Expat mortgages in the Netherlands, explained in English.

Usually not on that income alone. Most Dutch lenders do not count profit from a business that is based and taxed outside the Netherlands, even if your clients are Dutch: they look at where the business is established and taxed, not where the clients are. ABN AMRO also accepts a business based in Belgium, Germany or Luxembourg. For a company in another country that you own as director-shareholder, its rules contain one exception with strict conditions: you live in the home as your main residence, you can run the business from that home, the lender can assess the figures and legal risks, and you borrow at most 85% of the home’s value. Salary from a job in the Netherlands counts in the normal way.

Yes, and that check comes first. If you do not live in the Netherlands, whether a lender will consider you depends on the country where you live, and ABN AMRO, for example, applies a separate country policy for non-residents on top of its standard rules. So we put your situation to lenders before you make an offer or send documents. Income in another currency is a second hurdle: ABN AMRO is one of the few lenders that accepts it, converting it to euros and counting at most 90%, while Argenta does not count it at all. Savings in a foreign currency count for at most 90% at ABN AMRO and not at all at ASN. And if your income is taxed outside the Netherlands, some lenders calculate as if your mortgage interest were not tax-deductible, which lowers the maximum.

It depends on the lender. Lenders do not simply add your bonus to your salary. Lloyds Bank, for example, takes the average of the last three years, capped at the lower of last year’s bonus or the amount on your employer’s statement, so one strong year does not lift it. ING counts a bonus that does not depend on company results at the amount of the last 12 months on your employer’s statement. Lloyds Bank also only counts a bonus you received structurally with the same employer, up to 20% of your gross income including holiday pay without NHG (the Dutch mortgage guarantee) and not at all with NHG. As proof, expect to show a payslip for each of those years with the cumulative bonus on it.

It can, but not in the same way as your salary. Your salary counts normally. Freelance income counts as business income: lenders such as ING and NIBC take the average net profit of the last three financial years, capped at the most recent year. With less than three years as a freelancer, ING follows the NHG framework for starting entrepreneurs, which works with an income statement from an accredited expert. And even if you do not need the freelance income to borrow enough, lenders such as NIBC and Dynamic Credit check that the side business does not put your salary at risk, for example through losses or business loans, and ask for the latest annual accounts or tax return.

It can still work. Without a statement of intent, ING takes your average income over the last three calendar years from your annual income statements, capped at your income in the last year. Another route is the Arbeidsmarktscan, an independent score of your job prospects for the next five years, which some lenders accept, such as ING, ABN AMRO, Obvion and NIBC, while others, such as Argenta, Knab, Lloyds Bank and Nationale-Nederlanden, do not. At ING it needs a score of at least 70 and at least 12 months of income from work in the past 14 months. With a statement of intent, ING counts your income as if the contract were permanent.

That depends on how your lender counted the ruling. Several lenders simply base your maximum on your gross salary, as if there were no ruling, so its end changes nothing in their calculation. Some lenders, such as ING, NIBC and Nationale-Nederlanden, can count the tax-free part as extra income, but only for the remaining period of the ruling: the extra amount you borrow has to be repaid faster, so the mortgage still fits your income once the ruling ends. Obvion only counts the ruling if your employment contract shows you keep the same income afterwards. Lenders ask for the Dutch Tax Administration’s decision on your ruling, which shows the end date.

Often it is. What matters most is the purpose of stay stated on the permit. Some lenders treat a fixed-term permit with a non-temporary purpose, such as a highly skilled migrant permit, the same as a permanent one, and Obvion accepts it if you show you intend to stay in the Netherlands long term. With a temporary purpose of stay, or at stricter lenders, the maximum loan is lower or extra conditions apply, such as a minimum income or a minimum validity of the permit. A lender’s standard document list sometimes asks for a permanent permit when its actual policy does not, so we check the policy itself.

Yes. The first calculation, choosing a lender and preparing the application can all start without a BSN (Dutch citizen service number). The lender does need it before the mortgage goes ahead: several lenders, including ABN AMRO, ASN and SNS, only take your BSN once you have signed the mortgage offer, and ASN and SNS state that they never provide a mortgage without it. A BSN comes with registration in the Dutch Personal Records Database (BRP), so make sure it is arranged by the time you sign the offer.

A loan from a parent can sit next to a bank mortgage or replace it, and is always put in writing. For Dutch tax relief on the interest, you repay it on an annuity or linear basis within at most 30 years and report it in your Dutch tax return every year. The interest has to be businesslike: a lower rate given out of generosity counts as a gift. Lenders treat the payments to your parent differently: some leave them out of the affordability test if all interest and repayments are gifted back, others always count them, so the choice of lender matters. How the loan works for your mother in the US falls under US rules, and a tax adviser there covers that part.

