Renting in Amstelveen in 2026: what it costs, the local rules, and how to get your deposit back

Amstelveen limits who may let a newly bought home, how often a home may go to tourists, and when a house may be shared by room.

• Buyout protection (opkoopbescherming). It covers every home with a WOZ value of €576,000 or less (2026) with a deed of transfer on or after 1 July 2022, for 4 years. A private owner can only get the €250 letting permit to let to a first- or second-degree relative, or after living there for 12 months, for at most 12 months and never to tourists; the city answers within 8 weeks (City of Amstelveen).
• New-build homes. A new-build home may carry a duty for the buyer to live there for the first 3, 5 or 10 years, during which it may not be sold or let (City of Amstelveen).
• Holiday rental. Letting a whole home or a B&B needs a free registration number and a €250 permit that runs until 31 March of the following year; every night is reported in advance and the city checks. Only in the home you live in, at most 30 nights a year, 4 guests a night and 2 beds a room; never in a social rental home, and a tenant needs the owner’s permission (City of Amstelveen). See our subletting and Airbnb guide.
• Shared houses. Letting to 3 or 4 people who are not a household needs two permits of €250 each. Every resident registers in Amstelveen, rooms are at least 10 m² and the shared living space at least 15 m². There may be no other shared house within 50 metres of a house, at most 10% of the flats in a building, none in buildings of fewer than 10 homes and no more than 25% in a neighbourhood, and corporation social housing is excluded (City of Amstelveen).

Your lease must be in writing, and in the regulated sectors the rent must match the points of the home.

• Permanent by default. A new tenant normally gets an open-ended lease; temporary leases, for example for a student renting in another municipality, last at most 2 years (Rijksoverheid).
• Paying too much? Amstelveen’s advice: do the rent check yourself, talk to the landlord, and report it if you cannot agree (City of Amstelveen). Within 6 months of the start of the lease, the Huurcommissie can review the starting rent (Huurcommissie) for a €25 tenant fee, refunded if you win (Huurcommissie).
• Company-arranged housing? The rules on this page apply to the tenancy whoever found the home; our employment contract guide covers the job side.

In Amstelveen the tenant report desk and the free advice both come from the same place: Stichting !WOON.

• Reporting. Tenants and house-hunters can report a private landlord or agent who breaks the rules, anonymously if they wish; the desk is for tenants of private landlords, not housing corporations (City of Amstelveen).
• Walk-in hours. No appointment needed: Tuesday from 13:00 to 14:30 at Wijkcentrum Alleman, Den Bloeyenden Wijngaerdt 1, and Wednesday from 15:30 to 17:00 at Wijkcentrum De Bolder, Groenhof 140. Otherwise call 020 5230160 or email amstelveen@wooninfo.nl (!WOON).
• Legal costs. If a lawyer is needed and money is tight, see our legal aid guide.