Amsterdam city council has issued 1,250 permits to people who want to rent out their homes via Airbnb and similar platforms, even though there are thousands of adverts for holiday lets in the capital online.

Since July 1, landlords have had to have a permit to rent their properties, and old restrictions, such as a 30 day per year maximum, still apply.

A council spokesman said the low number of permits does not mean thousands of people are renting out their homes illegally. ‘Our digital investigators say that nothing much is happening with the houses that are up for rent,’ a spokesman told the Parool.

Owners only have to apply for a permit once they have a prospective tenant.

Amsterdam has been struggling to get to grips with holiday rentals for several years and the practice has now been banned in much of the city centre and Zuid. As well as introducing licences for Airbnb, the city has also extended 2,074 permits for bed & breakfast operations.

People who break the rules face a hefty fine and since July 1, six landlords have been fined €20,750 for illegal letting, the paper said.

A licence costs €45 in Amsterdam, compared with €1,279 in Utrecht, where officials are also clamping down on holiday rentals.