Bank statements mainly prove salary payments and own funds in the lender rules we work with; Dynamic Credit wants a bank statement showing your salary, no older than 3 months when the binding offer is made. Clarian Wonen asks you to show own funds above € 15,000 and their origin, and does not count cryptocurrency. BKR weighs more: almost every registered loan lowers your borrowing capacity. ABN AMRO counts a revolving credit at 2% of the registered credit amount per month, or the contractual monthly payment if that is higher, even if you do not use it. Registered arrears can block a mortgage; ASN rejects any arrears code. ABN AMRO also checks credit registers in Belgium, Germany, Italy or Austria if you lived there or have their nationality.

Your existing mortgage counts as an obligation: ABN AMRO deducts a monthly payment calculated on that mortgage from the amount you may spend on housing costs, which lowers your Dutch maximum. For their standard mortgage, ASN, BLG and RegioBank collect the payment from an account with a bank that offers current accounts in the Netherlands; a.s.r., Neo and MUNT accept an account in your name with a bank in the SEPA area (the euro payments area). An account outside SEPA is not enough at any of the lenders named here. The lender rules we work with do not ask for a Dutch credit history as such. For applicants without Dutch nationality, Neo checks the home country’s register through BKR (the Dutch credit register) where BKR exchanges data with that country; otherwise, if your home country has a national credit register, you supply an extract from it yourself.

Often, yes. The Dutch model purchase agreement for an existing home has a clause under which you provide a bank guarantee for the amount and by the date filled in, or deposit the same amount with the notary instead; 10% of the purchase price is customary, and the guarantee is usually provided within a few days after the financing condition expires. ING, Nationale-Nederlanden, NIBC and ABN AMRO issue one if you take your mortgage with them, but only after you have signed the mortgage offer; ING also requires an ING current account in your name. Knab, for example, does not issue bank guarantees; it then goes through a separate guarantor such as Nationale Waarborg. NIBC charges nothing; Nationale-Nederlanden charges 1% of the guarantee amount. Timing depends on your agreement’s date and when you have a signed offer; we check the date before you sign.

Not necessarily: it depends on the lender and whether you need your partner’s income. Under NHG (the Dutch mortgage guarantee), an employer’s statement can only be used once the probation period has ended; during probation, income is based on the annual income statements of the last three years. Rabobank assesses probation income as it would a fixed-term contract without a statement of intent; a.s.r. normally does not count income from a job that is still in its probation period when the binding offer is issued, with an exception once you have been employed there for some months. Without NHG, Nationale-Nederlanden can issue the offer and complete during probation, based on the income of the last three calendar years, capped at last year’s income or the employer’s statement if lower. We calculate with and without your partner’s income using suitable lenders, so you can see whether waiting changes the outcome.

Only if the date in the agreement leaves enough time for a lender to assess your application and issue either a binding offer or a rejection. Under the Dutch model agreement, you can dissolve the agreement if, by the agreed date, you have not obtained a binding offer from a recognised lender on the terms filled in (the amount and a maximum gross annual cost or interest rate). Written notice must reach the seller or seller’s agent within the agreed working days, with one recognised lender’s rejection as standard unless agreed otherwise. Without a valid notice in time, the condition no longer protects you. If you then fail to complete after formal notice of default, the seller can dissolve the agreement and claim a penalty of 10% of the purchase price, plus any higher actual loss. Send us the draft agreement before signing; we check the date against lenders that fit your situation.

A bridging loan (overbruggingskrediet) lets you temporarily use equity in your current home to buy your next home before the sale of your current home is completed. You repay it when that home sells, or by the term’s end, which differs per lender. At ABN AMRO, before sale, the maximum is 90% or 95% of value minus the remaining mortgage and selling costs (ABN AMRO lending policy, July 2026). Examples: 90% with a desktop valuation or value of € 1,500,000 or more; 95% with a full valuation report, provided none of the situations that limit it to 90% applies. Once the old home is sold, the maximum is the sale price minus the remaining mortgage and the selling costs. At ABN AMRO, the bridging loan and the mortgage on the new home must be with the same ABN AMRO label.

Two things. If you buy before the sale of your current home is completed, a bridging loan lets you use its equity in the meantime. You repay it when the old home is sold, or at the latest at the end of its term. Lenders calculate it as a percentage of the old home’s value minus your remaining mortgage, and that percentage differs per lender and is higher once the sale is final. The second is a Dutch tax rule (the bijleenregeling): the profit on the sale, meaning the sale price minus selling costs minus the mortgage on it, reduces the amount on which you can deduct interest for your next home. If you borrow that amount again instead of putting it in, the interest on that part is not deductible. This applies for three years after the sale.

