Costs of buying a house in 2026: what you pay on top of the price

If you buy an existing €400,000 home with NHG and get the first-time buyer exemption from transfer tax (startersvrijstelling), you pay roughly €5,650 to €8,300 on top of the price, plus registration with the Kadaster, the Dutch land registry. Without the exemption it rises to roughly €13,650 to €16,300.

The biggest difference is the transfer tax: at this price €8,000. So check first whether you get the first-time buyer exemption.

What does each item cost?

Apart from the transfer tax and the NHG fee the amounts are indications: you only hear the actual amount when you ask for a quote.

If you engage a buying agent, that comes on top. It is not included in this overview.

The Dutch civil-law notary (notaris) draws up two deeds. The transfer deed makes you the owner; the mortgage deed gives the bank security for your loan. For both together the indication is around €1,300, and the amount differs per office. Registering both deeds with the Kadaster comes on top and is also paid through the notary. So ask for a quote that includes those costs, and you compare amounts that cover the same thing. What else the notary does for you is in what the notary does when you buy a house.

You have the home valued because the bank wants to know what it is worth. The mortgage advice you pay to the adviser who finds and applies for your mortgage. For both: ask for the fee before you engage anyone, so you put an amount in your overview instead of a range.

A structural survey is optional. It shows the condition of the house, and what it costs depends on the size of the home and what you have inspected. NHG is a choice too, but only possible if your mortgage and the cost of the home fall within the conditions. Leave either one out and that line drops out of the total.

Do you pay transfer tax?

If you will live in the home yourself, you pay 2% transfer tax on the price. If you meet the conditions of the first-time buyer exemption, you pay 0%. At €400,000 that difference is €8,000.

You get the exemption if, on the day of the transfer, you are an adult under 35, have not used it before, will live in the home yourself for the longer term, and the home is not worth more than the limit. In 2026 that limit is €555,000, measured against the value of the home on the day of the transfer.

Buying together and only one of you meets the conditions? Then the exemption applies only to that person's share, and you pay 2% on the other share. The limit applies to the value of the whole home, not per person.

All the conditions are set out in the first-time buyer exemption from transfer tax.

What does NHG cost?

If you take a mortgage with NHG, the Nationale Hypotheek Garantie or Dutch national mortgage guarantee, you pay a one-off guarantee fee of 0.4% of your loan. At €400,000 that is €1,600. In 2026 NHG is possible up to a limit of €470,000.

How the limit works and what NHG gives you is in the NHG mortgage. Whether NHG suits your loan is something your mortgage adviser works through with you.

Is your purchase around the turn of the year?

On 1 January 2027 two limits go up. Each one depends on a different date, and those dates do not always fall in the same year.

The first-time buyer exemption limit becomes €615,000. That amount is already in the law and does not depend on the vote on the 2027 Tax Plan. Here what counts is the day the notary transfers the home to you, not the day you sign the purchase agreement. If your price is between €555,000 and €615,000, that date can make the difference. How that works out is in the first-time buyer exemption in 2027.

The NHG limit becomes €500,000, and the fee stays at 0.4%. Here what counts is the date the bank gives you its final mortgage offer, the binding offer: if you receive it on or after 1 January 2027, the new limit applies. If your price or your mortgage falls between €470,000 and €500,000, that date decides whether NHG is possible, because NHG looks at both.

You pay these costs from your own money

You can borrow at most 100% of the market value of the home. In the worked example the costs on top of the price come to €5,650 to €16,300, plus the Kadaster.

Buying costs usually come on top of your mortgage. So keep your own money free for them.

A second amount comes on top if your mortgage does not cover the full price. That happens when the valuation is below your offer, or when your income allows you to borrow less. You then put in the gap between price and mortgage yourself as well.

The adviser, the valuer and the surveyor usually invoice you directly. The rest runs through the notary's settlement statement. When each amount has to be ready, which of these costs are deductible, and how much buffer to keep for after the keys is in your own money when buying a house.

What you put in your budget

• the purchase price
• transfer tax: 2%, or 0% if you get the first-time buyer exemption
• the notary, plus registration with the Kadaster
• the valuation
• the mortgage advice
• a structural survey, if you have one done
• the NHG guarantee fee, if you take NHG
• the gap between your offer and a lower valuation, if there is one, because you borrow at most the market value