Lessons from Amsterdam – Housing and Airbnb

I’m currently in The Netherlands while my partner has some business meetings. We just spent a couple of days in Amsterdam, and I learned a few things about two topics close to my heart – housing availability and Airbnb! It just shows that local issues are felt globally.

Housing

We stayed in Amsterdam’s north shore, The Noord, quite by chance as we got a great deal on a hotel. Once there, we found out more about the location.

The Noord was traditionally used for shipbuilding, and by the 1980s was an undesirable location. Fast forward a few decades, and it’s a story of redevelopment and regeneration, firstly for artists, and now for business and entrepreneurs. It has quite an edgy, modern vibe. Like many places, Amsterdam is facing a shortage of housing (and the area has its own challenges with climate change since most of the city is built below sea level, and the Dutch love to live right on the water!). The current housing policy is to build 7,500 homes a year, many of which will be in the Noord area. The NDSM wharf offers easy access to Central Station in the city in just 10 mins, with FREE ferries running every 15 minutes, making this area accessible and desirable.

Amsterdam is a very young city due to the volume of students, and a lot of people live alone. So development is focussing on apartments with easy access to the city. You don’t see many cars in the Noord, everyone takes their bike on the ferry. Once home at night, there is a supermarket and great restaurants overlooking the Ij within walking or cycling distance.

The City of Amsterdam’s housing policy restricts investing in property for profit – anyone buying a new-build home must live in it themselves. Owners can rent out properties to an immediate relative (partner, parents or children) or during a temporary stay abroad, or as social housing or mid-priced rental home. Rent is heavily regulated and capped at the lower end of the scale. New build housing projects are required to maintain a 40-40-20 ratio – 40% social housing, 40% middle income, and 20% private housing.

It’s a good example of targeted and sensible approaches to increasing housing supply:

• Making an area more accessible through free transport
• Building housing that suits the demographic and requires less reliance on cars
• Restrict the amount of housing being used for investment purposes, with a view to home ownership becoming more equitable
• Proactive quotas for social and affordable housing
• Rent regulation to ensure tenants are not overpaying
• Restricting Airbnb and other short term letting.

These approaches may not all apply to Noosa, but it is a good example of council working with residents to find solutions. The City of Amsterdam’s urban development policy seems to strike a good balance between long term strategy and community-led development.

Airbnb

While in Amsterdam I looked into how the city has tackled the Airbnb phenomenon, and was pleased to find that the city council has taken very positive measures to return housing to residents. Key features of this highly regulated industry are:

• Whole house bookings limited to 30 nights per year and maximum of 4 guests
• Permits are applied for annually
• Strict reporting requirements to the City council for every stay
• Strict penalties and fines for non-compliance
• Income is taxable, and includes collecting a tourist tax on accommodation
• Less stringent conditions for renting a room within the home (on a bed and breakfast basis), with no maximum night limit.

Property owners renting out a home that isn’t their primary residence, or exceeding 30 nights, require a different permit to operate as a commercial accommodation provider.

Of course there has been pushback from tourists who want to find accommodation, but it seems Amsterdam’s mayor and council is really listening to the community about the downsides of Airbnb taking over the city, and the impact this has on housing supply. There is a concerted effort here to ensure that housing is a home first and an investment vehicle second, and there is still work to be done to unwind some of the practices on the past and restore equity. Council’s overarching policy on tourism is “Visitors are welcome but the resident has priority” which has involved capping the number of tourists and the attractions that can be offered.

Of course it’s a very different environment from Noosa, but it’s interesting to learn about any location managing the balance between tourism and residents, and especially where the local waterways are so crucial to the environment. And of course council’s role in effecting these changes.

Sources

www.amsterdam.nl/en/policy/

www.airbnb.com/help/article/860www.justtravelous.com/en/airbnb-amsterdam-regels/

www.theprotocity.com/social-impacts-urban-waterfront-regeneration-projects

iamamsterdam.com

amsterdam | Bart REUSER

https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/sustainablecitiescollective/amsterdam-noord-abandoned-shipyard-amsterdam-s-creative-district/191391/https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/europe/amsterdam-travel-noord-city-break-netherlands-a8828221.html