Amsterdam city council is to press ahead with plans to implement quotas and other new rules for flat-sharing and Bed & Breakfasts, despite mounting pressure for a delay.

Housing alderman Laurens Ivens told councillors on Wednesday that the new rules will better protect students. ‘We need to have the guts to say “we won’t accept this any longer”,’ he said. ‘We cannot leave youngsters to their lot and make them dependent on what landlords want.’

The rules require landlords to have a licence to rent a property to more than three adults. They will also have to give each tenant their own contract with a rent cap, working out at around €350 to €430 for a bedroom and shared sitting room, kitchen and bathroom.

Opposition parties, housing corporations and private landlords have called on the council to rethink, saying that the rules will lead to a sharp drop in the amount of shared housing in the capital.

Amsterdam’s housing corporations have already said they are phasing out the use of ‘friends’ contracts for flat sharers. In particular, the plan to make sure landlords up sound-proofing standards and rent properties on a room by room basis are making it impossible to continue, the association says.

DutchNews.nl is also aware of several landlords in the city who have stopped renting to groups. They are concerned not only about the cost of anti-noise insulation but the introduction of individual contracts which will add to paperwork and cut their income sharply.

The full council will vote on the proposals next week, but there is a clear majority in favour. The new rules are set to come into effect in January.