Countries · Netherlands
What to check in the Netherlands before you sign.
There is a structural shortage of homes. Most purchases therefore close above the asking price, and treating the asking price as the market value means getting it wrong every time.
What costs the most money in the Netherlands
72 percent of all flats sold in the fourth quarter of 2025 went above the asking price, by 4.7 percent on average. The calculated housing shortage stands at 384,000 homes, that is 4.6 percent of the stock.
Source: NVM, Januar 2026, und Volkshuisvesting Nederland, 2026
Purchase costs
4 to 6%
of the purchase price, on top of the price in the listing.
- Transfer tax, owner-occupied2 %
- Transfer tax, investment (from 1 January 2026)8 %
- Buyers under 35, up to €555,0000 %
- Kadaster registration, per deedfrom €103.50
- Notary and your own agentfreely negotiated
Source: Belastingdienst and Kadaster, 2026 rates. Notary and agent fees are not set by law, so the overall range is calculated from the individual items and is not an officially published figure.
The trap for tenants
A rent is not permitted merely because it stands in the contract. The points system alone decides the level. The extended affordable rent act has applied since 1 July 2024, and the initial rent can be reviewed with binding effect within six months of the tenancy starting. In 2025 tenants got back more than €15 million in overpaid rent and service charges through the rent tribunal.
Energy and the duty to renovate
The energy label has been compulsory for sale and letting since 2008. Selling or handing over without a valid label costs a fine of €515, double that for a company. In the points system for rents, poor classes cost points and therefore rent: class E minus four, F minus nine, G minus fifteen points.
Source: Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport und Volkshuisvesting Nederland, 2024
Certificate validity: 10 years
What to watch for in the Netherlands in particular
Living space has to be stated according to the industry-wide measuring instruction. On 13 July 2018 the Hoge Raad held that the seller's agent is liable to the buyer for not following it. The usual disclaimer in the sales brochure was expressly rejected. In the case decided, nine square metres out of a stated eighty were missing.
Source: Hoge Raad, Urteil vom 13.07.2018
Official maps in the Netherlands
6 map layers lie directly over your property.
Not as an average for the district, but at your exact address, with a legend and a visible source. Every layer can be switched on separately.
Check it yourself
The official bodies in the Netherlands.
Scan my Home checks against these sources. You can call up every one of them yourself, and that is exactly the point: a figure you cannot verify is not a figure, it is a claim.
Ownership & charges
Owner, mortgages, boundaries, plot data
Energy
Registered energy label for the building
Environment & natural hazards
Klimaeffectatlas / Overstroomik
Flood and climate risk at the location
Building & zoning
Omgevingsloket / Bestemmingsplan
Permitted use, permits, development plan
The market in the Netherlands
Just under 239,000 existing homes sold in 2025, the highest figure since 2017, at an average price of €480,000. In the fourth quarter alone 67,200 properties changed hands, with a market turnover of over €32.5 billion.
A real dossier from this country
See what the analysis found on an actual listing in the Netherlands — every figure with its source.
Open the example dossierOther countries