Crew accommodation in the Netherlands: what happens when the stay passes 30 nights?

30 nightsproposed upper limit for a Dutch short-stay let without tenant protection

64 of 195of our European crew stays ran past 30 nights

5 of 14of our crew stays in the Netherlands ran past 30 nights

2 yearslongest temporary contract the bill would allow for labour migrants

A crew of five arrives in a Dutch town for four weeks. In week three, the job slips. The site manager asks for four more nights, the owner agrees, and the stay ends at 31 nights. Today, nobody thinks twice about it. Under a bill the Dutch government put out for consultation this summer, that 31st night would turn a short let into a tenancy with legal protection.

Our argument: in the Netherlands, 30 nights is becoming the line that decides what kind of contract the crew is living under. Bookers who plan the real length of a stay at booking will keep their options. Bookers who keep extending in small steps will find owners less willing to say yes.

What is changing in the Netherlands?

Dutch rental law protects tenants of living space, but article 7:232(2) of the Civil Code makes an exception for lets that are "short by nature". There is no fixed limit, so many furnished lets to expats, students and labour migrants run for months under that label. On 2 July 2026, housing minister Elanor Boekholt-O'Sullivan opened consultation on the Passende huurcontracten bill, which caps that exception at 30 nights. The consultation closed on 28 August.

The draft explanatory memorandum is blunt about scale. The government estimates that hundreds of thousands of tenants may be housed on short-stay or lodging contracts with no rent protection. It also expects that some hotel and holiday let providers will simply stop offering stays longer than 30 days.

The courts are moving the same way. A preliminary relief judge in the Midden-Nederland court, in a ruling reported in January 2026, held that housing for labour migrants is not short by nature just because the workers are in the country temporarily.

What happens on night 31?

Under the draft, a let of more than 30 nights with the same tenant in the same building is a regular tenancy. If a shorter stay is extended past 30 nights, protection applies from the 30th night onwards, not back to the first. Moving the tenant to another room in the same building does not reset the count. And the draft has no transitional rules, so it would apply to contracts already running when it takes effect. No start date has been set.

The memorandum also links the line to tax. From 1 July 2028, under the EU's VAT in the digital age rules, the VAT treatment of hotel-type accommodation is tied to a maximum of 30 nights, so tax law and rental law would draw the same line. Today, short-stay lodging in the Netherlands carries 21% VAT.

What does our booking data show?

Across 195 non-cancelled European crew stays in our records, the median stay is 14 nights, but 64 ran past 30 nights, counting rolling stays to their booked end date. Of those 64, 30 were rolling stays that kept going month by month. In the Netherlands, we have 14 crew stays across six towns, with a median of 13 nights. Five ran past 30 nights. Two of them were booked for 27 nights and then extended by 4, which is exactly the pattern the bill targets.

So the problem is not the long stay that everyone planned for. It is the stay that was meant to be short and grew. Our piece on what to do when the project is delayed covers the extension side.

How do the rules compare?

Situation	Today	Under the bill as consulted
Stay of up to 30 nights in a flat	Can be short stay if use, property and intent are genuinely short	Same test, 30 nights is a ceiling, not a free pass
Stay booked for 31 nights or more	Open test; owners often label it short stay	A regular tenancy with rent protection from the first night
Stay of 27 nights extended by 4	Open test	Tenancy protection applies from the 30th night onwards
Crew moved to another unit in the same building	Often used to restart the clock	Stays in the same building are added together
Contract already running on the start date	Not applicable	No transitional rules in the draft, so it applies too
Labour migrants in certified housing	Mostly lodging or short-stay contracts	Temporary contract of up to 2 years, own bedroom of 5.5 m2 or more

The 30-night rule only bites where the law sees the space as living space. Hotels and aparthotels are assessed on how they are actually used, not on what they are called. For the current Dutch housing standards for workers, see accommodation for workers in the Netherlands.

What should bookers do differently?

• Book the length you expect, not the length you hope. If a Dutch job could run past four weeks, say so at booking. An owner who knows the stay is six weeks can offer the right contract from day one.
• Ask what contract applies after night 30. Before you extend a stay of 27 nights by a week, ask the owner whether the extension is allowed and on what terms.
• Do not move the crew to reset the clock. Under the draft, stays in the same building are added together.
• Check the VAT line on long stays. Short-stay lodging carries 21% VAT today. If a stay is treated as a tenancy, the VAT treatment can change, so ask your finance team before you budget. See our piece on VAT after 28 days.
• For stays of months, use housing built for it. Certified worker housing and mid-term lets are made for long stays. Our clients have saved 20-30% by using the correct market for the length of stay.

FAQ

Is the 30-night limit law in the Netherlands yet?

No. It is a bill that was out for consultation from 2 July to 28 August 2026. It can still change, and no start date has been set.

Would it apply to bookings already running?

The consultation draft has no transitional rules, so as written it would apply to contracts made before and after it takes effect.

Does a short extension matter?

Yes. Under the draft, if a stay is extended past 30 nights, tenancy protection applies from the 30th night onwards.