professional lodging keep a nachtregister under Wetboek van Strafrecht art. 438 and local APV rules — that is not the same as inventing a nationwide police guest book for every private apartment. Self check-in works when municipal registration/permit and night-meld duties are already in order and guest-party details plus house rules are captured before access — night caps and permit conditions are not waived by a digital flow.

Classified lodging sits primarily under hospitality and tax duties — nachtregister, toeristenbelasting, and any municipal APV supplements — not Amsterdam's private vakantieverhuur permit track.

  • 01Keep a nachtregister for professional overnight stays (Wetboek van Strafrecht art. 438); confirm APV extras with the gemeente
  • 02Record lead-guest identity-type, name, residence, arrival and departure — do not copy passports or store BSN (AVG / GDPR)
  • 03Collect and remit municipal toeristenbelasting / logiesbelasting on the local tariff
  • 04Treat platform STR of residential stock as a separate Huisvestingswet track when the unit is a dwelling, not a hotel room

Chapter · National framework

Wet toeristische verhuur van woonruimte

Since 1 January 2021, the Wet toeristische verhuur van woonruimte (Stb. 2020, 460) has given gemeenten optional instruments in the Huisvestingswet 2014 — registration, night limits with reporting, and permits — without imposing one nationwide STR licence.

Statute

“Het is verboden om een woonruimte … voor een in die verordening omschreven vorm van toeristische verhuur aan te bieden zonder het registratienummer van die woonruimte te vermelden bij iedere aanbieding van die woonruimte voor toeristische verhuur.”
Huisvestingswet 2014, art. 23a(1) (as inserted by the Wet toeristische verhuur van woonruimte) [02]
  1. 01

    Three municipal instruments

    Where a gemeenteraad activates them in the huisvestingsverordening: art. 23a requires a registratienummer on every tourist-rental offer; art. 23b can add a maximum nights-per-year rule and a meldplicht before each stay; art. 23c can add a vergunningplicht. Rijksoverheid guidance is explicit — rules differ by gemeente; always confirm locally before advertising.

    [01][02][04]
  2. 02

    Registratienummer via toeristischeverhuur.nl

    Where registration applies, hosts request a number through the national Registratiesysteem Toeristische Verhuur (DigiD / eHerkenning / eIDAS). The number is free and immediate — but the portal itself warns that a number does not by itself authorise rental if the gemeente also requires a permit or night reporting.

    [05][03]
  3. 03

    No single national STR licence

    Unlike regimes with one country-wide AL/AMA number, Dutch residential tourist rental compliance is gemeente-first. Amsterdam's permit stack does not apply automatically in Rotterdam, and a Rotterdam registration does not satisfy Amsterdam's vergunningplicht.

    [04][01]

Chapter · Amsterdam

Amsterdam — permit, nights, report

Amsterdam is the operational benchmark: main-residence vakantieverhuur needs a registratienummer, a holiday-rental permit, advance night reporting, a night cap, and a four-guest maximum — plus toeristenbelasting.

  1. 01

    Vergunning + registratienummer

    You need a vakantieverhuurvergunning to rent your home or houseboat to tourists (including paid / points-based home exchange). The dwelling must be your main residence with BRP registration at the address. Separately, you must hold a national tourist-rental registration number and display it on listings (Airbnb, Booking.com and other sites). The permit is temporary (valid until 1 April of the following calendar year on the City's English guidance).

    [06][07][05]
  2. 02

    30 nights citywide; 15 in eight designated wijken

    Citywide, holiday rental is capped at 30 nights per calendar year. From 1 April 2026, the Eerste aanwijzingsbesluit 15-nachtencriterium vakantieverhuur Amsterdam halves that to 15 nights in eight wijken: Burgwallen-Nieuwe Zijde, De Weteringschans, Grachtengordel-West, Grachtengordel-Zuid, Haarlemmerbuurt, Jordaan, Nieuwmarkt/Lastage and Oude Pijp. Nights already used earlier in the same calendar year still count.

