Local councils must decide whether residents who live permanently in their holiday homes will be allowed to stay and inform them of their decision by January 2010, planning minister Jacqueline Cramer said on Thursday.

The Netherlands has over 100,000 holiday homes and the ministry estimates that around 25,000 of these are illegally inhabited all year round, reports ANP news service.
For years local authorities have turned a blind eye to the situation. But in 2003 the government gave the councils a choice: they could take action against the illegal practice, make permanent residency legal or give the residents a licence allowing them to live in their holiday home until they died or decided to move.