Buy-to-let mortgage in the Netherlands

Moving abroad: can I keep my house and rent it out?

Often, but it depends on your current lender and on where you are moving. A home with a normal Dutch mortgage may only be let with the lender’s written permission. ABN AMRO has a separate product for exactly this situation: for customers who move abroad and keep their ABN AMRO-financed home to let (product guide for non-residents, May 2026). The main conditions:

• Only if you move to a country in the European Union or to the United Kingdom. If you move anywhere else, conversion is not possible.
• Up to 75% of the market value in rented state, or 80% with energy label A or B.
• The net rent must at least cover the monthly cost of the loan. Net rent is the bare rent minus at least 15% operating costs and the cost of a property manager. Your housing costs abroad are not counted.
• You keep your current fixed-rate contract, with a rate surcharge on top.
• The rent is paid into a Dutch bank account, and you keep a buffer of at least six monthly payments in an ABN AMRO account.
• You appoint a property manager for tenants, contracts, maintenance and payments.
• One household as tenant: no room letting and no short-stay such as Airbnb.
• The municipality and, where there is one, the owners’ association (VvE) must allow letting, and a full valuation report is required.
• The conversion must be in place before the letting starts, and it takes about three months.
• NHG (the Dutch mortgage guarantee) lapses, the interest is no longer tax-deductible and the loan is treated as box 3.

Florius, part of the same group, applies the same housing and country policy. Other lenders have their own rules, and some do not allow letting at all (see below). For a borrower who lives abroad, ABN AMRO checks the new country before any offer; it does not publish that list, and the list changes. So moving outside the EU or the UK closes this particular route at ABN AMRO, and we put your case to the lender before we promise anything.

Do I need my lender’s permission to rent out my home?

Yes. Letting a home with a normal Dutch mortgage needs the lender’s written permission, and without it the lender can demand repayment. Two examples. Nationale-Nederlanden only allows letting under the Vacancy Act, under a diplomatic clause or with its own buy-to-let mortgage, which can no longer be taken out; only customers who already have one can increase it. If you let without permission, NN can call the loan (management guide, January 2026). a.s.r. does not allow any form of letting, permanent or temporary, whole or part. If it finds letting without permission, the loan moves to its special management team and the letting has to be undone, or the loan is called (mortgage guide, May 2026).

Some lenders do allow temporary letting in two situations. At ABN AMRO (policy for existing loans, July 2026):

• Posted abroad and coming back. If your employer posts you abroad temporarily and you will move back in afterwards, you can let with a diplomatic clause and an end date in the lease. The rent must cover the monthly housing cost, including the insurance premiums linked to the home, the rent is pledged to the lender and an interest surcharge applies.
• Empty and for sale. Under the Vacancy Act (Leegstandwet) you can let while the home is for sale and stays for sale, with a permit from the municipality, for at most five years.

NHG is meant for a home you live in yourself. At ABN AMRO and Florius, even letting part of your own home is only allowed if the mortgage has no NHG (ABN AMRO July 2026, Florius August 2026).

Rent or buy as an expat who might leave the Netherlands in a few years?

That choice is yours, and it depends on more than the mortgage. What we can tell you is what happens to a home you bought if you leave. Roughly three routes: you sell it, you let it temporarily because you are coming back (the diplomatic clause above), or you keep it as a rental and the mortgage becomes a buy-to-let mortgage.

Lenders differ sharply on the last two. Nationale-Nederlanden’s buy-to-let mortgage can no longer be taken out; only customers who already have one can increase it. a.s.r. does not allow letting, and ABN AMRO converts only if you move to a country in the EU or to the UK. So if leaving is a real possibility, it is worth knowing before you choose a lender what that lender will allow later.

How much can I borrow for a buy-to-let property?

The maximum is based on the market value in rented state: the value of the property with a tenant in it, which is usually lower than the vacant value. Lenders usually finance 70% to 80% of that value, with outliers up to 90%. You bring in the rest yourself, plus the buyer’s costs (kosten koper).

