Booking.com joins Amsterdam’s illegal rentals pact

Hotel and holiday home platform Booking.com has become the second web company to reach agreement with Amsterdam over holiday rentals, the city council said in a statement on Thursday.

The agreement, similar to one reached earlier with Airbnb, means that adver­tisements which contravene regulations will be dropped from the Booking.com website. The deal takes effect on 1 January and will run for a year. Apartments cannot be rented out for more than 60 days a year and never to groups of more than four people.

According to the Parool, the negotiations took over a year because Booking.com originally took the stance that illegal rentals were a matter for the government. But pressure built up on the company and Booking.com chairman Gillians Tans told the paper: ‘Amsterdam is important for us, therefore we are happy to help.’

Housing alderman Laurens Ivens termed the new deal significant. ‘Landlords who break the rules can now no longer step over from Airbnb to Booking.com,’ he said. Ivens hopes to extend the pact further to include other rental platforms Wimdu and Homeaway.

The deal is the latest weapon being used by the city in the battle against the nuisance caused by the holiday rentals boom.

Since October every Amsterdam resident who rents out an apartment must register each agreement with the city so that officials can monitor they do not break the 60 day rule.