A bridging loan is temporary: it has to be repaid when the old home is sold, or at the latest at the end of its term, which differs per lender. If you decide to keep the old home, the bridging loan has to be replaced by a regular loan on that home. If that home is rented out, keep in mind that standard Dutch home mortgages do not allow renting out without the lender’s written permission, so a rented home needs a buy-to-let mortgage. More on that: buy-to-let mortgages in the Netherlands.

Standard Dutch home mortgages do not allow renting out without the lender’s written permission, so the usual route is a buy-to-let mortgage, with your current lender or by refinancing with another one. Lenders set their own rules for people who move abroad. At ABN AMRO, for example, converting to its buy-to-let mortgage is only possible if you move to an EU country or the UK, not for any other country, and the conversion has to be in place before the tenant moves in. More on that: buy-to-let mortgages in the Netherlands.

There is no general answer: it depends on your figures and your plans. Buying has one-off costs, such as transfer tax (2% of the home's market value, with the purchase price as the minimum, on a home you live in yourself, and a one-off exemption for buyers aged 18 to 34 up to a value limit) and the notary. If you leave, you can sell: whether repaying on a sale costs a penalty depends on your mortgage terms. Or you keep the home and rent it out, which needs your lender’s permission (see buy-to-let mortgages in the Netherlands). Your plans also matter for the fixed-rate period you choose.

It depends on three things: the interest you pay after tax relief, what the money would earn after tax, and whether you might need the money later, for example if you leave the Netherlands. Mortgage interest on your main home is tax-deductible under conditions and for at most 30 years, so paying down also reduces your deduction, while savings and investments fall under the Dutch box 3 tax. Your mortgage terms set how much you can repay each year without a penalty, and that differs per lender. Money you repay is tied up in the home.

Start by telling us what makes it complex, in your own words. In the first hour, which is free, we look at which lenders’ rules fit your situation; whatever follows, we agree with you beforehand. Where a lender’s rules leave room for doubt, we put your case to the lender before you apply or send documents, rather than finding out afterwards. You get an honest answer, also if that answer is “not yet”, together with what would need to change.

You can go straight to a bank; no Dutch rule obliges you to use an advisor. The difference is how many lenders get compared, so ask which lenders an advisor compares. For an expat that is usually where the gain is: lenders treat a residence permit, income earned abroad and the 30% ruling very differently, so the same file can get a very different maximum or be declined at one lender and accepted at another. We compare 40+ Dutch lenders, handle the Dutch paperwork and agree the fee with you beforehand.

We work out what you can realistically borrow, compare 40+ Dutch lenders on rate and conditions, and check their rules against your situation. As your mortgage adviser, we do not lend money or make the lending decision: the lender decides whether to accept your application. We check your permit, income and 30% ruling against each lender’s rules. Where those rules leave room for doubt, we put your case to the lender before you apply or send documents. We collect and submit documents, explain every step in English and remain your point of contact until you sign at the notary. We also advise on insurance that goes with the mortgage, such as term life cover.

Some are, so ask which lenders an advisor compares. We are not tied to any bank: we compare 40+ Dutch lenders and recommend the one that fits your situation. A commission ban applies to Dutch mortgage advice, so no lender pays us for choosing it; you pay us a fee agreed in advance.

Yes. You do not need Dutch citizenship or a permanent residence permit. EU/EEA citizens are treated much like Dutch residents; if you come from outside the EU/EEA, lenders generally ask for a valid residence permit. What matters most is your income, your type of employment contract and any existing loans. Some lenders prefer you to have lived or worked here for a few months first, and others do not. I tell you upfront which lenders fit your situation.

There is no single easiest lender: it depends on which part of your situation a lender has to accept. We compare lenders on that specific point, using the rules in force in 2026 to check how they apply to you. ASN and Obvion accept a fixed-term permit with a non-temporary purpose of stay; Obvion also asks you to show you intend to stay in the Netherlands long term. ABN AMRO converts foreign-currency income to euros and counts at most 90%. ASN rejects open or resolved A or H arrears codes in BKR. ABN AMRO accepts at most one A code, and only if the arrears were registered over a year ago and were resolved or repaid within three months, and the lender’s credit risk check is positive. A BKR registration always weighs in the assessment.

If you need a Dutch mortgage, buying as a non-resident depends on the lender and your country of residence. At ABN AMRO, a new non-resident client is accepted only from a country allowed by its country policy and financial crime risk ratings. That policy is not published, so we put your case to the lender before you make an offer or send documents. At ABN AMRO, a pied-à-terre (a second home in the Netherlands that you do not live in permanently, for example for work, study or leisure) is possible for residents and for non-residents with Dutch nationality, with a test income of at least € 60,000 and a loan of at most 85% of the home’s value; every loan part must be repaid, over at most 20 years. A home that is not your main residence carries 8% transfer tax in 2026, instead of 2% for a home you live in yourself, calculated on the home’s value with the purchase price as the minimum (not the WOZ value). More on buying a pied-à-terre from abroad: second home in the Netherlands as a non-resident.

