Airbnb use is down in Amsterdam due to strict renting policies. Research by Consultant Colliers International based on figures by AirDNA reports that after years of growth, the use of the hospitality service Airbnb fell in 2018.
The number of nights spent in an Airbnb was reduced by 5% to 1.98 million overnight stays. The number of accommodations rented went down by 8.3% to only over 25,000. Airbnb also only took up 10.4% of the hotel and accommodation market share, a 1.2% decrease from the year before.
Why is this happening?
According to Colliers, the decline in Airbnb use is correlated with the strict rent policies in Amsterdam. Airbnb renters are only allowed to rent to tourists for a limit of 60 days per year. They also have to report every single night stay on a municipal website and fines are imposed if violations are broken, since 2017. These policies also apply to Rotterdam and Utrecht. In 2017, it also became mandatory to register your airbnb with the government.
60 nights seems quite low, right? Well, the research also shows that renters are not really following these rules in Amsterdam as 41% of homes were rented for longer than the allowed. In Rotterdam 43% of homes were rented for more than 60 days and in Utrecht, 23% were rented for more than 120 days.
Since January of 2019, policies have gotten even stricter as homes can only be rented for 30 days a year, instead of 60.
This caused Airbnb competitors like Homeaway to grow that has had a 61% increase in overnight stays.
Several argue Airbnb should be banned as it has has led to overcrowded streets and more importantly an overcrowded housing market (as well as booming rent prices). In 2017, the local Amsterdam-branch of the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA) made a controversial move in its election program to ban Airbnb.
Airbnb Response
According to AT5, Airbnb does not agree with Colliers research that says 41% of Airbnb homes in Amsterdam are rented for more than 60 days. Airbnb reports that only 3.2% of homes are rented for more than 60 days. They argue the data used by AirDNA was not the correct data to be analyzed.
Do you believe Airbnb or the research by Colliers? Let us know in the comments, below!