    [06][08]
  3. 03

    Report every stay before guests arrive; max four guests

    Each holiday-rental or exchange period must be notified to the municipality in advance, before guests arrive. You may rent to a maximum of four people at a time. Guests must not cause nuisance to other residents. Non-compliance can trigger fines (City guidance cites examples from €1,500 for missing permit or missing advance report as a private individual, up to higher stacked amounts).

    [06]
  4. 04

    Toeristenbelasting — 12.5%

    Amsterdam charges toeristenbelasting at 12.5% of the overnight price excluding VAT for hotels, hostels, apartments, B&Bs, short-stay and campsites (2025–2026 municipal tariff pages). Hosts charge guests and remit via annual aangifte. Day tourist tax for cruise passengers (€15 per passenger) is a separate day-visit levy.

    [09][10]

Chapter · Guest records

Nachtregister vs private STR

Professional overnight providers keep a nachtregister under Wetboek van Strafrecht art. 438. That is not a licence to invent a nationwide police guest-registration duty for every private apartment stay.

  1. 01

    Art. 438 — professional night lodging

    Article 438 Wetboek van Strafrecht targets those who make a profession of providing night lodging (and related camping / mooring situations). Ondernemersplein guidance lists hotels, B&Bs and marinas as typical cases: record who stays and when; typically lead-guest name and residence, party size, arrival/departure, and identity-document type. Confirm APV extras with the gemeente.

    [17][18]
  2. 02

    No passport copies; no BSN

    AVG / GDPR rules out keeping or copying guest identity documents and registering BSN for this purpose. Capture what the legal basis requires — type of document shown, not a scan archive.

    [18][20]
  3. 03

    Private vakantieverhuur — confirm with the gemeente

    Occasional holiday rental of a main residence is primarily controlled through municipal Huisvestingswet tools (registration, meldplicht, permit, night caps) and toeristenbelasting. Do not assume a separate national police guest-book workflow for every private STR apartment; where an APV or local practice extends nachtregister-style duties, confirm with the gemeente for that property type.

    [04][18]

Chapter · EU layer

EU law that sits underneath

Dutch municipal STR tools and lodging records sit inside the same European stack hosts meet elsewhere — Schengen lodging purposes, GDPR, and the 2024 short-term rental data framework.

  1. 01

    Schengen Convention — Article 45(1)(b)

    Lodging providers across Schengen states are expected to account for who stayed where. Dutch nachtregister practice for professional lodging and municipal tourist-rental transparency sit alongside that public-security logic — without collapsing every private apartment into one EU guest form.

    [19][17]
  2. 02

    GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679)

    Guest identity and stay data are personal data. Collect what the legal basis requires, inform guests, secure storage, and respect retention limits — especially when feeding municipal tax or night-reporting systems.

    [20]
  3. 03

    Short-term rental data — Regulation (EU) 2024/1028

    From 20 May 2026, where Member States operate STR registration/data systems, platforms work through harmonised registration numbers and activity reporting. Dutch municipal registratienummers already point in that transparency direction.

    [21][22]

Remote arrival · Still the law

Self check-in under Dutch rules

Remote arrival works when municipal registration/permit status and remaining night budget are already in order — and guest-party details plus house rules are captured before access is released. Night caps and permit conditions are not waived by digital check-in.

01

Document

02

E.turistas

03

Keys

  • Permit stack before the key

    Confirm the unit's registratienummer, any required vergunning, and that the stay fits the remaining calendar-year night cap before automating door codes. An e-check-in flow does not create missing municipal authorisations.

    [06][05][04]

  • Capture party details and house rules first

    Build guest-party size, arrival/departure and house-rule acknowledgement into the check-in gate — especially Amsterdam's four-guest maximum and nuisance rules — then release access only when those fields are complete.

    [06]

  • Meldplicht is not the same as e-signature

    Where the gemeente requires advance night reporting (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Den Haag holiday rental), submit the meld before guests arrive. Capturing details in NextStay does not replace that municipal notification step.

