1.4 million people booked an Airbnb rental in the Netherlands

Map showing Airbnb locations in central Amsterdam

Some 1.4 million people booked a stay in a Dutch house or flat via property website Airbnb last year, the US company said on Tuesday.

Around 31,000 people in the Netherlands have rented out their home via the site, generating average of income of €3,000 a year, Airbnb said. Holidaymakers stay an average of 3.5 nights and landlords rent out their property for 28 days.

The website claims Airbnb customers spent a total of €188m on their accommodation and gave a further €607m boost to the Dutch economy.

Last month Amsterdam city council imposed a record fine of €297,000 on a landlord and agency that breached its strict rules on letting rooms via Airbnb.

Iamb&b rented out 11 flats in the Kerkstraat to tourists in what alderman Laurens Ivens, responsible for housing, called the ‘prototype for an illegal hotel’.

Under Amsterdam’s local rules, homeowners can rent out rooms via sites such as Airbnb for a maximum of 60 days a year and to no more than four people at a time. Only the owner of the property is allowed to rent it out.

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