Amsterdam's Airbnb Crackdown Hits a Brussels Wall—But Halsema Isn't Backing Down

Amsterdam's mayor Femke Halsema has spent the better part of a year trying to convince the European Commission to give cities like hers the legal muscle to restrict residents renting out their primary homes on Airbnb and similar platforms. The Commission's answer, delivered in the form of the EU Affordable Housing Act on September 10, was a polite but firm no—at least for now. The Act, which aims to curb short-term rentals in areas under "housing stress," explicitly excludes primary residences from any restrictions. The logic, as an EU official told De Telegraaf, is that renting out your own home "does not take a house off the housing market" (DutchNews.nl, NL Times).

Halsema, who had traveled to Brussels in the spring with the mayors of Barcelona and Paris, made two specific requests: more power to act against hosts renting out their own homes, and the right to intervene when tourist rentals damage a neighborhood's liveability. The Commission dismissed both. The Act only targets commercial short-term rentals and second-home purchases in areas where house prices are at least eight times per capita disposable income and have risen over the past decade. It also restricts its scope to affordability and availability—not the nuisance complaints that Amsterdam has been fielding from residents in the canal district.

Amsterdam housing alderman Zita Pels reacted with undisguised disappointment, telling De Telegraaf, "It is questionable whether this proposal is going to help us." Dirk Gotink, an MEP for the centre-right NSC, was blunter: "We don't need a European law to solve local problems" (DutchNews.nl).

Amsterdam already restricts primary-home rentals to 30 nights per year in most areas, and down to 15 nights in some neighborhoods. The EU's new rules won't change any of that, according to the official who spoke to De Telegraaf. But Halsema's broader goal—reducing the sheer volume of tourists flooding the city—remains unmet. Amsterdam currently hosts 23 million visitors a year, a figure projected to hit 30 million without intervention.

The mayor's gamble: tourism vs. the hospitality sector

Halsema isn't retreating. In an appearance on AT5's "Conversation with the Mayor" on October 4, she doubled down, arguing that the damage mass tourism inflicts on the city outweighs any economic losses from fewer visitors. She called tourism's contribution to Amsterdam's prosperity "overstated," noting it accounts for only 8 percent of the city's wealth (NL Times).

That stance comes as the hospitality sector shows real strain. Court data cited by NL Times shows at least 55 Amsterdam-based hospitality businesses filed for bankruptcy since the start of 2026, with 66 over the past 12 months. Nationally, about 20 percent of businesses in the sector reported trouble paying their bills last year, according to Statistics Netherlands. Halsema acknowledged the pain, saying, "However much I regret it for the individual entrepreneurs," but insisted the intervention is "inevitable" if the city is to avoid what she called a "monoculture" in the center that undermines both liveability and vitality.

What this means for the housing market

The EU's Affordable Housing Act isn't a total loss for Amsterdam. It gives local authorities a legal basis to restrict secondary rentals and second-home purchases in high-stress housing areas—a tool the city can use to free up more long-term housing stock. But it leaves the primary-home rental loophole open, and that's where Amsterdam's housing crisis bites hardest: every apartment rented out to tourists on a short-term basis is one less home for residents.

The question now is whether Amsterdam will pursue local regulations to close that loophole further, or wait for the EU to reconsider. The Commission has indicated a stricter revision won't happen soon, so the ball is back in the city's court. For engineers and founders who rely on Airbnb for accommodations when visiting, the practical impact is limited for now—Amsterdam's 30-night cap remains in place. But for anyone watching how EU regulation is reshaping the platform economy, this is a case study in the limits of Brussels' power to solve local problems.