Short stay and flexible staff rental

01Why has a flexible rental period become so difficult?

A staffing agency or employer renting homes for staff usually wants a flexible rental period: a few months, a season, or as long as a project runs. Dutch tenancy law was not designed for that. It protects the tenant of residential space precisely against a sudden end to the tenancy.

Two developments make it harder still. The first is the Fixed Rental Contracts Act (Wet vaste huurcontracten), in force since 1 July 2024: an open-ended lease is the norm again. The second is a bill that would limit short stay to 30 nights. That bill went to public consultation in 2026, but at the time of writing it is not yet law.

If you want to arrange temporary rental for staff, you therefore need to know what kind of accommodation you are actually offering, and which legal regime covers your own lease with the owner.

This article is a summary, not legal advice. The rules change and depend on your situation and municipality. Consult a lawyer before you sign or terminate a contract.

02What does the Fixed Rental Contracts Act say?

Since 1 July 2024, anyone renting a home in principle gets an open-ended contract. Fixed-term contracts, widely allowed since 2015, have largely been abolished. Contracts signed before 1 July 2024 end on the agreed date. If such a contract is extended, it becomes open-ended.

A temporary contract of up to two years is still allowed for certain groups. According to the government overview these include:

students living temporarily in another town for their studies;
people who must live elsewhere for a while because their home is being renovated;
people coming from social shelter or in a social emergency;
people given a second chance after an earlier tenancy ended;
separated parents who want to live near their children for a while;
people working on the Wadden Islands;
refugees with a residence permit coming directly from a COA reception centre.

Labour migrants and other temporary staff are not (yet) on this list. A few separate arrangements remain, such as temporary letting under the Vacancy Act (Leegstandwet), the diplomat clause, target-group contracts, letting a room in your own home, and letting that is short by nature, such as a holiday home.

03Does tenant protection apply when a company rents the house?

This is the question that matters most for renting a house as a business. Many staffing agencies rent a whole house from an owner and let staff live there. The company does not live there itself. Is that still a lease of residential space?

Courts look mainly at what the parties intended the use to be when they signed. In a case before the sub-district court in Midden-Nederland (17 August 2021, ECLI:NL:RBMNE:2021:3623) a staffing agency rented a property to house labour migrants. The landlord argued it was 'other space' without tenant protection. The court disagreed: the contract was called a residential lease and mentioned housing labour migrants. The fact that the company did not live there itself did not change that.

Köster Advocaten also writes that an intermediary or company as (head) tenant enjoys the same protection, because the lease concerns residential space. A residential lease then ends only by mutual agreement, by dissolution after a serious breach, or by notice on a statutory ground.

What does that mean for you?

As a tenant (company) you probably have more security than you think: the owner cannot simply give notice.
Conversely, as a company you cannot always get out of an open-ended lease quickly when you no longer need the house. Agree the notice period and conditions carefully in advance.
Whether the restriction on temporary contracts applies in full to a company as tenant is not settled in every situation. Have your contract reviewed by a lawyer.

For the house itself, it also matters whether your staff rent a self-contained home or a room with shared facilities. A subtenant of non-self-contained space (such as a room in a shared house) has no tenant protection against the owner when the head lease ends.

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04What is short stay, and when is it rental or lodging?

A short stay home is usually a furnished home let for a short period, often to expats, labour migrants or students. Landlords rely on the exception for residential space that is 'short by nature' (Article 7:232(2) of the Dutch Civil Code). The normal tenant protection then does not apply.

The law sets no maximum duration and no clear definition. According to the government this has led to a practice in which short stay is used for occupation that looks a lot like ordinary rental, sometimes at a higher price than tenancy law allows. Courts look at the actual situation, not the label on the contract. In a ruling of 22 July 2025 (ECLI:NL:RBMNE:2025:3838), for example, the court held that a link to agency work alone does not make a tenancy 'short by nature'.

There is also the distinction between living (wonen) and lodging (logies, a stay as in a hotel or guesthouse). That is mainly a question for the zoning plan and the municipality. An administrative-law specialist lists five questions that come back in that assessment:

Is the main residence here or elsewhere?
Is the resident registered in the BRP (population register) at this address?
Does the same group stay for a while, or does it change every few weeks?
Is there a lease with their own key and belongings, or a booking with a departure date?
Does the resident pay basic rent, or an all-in price including cleaning and bed linen?

According to the same source, a stay shorter than six months can still be 'living'. Between roughly three and six months there is a grey zone where the other circumstances decide. The more it looks like ordinary living, the more likely tenancy law applies.

05What rules do municipalities have for short stay?

Short stay has no national definition. Each municipality regulates it differently, through the zoning plan (what use is allowed at a location), the housing ordinance (protection of the housing stock) and its own policy. These three tracks are not always aligned.

