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

Amsterdam adds its own rules to national tenancy law, and four of them decide what you can rent and how.

• The housing permit (huisvestingsvergunning). You need one for a self-contained home with a basic rent up to €1,228.07 a month or at most 186 WWS points. A housing corporation arranges it for you. For a private social rental home up to €932.93 your household income may be at most €60,105; for regulated mid-rent the limit is €85,005 for one person and €93,531 for two or more. You must be 18 or older and have Dutch nationality, a valid EU/EEA passport or a valid residence permit. The application costs €82.60, the decision comes within 8 weeks at most, often within 2 to 4 weeks, and you register at the address within 4 weeks of receiving it (City of Amsterdam).
• Holiday rental. A home may be let to tourists for at most 30 nights a calendar year, and to at most 4 guests per stay; you need a registration number and must report every stay before the guests arrive (City of Amsterdam). Since 1 April 2026 the limit is 15 nights in Haarlemmerbuurt, Jordaan, Grachtengordel-West, Grachtengordel-Zuid, De Weteringschans, Burgwallen-Nieuwe Zijde, Nieuwmarkt/Lastage and Oude Pijp (City of Amsterdam). As a tenant, you cannot let a housing corporation home, a private tenant needs the owner’s permission, and the permit costs €76 (City of Amsterdam). Our subletting and Airbnb guide has the national rules.
• Rooms. Letting a home to 3 or more people who are not a family needs a room rental permit, and every tenant gets their own contract. There is a maximum number of these permits per neighbourhood and per building, the home needs a shared space of at least 11 m², and one adult lives in each room (City of Amsterdam). In a shared house, ask whether the landlord has the permit.
• Buyout protection. Someone who bought a home below the WOZ limit, €637,000 for 2026, may not let it out for the first 4 years, with some exceptions such as letting to a close family member (City of Amsterdam).

A new tenant normally gets a lease with no end date, because temporary leases are only allowed in specific situations.

• The exceptions. Among them: you are a student renting temporarily for your studies in another municipality, or you live somewhere else while your own home is renovated. Such a lease lasts at most 2 years, and the landlord must write to you 1 to 3 months before the end date; if it is extended, it becomes permanent (Rijksoverheid).
• In writing. The city’s report desk accepts complaints when a landlord gives no written lease, or no written information on the deposit and when it comes back, the service charges and the points calculation of the home (City of Amsterdam).
• Rent above the points maximum? The city points tenants to the national rent check; our guide walks you through it.

Amsterdam tenants can turn to a free, city-funded advice service, a city report desk and, if it comes to that, the court.

• !WOON. Its services are free for residents because the city pays for them (!WOON). Call 020 5230 130 on weekdays from 9.00 to 17.30, visit a consultation hour in Centrum, Nieuw-West, Noord, Oost, West, Zuid, Zuidoost or Weesp, or use the walk-in for internationals at IN Amsterdam (!WOON).
• Legal costs. Every !WOON location has a budget to support tenants in legal proceedings, managed by the Emil Blaauw legal costs fund, and the city contributes to it every year for Amsterdam tenants (!WOON).
• The city’s report desk. After a report the city can oblige a landlord to follow the rules, for example with a fine, and !WOON gives practical help with getting money back from a landlord or going to the Huurcommissie (City of Amsterdam).
• The court. Rechtbank Amsterdam receives visitors at Parnassusweg 280 (Rechtspraak.nl). If money is the obstacle, see our legal aid guide.