    [06][11][13][15]

  • Tax and night caps stay outside the door code

    Toeristenbelasting remittance and calendar night budgets remain host-side duties. Digital arrival can organise guest communication; it cannot extend a 15- or 30-night Amsterdam cap or a 60-night Rotterdam/Utrecht holiday-rental limit.

    [09][08][11]

Municipal layers

National law enables tools; cities decide which ones to switch on. Amsterdam is the strictest private-stock gate; Rotterdam, Den Haag and Utrecht each run their own registration / night / permit mix.

  • Amsterdam canal — municipal holiday-rental territory

    Amsterdam — 30 / 15 nights + permit

    01

    Main-residence vakantieverhuur needs a registratienummer, a holiday-rental permit, advance night reporting, max four guests, and toeristenbelasting at 12.5% of the overnight price ex VAT. Citywide night cap is 30; from 1 April 2026 eight centre / De Pijp wijken drop to 15 (Burgwallen-Nieuwe Zijde, De Weteringschans, Grachtengordel-West, Grachtengordel-Zuid, Haarlemmerbuurt, Jordaan, Nieuwmarkt/Lastage, Oude Pijp).

    [06][08][09]
  • Erasmus Bridge pylon over the Nieuwe Maas, Rotterdam

    Rotterdam — registration, 60 nights, meldplicht

    02

    Rotterdam.nl requires a registratienummer for tourist rental of dwellings, advance reporting of rented nights for vakantieverhuur, and a maximum of 60 nights per calendar year for holiday rental of the main residence, plus logiesbelasting. B&B (part of the home while the host is present) is a parallel track — still confirm current conditions on the municipal page before quoting guests.

    [11]
  • Binnenhof and Hofvijver in The Hague at golden hour

    The Hague — permit + 30 nights

    03

    Den Haag treats paid stays for guests from outside the city as toeristische verhuur: a registratienummer plus a permit or exemption is required. Holiday rental while the resident is away is capped at 30 nights per calendar year, with each stay and night count reported in advance. Advertise after the registration number; rent only after the permit is granted (City guidance: permit within 8 weeks if conditions are met).

    [12][13]
  • Oudegracht and Dom Tower in Utrecht at dusk

    Utrecht — registration, 60 nights, meldplicht

    04

    Utrecht municipal notices establish a registratienummer for tourist rental of dwellings, a maximum of 60 nights per year for private holiday rental by the main resident, and (from 1 July 2022) advance meldplicht per holiday-rental stay. Tourist tax is collected locally (BghU) — the onderverhuren page cites 8.5% of the overnight amount ex VAT and breakfast for the tax base described there; confirm the current rate and exemptions with the gemeente before quoting.

    [14][15][16]

This is the law · Here is the reference

Sources & references

Primary statutes, EU instruments and competent authorities. Open the link when your property is at stake.

  1. [01]Local law
    Wet toeristische verhuur van woonruimte — Stb. 2020, 460

    Primary statute amending Huisvestingswet 2014 / Gemeentewet to enable municipal registration, night limits, reporting and permits for tourist rental of dwellings (in force 1 Jan 2021).

  2. [02]Local law
    Huisvestingswet 2014 — § 1a Toeristische verhuur (arts. 23a–23c)

    Consolidated wetten.overheid.nl text for registration-number display (23a), night limits / meldplicht (23b) and permit (23c).

  3. [03]Local law
    Besluit registratie toeristische verhuur van woonruimte

    Rules for the municipal registration system that issues registratienummers (BWBR0044586).

  4. [04]Authority
    Rijksoverheid — Woning verhuren aan toeristen

    Citizen-facing summary: municipalities choose registration, night maxima and meldplicht; rules differ by gemeente.

  5. [05]Authority
    Registratiesysteem Toeristische Verhuur

    National portal to request a registratienummer and (where connected) report overnight stays; number alone does not always authorise rental.

  6. [06]Authority
    City of Amsterdam — Apply for a holiday rental permit

    Official EN page: permit + registration + advance notification; 30 nights (15 in part of Centrum / De Pijp); max 4 guests; tourist tax.