Examples from the lender guides we use (the state of each guide on the date shown; lenders change their policy regularly):

• NIBC (January 2026): 80% in municipalities on its list, 75% elsewhere in the Netherlands and 65% in designated shrinking regions, calculated on the lowest of the value in rented state, the vacant value and, for a purchase or a property bought less than a year ago, your total investment.
• BLG (information guide, 5 March 2025): 80% of the value in rented state, up to 90% with energy label A, B or C, an existing home loan or business mortgage with one of the Volksbank brands. Loans from € 75,000 to € 500,000. BLG only lends to residents of the Netherlands.
• De Nederlandse (June 2026): up to 85% of the value in rented state, but only for applicants who qualify as a professional investor.
• ABN AMRO, for people who move abroad and keep their home: 75%, or 80% with energy label A or B.

These are the outer limits of four different lenders, each with its own conditions and its own basis, not a menu for the same property. Because NIBC takes the lowest of three values, for example, your own contribution can be higher than a percentage of the valuation suggests. That is why we start with which lender fits your property and your plan, not with the rate.

Does my income count, including income from abroad?

Many lenders test whether you can carry the monthly cost on your income plus part of the rent. Some look only at the rent against the monthly cost and leave your income from work out of it. If the property sits in a BV, the rent is revenue of the company, not your personal income.

For a Dutch mortgage in general, income from abroad is the harder part. Salary from employment abroad is accepted by only part of the market, and then only from Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg or France. Profit from a business based abroad is excluded by almost every lender. The ABN AMRO route for people who move abroad works differently: the test is on the rent, and your housing costs abroad are not counted. We tell you at the start where your income stands, before you spend time on a full application.

Can I use equity, from my own home or from a rental I own outright?

From your own home: often, yes. You can take out equity and use it as your own contribution for a rental property. The interest on that extra part is not tax-deductible, because the money is not used to buy or improve your own home. The rental property itself is then financed within the usual buy-to-let limits above.

From a rental you already own, it depends on the lender. De Nederlandse lists releasing equity by refinancing a home intended for letting as a purpose, but only for professional investors, and it uses the value from a new valuation only once you have owned the property for at least six months. BLG, when it refinances a home you already own, lends no more than the mortgage still outstanding on it, so on a property without a mortgage that route releases nothing. Which lender can do it for a property with no mortgage at all is something we check case by case.

I have a bridging loan. Can I keep my old home and rent it out?

A bridging loan (overbruggingskrediet) is meant for the period until your old home is sold. If you would rather keep that home and let it, it needs its own buy-to-let financing, based on the value in rented state. BLG calls this keep-to-let, and ABN AMRO has a product for customers who move out of their ABN AMRO-financed home and let it.

While the old home is still for sale, some lenders allow temporary letting under the Vacancy Act, with a permit from the municipality and as long as the home stays for sale. Letting it without your lender’s permission is not one of the options.

Privately or through a BV?

Both are possible. The choice decides which lenders are available, which conditions apply and how the tax works out.

Lenders for business property assess the loan-to-value, whether the rent covers the interest and your exit plan, rather than the consumer income standards, and that lending falls outside Dutch consumer credit protection. We put both routes side by side; the detailed tax work is for your accountant. Buying or renovating short term within a BV? See short-term property finance for a BV.

How is a rental home taxed?

For Dutch tax residents: your own home is taxed in box 1, where the mortgage interest can be deductible. A home you let privately falls in box 3, and the mortgage interest is not deductible. The mortgage debt does count as a debt in box 3. Box 3 taxes a deemed return, not the rent you actually receive. The 2026 figures:

• Deemed return on other assets, including real estate: 6.00%
• Tax rate: 36%
• Tax-free allowance: € 59,357 per person (€ 118,714 for fiscal partners)

Before that, the value of a let home is reduced with the leegwaarderatio: the WOZ value (the municipal valuation) times a percentage between 73% and 100%, depending on the yearly bare rent compared with the WOZ value. It only applies if the home is let on 1 January, for the long term, lies in the Netherlands and the tenant has rent protection. Letting to family on non-market terms counts at 100%, and temporary tenancy contracts do not qualify.

How a Dutch rental home is taxed once you live abroad depends on your situation and your new country; settle that with a tax adviser before you leave. These figures apply to 2026 only. This is general information, not tax advice.

How we help

We start with your plan and with where you will live. Then we check which lenders can do it, putting the case of someone who lives abroad to the lender first, work out what is feasible privately or through a BV, and explain every step in English. We are independent and not tied to a bank, and you have one point of contact from the first question to the final signature.

The first hour is free. If more work is needed, we agree the fee with you beforehand, and you never get an unexpected bill. See our fees.