Room rental in the CoE

Property owners who are members of an O.A.E. have to deal with the rules in the subdivision deed. These state what is or is not allowed in an apartment. Many disputes these days concern room rentals. The model regulations do not contain a standard prohibition on room rentals, but many subdivision deeds do contain that prohibition.

Lawsuits over room rentals

Many lawsuits have been filed by and against CoEs about room rentals. In 2018, the Amsterdam court raised the question of when a room rental business existed. Operating a room rental business was not allowed under the division deed. According to the court, this is the case when the apartment is given in use to several persons who are not in a (family) relationship with each other.

Room rental ban to be circumvented?

A few years later, the court ruled same court that a room-rental prohibition in the subdivision deed cannot be circumvented by dividing the apartment into studios. It is true that in that case there are no rooms but small apartments, but the court found that there was in fact no relevant difference between room rental and studio rental. Indeed, in both cases, the apartment is used by persons who are in no relation to each other.

No explicit ban on room rentals

There is even a case in case law where room rentals were not explicitly prohibited in the subdivision deed, but the court nevertheless found that room rentals violated the deed. After all, the deed in question stated that the apartments were intended for the owner or user ‘with their families or those living with them’. The Arnhem-Leeuwarden court of appeal concluded on that basis that the apartments could therefore only be rented as a whole. Room rental is contrary to this, and thus prohibited in that case as well.

Attorney for room rental associations

Whether or not room rentals are allowed depends on many factors. Starting with the question of what the subdivision deed stipulates about it. If this issue arises in your VvE, or if you want to know whether you are allowed to rent out an apartment room-by-room, contact the lawyers at Lexys Lawyers.