Holiday rental website Airbnb has scrapped at least 170 Amsterdam properties from its website for not keeping to the city’s rules, according to an investigation by the Volkskrant.

Home owners and people living in the non-rent-controlled rental sector can rent their home to holidaymakers for a maximum of 60 days a year if their landlords and fellow home owners agree. In addition, no more than four tourists can stay in the property.

Now, dozens of people have been told by the website that their properties are being scrapped because they are not offering an ‘authentic travel experience’ to their guests, the paper says.

Illegal hotels

The decision to remove their listing follows a ‘number of issues which conflict with our rules’, the letter states, but does not give further details. Amsterdam city council has signed a pact with Airbnb in which the website has agreed to tackle illegal tenancies.

The rules are widely flouted and some people earn thousands of euros renting out property via the website while living elsewhere. A city council spokesman told the Parool the properties which have been scrapped may have been operating as illegal hotels.

There are some 14,000 Amsterdam addresses on Airbnb, the Volkskrant says.