No. Individuals from abroad can own 100% of a Dutch property and take out a mortgage without permanent residency. For non-EU/EEA nationals a valid residence permit is usually required by the lender. The minimum time you need to have lived in the Netherlands differs per lender: some lenders do not set a minimum period, others ask for six months or more. Comparing lenders independently is exactly where the right advice pays off.

Dutch rules allow lending up to 100% of a property’s value, although not every lender goes that far, so you do not need a large deposit for the home itself (you do pay the buyer’s costs separately). Borrowing the full value means higher monthly costs, and if you sell within a few years or prices fall, the sale may not cover the mortgage. Your maximum is based mainly on your gross income and any existing obligations. With a permanent contract, lenders assess your income in the standard way; on a temporary contract, many lenders accept a statement of intent from your employer. I calculate your realistic maximum before you start viewing homes.

Your deposit is mainly for buyer’s costs, because Dutch rules allow lending up to 100% of the home’s market value. Not every lender goes that far: if the main earner has a residence permit for a temporary purpose of stay, ABN AMRO lends at most 85% (ABN AMRO lending policy, July 2026). Borrowing the full value means higher monthly costs, and if you sell within a few years or prices fall, the sale may not cover the mortgage. In 2026, up to 106% is possible if the part above 100% funds energy-saving measures. Buyer’s costs include the notary, the valuation and 2% transfer tax for your own home (on the home’s value, with the purchase price as the minimum, not the WOZ value), with a one-off exemption for buyers aged 18 to 34 if the home is worth no more than € 555,000. At ASN, if the purchase price is below the valued market value, borrowing is based on the purchase price plus buyer’s costs up to 6% of the price, capped at market value.

Yes, in 2026 you can deduct mortgage interest for your main residence from your income, at a maximum rate of 37.56% (Dutch Tax Administration, 2026 figures). The deduction applies for at most 30 years (360 months) per loan for your main residence. For loans taken out from 1 January 2013, you must repay at least on an annuity or linear basis within at most 30 years to qualify. Against that, the eigenwoningforfait adds 0.35% of your home’s WOZ value (the municipal valuation) to your income, for WOZ values from € 75,000 to € 1,350,000. Above € 1,350,000 it is € 4,725 plus 2.35% of the value above that amount.

It can, significantly. Lenders differ in how they treat the 30% ruling when assessing your income: some look only at your taxable salary, while others can take more of your situation into account. That means the same income can lead to very different maximum mortgages depending on the lender. I map this out for you and steer you toward the lender that values your situation best. From 2027, the maximum tax-free allowance under the ruling drops from 30% to 27%, with transitional rules depending on when your ruling started (source: Rijksoverheid).

Yes, although it takes more preparation. As a freelancer or business owner, lenders usually like to see around three years of income history, though there are options with a shorter track record. With self-employed income the field is smaller: around 20 lenders. On a temporary employment contract, many lenders accept a statement of intent from your employer. I know which lenders are flexible here and position your application accordingly.

Yes. Every step, our meetings, the explanations and the guidance through the Dutch paperwork, is handled in clear English, so you always understand exactly what you are signing and why.

I am based in Naarden and advise throughout ’t Gooi: Naarden, Bussum, Hilversum, Huizen, Laren, Blaricum, Eemnes and the surrounding villages, a green, international-friendly region within easy reach of Amsterdam and Utrecht. Advice online is possible anywhere in the Netherlands.

The first hour is free, and that hour counts per question rather than per meeting, so the short follow-up questions that come straight out of it are included. If more work follows, we agree the fee with you beforehand: a fixed fee and no commission incentive, so the advice stays independent. Third-party costs, such as the valuation and the notary, and the other costs of our process are set out in the engagement letter you receive before you sign. Advice on term life insurance that goes with your mortgage belongs to that process, except the review for cover of € 1 million or more. Our fees are listed in English on mortgage advice fees.

We charge one of four fixed fees, agreed in advance, depending on whether you are employed or self-employed (IB) and whether you are buying your first home, moving or refinancing. Our fee covers the advice and our guidance from the first conversation to signing at the notary. Ask for the fee in writing before work starts and check what it includes. You can see our mortgage advice fees. Third-party costs, such as the valuation, the notary and the NHG fee, come on top. Other costs of our process are set out in the engagement letter you receive before you sign. Extra work, such as a family loan or a gift from parents, carries a supplement that we agree with you beforehand.