  7. [07]Authority
    Gemeente Amsterdam — Vergunning vakantieverhuur aanvragen

    Dutch primary page for vakantieverhuurvergunning conditions, 30/15 nights, max 4 guests, registratienummer and meldplicht.

  8. [08]Local law
    Eerste aanwijzingsbesluit 15-nachtencriterium vakantieverhuur Amsterdam

    College decision (Gemeenteblad 2026, 151001) designating eight wijken with a 15-night holiday-rental cap from 1 April 2026.

  9. [09]Authority
    Gemeente Amsterdam — Toeristenbelasting

    Official tariff: 12.5% of overnight price excluding VAT; day tourist tax €15 per cruise passenger.

  10. [10]Authority
    Gemeente Amsterdam — Belastingtarieven 2026 (toeristenbelasting)

    Confirms 2026 overnight tourist tax remains 12.5% ex VAT and day tourist tax €15.

  11. [11]Authority
    Gemeente Rotterdam — Toeristische verhuur van woningen

    Official page: registratienummer, meldplicht, max 60 nights for vakantieverhuur, logiesbelasting, fire safety.

  12. [12]Authority
    Gemeente Den Haag — Vergunning of ontheffing toeristische verhuur

    Official page: registratienummer plus permit/exemption required for tourist rental; advertise after number, rent after permit.

  13. [13]Authority
    Gemeente Den Haag — Renting out your home during your holiday

    Official EN page: permit + registration; max 30 nights per year; report each stay and night count in advance.

  14. [14]Authority
    Gemeente Utrecht — Registratie verplicht voor toeristische verhuur

    Municipal notice: registratienummer for tourist rental of dwellings; 60-night private holiday-rental maximum retained.

  15. [15]Authority
    Gemeente Utrecht — Meldplicht vanaf 1 juli 2022

    Municipal notice introducing advance night reporting for private holiday rental alongside the 60-night cap.

  16. [16]Authority
    Gemeente Utrecht — Woning (onder)verhuren

    Current municipal page for tourist rental / B&B tracks and tourist-tax enrolment via BghU (cites 8.5% base as described on the page).

  17. [17]Local law
    Wetboek van Strafrecht — art. 438

    Criminal-law basis for nachtregister duties of those who professionally provide night lodging.

  18. [18]Guidance
    Ondernemersplein — Nachtregister bijhouden

    Government business guidance: what to record; no passport copies / no BSN; check municipal APV practice.

  19. [19]EU law
    Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement — Art. 45

    EU-layer lodging / guest-record purpose.

  20. [20]EU law
    GDPR — Regulation (EU) 2016/679

    Personal-data rules for identity and stay-data processing.

  21. [21]EU law
    Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 — short-term rental data

    EU framework for STR registration data and platform sharing (from 20 May 2026).

  22. [22]Agency
    European Commission — STR transparency rules

    Plain-language explanation of the May 2026 framework.

After the law · The product

Where NextStay fits

After the municipal stack is clear: we capture guest-party details and house-rule acceptance before access unlocks — so Dutch hosts can run remote-friendly arrivals without pretending a digital flow waives night caps or missing permits.

  • 01

    Details before the key

    Online check-in collects party size, stay dates and house rules before door instructions unlock — matching Amsterdam's four-guest and nuisance expectations and feeding orderly stay records elsewhere.

  • 02

    Municipal reality stays visible

    Hosts keep registration/permit status and night-budget awareness in the workspace: remote arrival automation assumes the gemeente stack is already in order.

  • 03

    Host visibility without desk chaos

    Hotels and individual hosts see who has completed check-in, who is blocked, and when access can release — including late Schiphol and harbour arrivals.

  • 04

    Destination guidance in the workspace

    This Netherlands dossier stays attached to the market — Huisvestingswet instruments, Amsterdam 30/15 nights, city meldplicht and toeristenbelasting — not a generic EU footnote.

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