Today, Amsterdam’s official website announced that there will be new rules, which will apply to living in the city from 1 January 2024.
The new rules can also be seen in the context of Amsterdam’s new image campaign called “Renew Your View”. On the one hand, the city is communicating its will to change to residents, on the other hand, it does the same to would-be visitors, reports themayor.eu.
New housing rules
At the start of the new year, the city authorities will put into effect regulations that seek to limit the number of private tourism rentals and to increase the housing supply for students, teachers, and police officers in training.
A maximum number of bed and breakfasts (B&B) has now been determined for each district. The maximum number of these establishments allowed will be reduced by 30 percent. This means that in busy parts of the city, especially in the center, no more B&B permits will be granted for the time being. No new B&Bs can be added in those areas in the next 4 years.
The city will also limit the scope of its policy to give housing priority to young people who have lived in the city for at least 6 years in the past decade. This means that a larger proportion of youth homes will also remain available for young people who do not meet the commitment requirement.
Pushing tourist shops out of the centre
In addition, Amsterdam is continuing its quest to limit its tourism appeal, and especially so for the rowdy, party-seeking, kitsch-loving crowd.
As part of this struggle, the Dutch Council of State ruled yesterday that the city was allowed to stop issuing permits for souvenir shops in the central area after it was challenged for this decision by merchants.
With its fight against tourist shops, Amsterdam wants to prevent a monoculture from forming in the city centre. By diversifying the offer by opening stores aimed at a wider audience, like bookstores, clothing stores, gyms, or hair salons, the expectation is that the city centre will also become more attractive to locals.
