Sylt stands for small seaside resorts between culinary and luxury, for extensive dune landscapes and tempting coastal romance. The popular North Sea island doesn’t even cover 100 square kilometers. The island’s approximately 15,000 residents are visited by millions of tourists every year – in 2023 alone, the Schleswig-Holstein Tourist Association counted 4.8 million overnight stays in Sylt hostels. The needs of vacationers and those of residents continually clash – now apparently also when it comes to housing.
The district building officer Burkhard Jansen states in a “Spiegel” report that thousands of holiday apartments on the island are being rented out illegally – and is now taking legal action against them. The reason: In 2017, the Federal Administrative Court decided that holiday apartments in residential areas are prohibited. However, many people in Sylt do not adhere to this requirement and diligently continue to rent out their living space to tourists. Meanwhile, the housing shortage in North Frisia is getting worse.
“In 2023 we will have shut down around 100 holiday apartments,” Jansen is quoted in the article – and we’re just getting started. According to initial estimates, up to 3,500 vacation rentals on the island could be illegal. Living space that Jansen would like to give back to the residents. However, they do not find the commitment entirely positive.
Carsten Kerkamm is deputy mayor of the municipality of Sylt. He fears “dramatic cuts for Sylt homeowners and for the Sylt economy”. For many families, renting out living space to holiday guests is an important source of income that they cannot do without overnight.
Jansen is nevertheless determined to take strict action against “misuse”. Anyone who receives mail from their office has about a month to renovate their apartment. The continued operation of the holiday accommodation is then only possible under one condition: the communities would have to adapt their development plans and officially create more space for holiday accommodation.
Either way – this development means for holidaymakers that they have to be quick if they are looking for holiday accommodation on Sylt for the summer. Because the choice will become smaller. By the way: Not just on Sylt. The neighboring islands of Amrum and Föhr are also in the inspectors’ sights, as are Sankt Peter-Ording and Dagebüll.
Sources: Mirror
