Amsterdam was within its rights to fine two landlords and a housing agency a total of €96,000 for breaking the city’s rules on shared housing, the Council of State has ruled.

The Council of State, the highest administrative court in the Netherlands, upheld a lower court decision to fine the landlords, the Parool reported on Monday.

The landlords had converted eight properties in the west of Amsterdam into multiple-occupancy apartments and rented them out to students without having the proper permits. Inspectors were called in after neighbours complained about noise.

In Amsterdam it is illegal to rent out a property to more than two adults who are not related without a special licence.

Housing alderman Laurens Ivens said the court ruling is an ‘important step in the battle against bad landlords’.

Earlier this month Ivens told the Parool newspaper he planned to make cracking down on illegal flat shares a priority, even if no reports of nuisance had been made.

According to city council figures, some 12,000 properties in the capital are currently being shared illegally but just 632 permits have been handed out.

To qualify for a permit, a property must meet noise insulation rules and the property must have a communal areas. No permits are necessary to rent out a property to four adults via rental housing platforms like Airbnb.

Are you sharing a flat with more than two adults? We’d like to hear your story. editor@dutchnews.nl