This is about protection of legitimate expectations – playing with fire
In the last meeting of the Building Committee, the FDP parliamentary group on Norderney joined the motion put forward by FWN/CDU. The background is significant legal uncertainty surrounding holiday apartments, which is being further exacerbated by new EU requirements. The proposals presented by the administration do not go far enough for the FDP and address the problem only superficially. The opportunity to ensure legal certainty for holiday-apartment owners already in the development plans is being missed.
Starting point
According to estimates, 60 to 80% of all holiday apartments on the island are illegal. A new EU regulation will also require, from May 20, 2026, the registration of every holiday apartment with the Town of Norderney (where a bylaw on the misuse of residential space is in place). To this day, Norderney has no reliable inventory of holiday apartments, second homes, rental apartments and houses.
Why we supported the CDU/FWN
The motion submitted by FWN (drafted by attorney Hayo Moroni) makes it clear that, in existing development plans, the past practice—residential use also includes holiday apartments—is legally safeguarded. In doing so, we strengthen vested rights protection for lawfully tolerated uses and create legal certainty.
Rejection of the SPD/administration proposals
The proposed case-by-case review for existing apartments is legally risky, hardly feasible in administrative practice, and socially disproportionate. It jeopardizes existing uses that have been tolerated for years and were permissible under the law at the time, and it undermines the necessary protection of legitimate expectations. The principle that administrative law exists to safeguard citizens’ rights vis-à-vis the state—and not the other way around—is violated by the proposal up for a vote.
Protection of legitimate expectations and vested rights first
Uses that have been tolerated for decades and are legally defensible must not be devalued by a U-turn decision. Protection of legitimate expectations is not an act of grace, but a core element of the rule of law—and the foundation of social cohesion on the island.
Economic and social consequences
Without a secure existing stock of holiday apartments, major disruptions threaten the tourism economy, employees and municipal finances. A bylaw on the misuse of residential space would immediately trigger a comprehensive legitimisation and review process for which the administration is neither staffed nor structurally prepared—an administrative, economic and social-policy misdirection.
The FDP’s demand
1. Determine the existing stock: A complete, transparent inventory of all residential and accommodation units (holiday apartments, second homes, rental apartments, hotels).
2. Secure the existing stock: Clarify under planning law that existing development plans cover the practice applied to date; regulate transitional arrangements and protection of legitimate expectations—as provided for in the FWN motion.
3. Shape the future: Develop and implement a housing supply concept based on the Cuxhaven model, and develop a tourism development concept. Put the bylaw on the misuse of residential space on hold for the time being until the data basis, staffing, procedures and digitalisation are in place for the EU registration that will be mandatory from May 20, 2026.
The administration’s proposal does not do justice to the situation. It endangers protection of legitimate expectations, overwhelms the administration and harms the island’s economy.
The FDP stands for reliability under the rule of law, structured governance and a pragmatic solution in Norderney’s interests—hence our support for the FWN/CDU motion.
Link to the Cuxhaven housing supply concept
Registration requirement for short-term rentals EU Regulation 2024/1028