Two examples from the same source:

Amsterdam treats short stay in its housing ordinance as tourist letting, up to six months. The ordinance sets no minimum duration, but the zoning plans do.
Maastricht treats short stay in its zoning as a residential use, from four weeks to a year. For housing labour migrants, the municipality uses different terms: short stay up to four months and mid stay from four to nine months.

So the same word means something different per municipality and per regulation. Are you going to rent short stay or use a home for short stays yourself? Ask the municipality what use is allowed at that address and whether a permit is needed, for example for room letting or conversion. If the use is wrong, the municipality can take enforcement action, and that usually hits the owner, who in practice will pass it on to you as the tenant.

06What changes if the suitable rental contracts bill goes ahead?

On 14 November 2025 the government announced measures for a clearer distinction between rental and short stay. The bill on suitable rental contracts (wetsvoorstel passende huurcontracten) was in public consultation from 2 July to 28 August 2026. The main points:

Short stay up to 30 nights. Letting for more than 30 nights would no longer count as 'short by nature'. Longer stays would only be possible with an ordinary lease or a permitted temporary form.
No revolving door. Stays by the same tenant in different spaces within the same building would be added together.
Temporary contract for labour migrants. Through a separate amendment to the decree on temporary leases for specific groups, labour migrants could get a temporary contract with tenant protection of up to two years. The home would then have to meet quality requirements, including a private bedroom of at least 5.5 m², at least 15 m² of living space per person, all facilities under one roof and supervision by an accredited body.
Seasonal work. Short stay would remain possible for people who need accommodation for up to 30 days, for example during the harvest.
Employers on their own premises would get a new ground for termination: after employment ends, they could, under conditions, ask for termination in order to let the home to another employee.

Lawyers point out that the proposal does not yet contain transitional rules, so existing arrangements could be affected too. A new law in principle takes effect on 1 January or 1 July. Check the current status before basing new contracts on short stay. More on quality requirements: the SNF standard explained.

07What notice periods apply?

For an ordinary open-ended residential lease, tenant and landlord have different periods:

Who gives notice?	Period	Reason needed?
Tenant	usually 1 month (see the contract)	no
Landlord	3 to 6 months, depending on the length of the tenancy	yes, a statutory ground

Statutory grounds for the landlord include rent arrears of one month or more, nuisance, urgent own use, and refusal of a reasonable offer for a new contract. If the tenant disagrees with the notice, a court decides, and the tenant may stay until the ruling.

For you as a company this means: try to build flexibility into the contract with the owner in advance, for example agreements on the number of homes, start dates and a clear notice period. Do not assume you can hand a house back at short notice when a project ends. Under the Good Landlordship Act your staff get their own written lease, separate from their employment contract; see the Good Landlordship Act explained.

08Whole houses or single beds: how do you stay flexible?

Because the lease with the owner is not very flexible, the real flexibility usually lies in how you fill the homes. A few practical choices:

A fixed base and a flexible layer. Rent the number of homes you fill all year round. Absorb peaks with short stay for genuinely short periods (such as harvest work), and check that this is allowed at that location.
Plan per bed, not per house. A house with six beds and two empty places costs you just as much rent. If you track per bed who leaves and arrives when, you can place new staff in free beds instead of renting another house.
Look ahead. Put departure dates next to expected arrivals. A bed that becomes free in two weeks is often the best place for someone who starts in two weeks.
Group smartly. People who work at the same address and on the same shift share a house and a car more easily.
Record check-in and check-out. An inspection with photos and meter readings on departure prevents disputes about damage and costs, and makes the bed available again sooner.

In the eyesonrooms housing management software you see occupancy per bed, plan arrivals into free and soon-to-be-free beds, and record check-in, check-out and contracts, including in the resident's language. That way you pay less for empty beds, without tenancy law changing.

09Frequently asked questions

Can a staffing agency still sign a temporary lease for a house?

Since 1 July 2024 an open-ended lease is the norm and temporary contracts are only allowed for certain groups. According to courts and lawyers, a company renting residential space also enjoys tenant protection. Have your situation reviewed by a lawyer.

Is short stay still allowed after October 2026?

Yes, short stay still exists, but a bill would limit it to a maximum of 30 nights. The bill went to consultation in 2026 and was not yet law at the time of writing. The municipality also decides whether short stay is allowed at an address.

What is the difference between rental and lodging?

With rental, someone lives somewhere, usually with their own lease and registration in the population register. With lodging, someone stays temporarily, as in a hotel or guesthouse, with a booking and an all-in price. The actual situation counts, not the name of the contract.

How long is the notice period for a rented home?

For the tenant it is usually one month, according to the contract. The landlord has a period of 3 to 6 months and also needs a statutory ground.

How do I avoid paying for empty beds?

Plan occupancy per bed rather than per house, put departure dates next to expected arrivals, and rent a fixed base of homes that you fill all year round.

Short stay and flexible rental for staff: what is still allowed?