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NHG mortgage guarantee 2026: limit, cost and benefits
Weigh the one-off NHG fee, the mortgage conditions and the safety net if you cannot keep up payments.
MortgageFinances
Not sure whether to take your mortgage with the National Mortgage Guarantee (NHG)? You pay a one-off 0.4% of your loan for it. In return you often get a lower interest rate, and under conditions help if you run into payment problems.
NHG is possible up to a limit. In 2026 that is €470,000. If you receive the binding offer for your mortgage on or after 1 January 2027, it is €500,000.
Then compare an offer with NHG against an offer without it. The interest difference and the one-off cost together decide what the guarantee gains you in interest. The safety net for payment problems comes on top of that.
How much can you borrow with NHG in 2026?
In 2026 NHG is possible up to €470,000. If you borrow extra for energy-saving measures, the limit rises to €498,200. Everything above €470,000 then has to go to those measures.
Buying a home above the NHG limit? That does not automatically rule NHG out. For an existing home, NHG looks at the lower of the purchase price and the appraised market value. Say you buy for €475,000 and the home is appraised at €470,000. Then NHG may still be possible. You pay the €5,000 difference yourself, and you have to meet the other NHG conditions.
At a glance
NHG in 2026
- Set by the scheme€470,000
- NHG limitFor an existing home: the lower of the purchase price and the valued market value.
- Set by the scheme€498,200
- With energy-saving measuresEverything above €470,000 has to go towards those measures.
- Set by the schemeone-off0.4%
- Guarantee premiumOf what you borrow. On a loan of €400,000 that is €1,600.
Checked on 7 October 2026.
Bronnen en toelichting
- NHG limit
- Nationale Hypotheek Garantie
- With energy-saving measures
- Nationale Hypotheek Garantie
- Guarantee premium
- Nationale Hypotheek Garantie
The guarantee fee is 0.4% of the mortgage. On €400,000 that is €1,600. So you pay the percentage on what you borrow, not on the NHG limit.
Does your purchase fit within NHG?
Put the purchase price, the appraisal, the loan you want and your own money side by side. Also include how much you want to renovate and how much of that you want to finance. That affects what fits within NHG. In the end, your mortgage adviser uses those amounts to check whether your situation meets all the NHG conditions.
Compare offers with and without NHG
When have you earned the premium back?On a loan of €400,000, NHG costs €1,600 once, with the example rate differences giving a payback time of just over a year to four yearsView exampleHide
Loan €400,000 · guarantee premium 0.4%
One-off premium€ 1,600First-year rate benefit at a 0.3% difference€ 1,200
- −Guarantee premium 0.4% of €400,000once, when you take out the mortgage; adding it to the loan changes your monthly payment€1,600
- +Rate benefit at a 0.1% difference 0.1% of €400,000in the first year; slightly less after that, because you repay€400 a year
- +Rate benefit at a 0.3% difference 0.3% of €400,000in the first year; slightly less after that, because you repay€1,200 a year
At a 0.1% rate differenceafter 4 years€400 a year against €1,600 of premium
At a 0.3% rate differenceafter just over a year€1,200 a year against €1,600 of premium
The €400,000 loan and the two rate differences are filled in here to show how the sum runs. Ask your lender for the rate difference. The premium is fixed.
The rate differences are not market figures and not advice. Ask your lender for the difference with and without NHG. The benefit here is calculated over the full loan and gets slightly smaller each year as you repay.
Lenders often quote a different interest rate for NHG. The difference depends on the lender and on the fixed-rate period.
On an example loan of €400,000, a difference of 0.1% works out at roughly €400 a year before further effects. At 0.3% that is roughly €1,200. These are worked examples, not current offers. Because your mortgage gets smaller as you repay, that benefit shrinks a little each year.
Ask for an offer with and without NHG on the same loan and the same fixed-rate period. Put the monthly payments and the interest difference next to the one-off fee. Ask as well whether you pay that fee from your own money or can finance it along with the mortgage.
The safety net is not automatic
If you run into payment problems, contact your lender early. Within its conditions NHG can help you stay in the house. On a sale with a residual debt, a write-off can be possible under conditions.
What NHG can do for you depends on your situation and on the conditions in force at that time. NHG does not cover a general shortfall in your financing.
Getting your mortgage offer in 2027? A higher limit applies
If you receive the binding offer for your mortgage on or after 1 January 2027, the NHG limit is €500,000. With energy-saving measures it is €530,000, the same as for a new-build home with an A++++ label. The guarantee fee stays at 0.4%.
Which year applies to you depends on the date of that binding offer, not on the transfer at the notaris. If you receive the offer in 2026, the 2026 amounts apply. Does your home cost between €470,000 and €500,000, and does your offer come around the turn of the year? Then that date can decide whether NHG is possible for you.
New in 2027: making an E, F or G label home more sustainable
Buying a home with an E, F or G label that is not an apartment? Then in 2027 you only get NHG if you borrow at least €20,000 for energy-saving measures. If you can borrow less, that lower amount applies.
That money goes into a construction deposit. If you have not started the work two years after the loan begins, the deposit is used to repay the loan. Do not want to borrow the amount? Under the conditions you then do not have to, provided you record that on the form that exists for it. The other NHG conditions still apply.
Only want to buy if NHG works out?
Have that requirement written clearly into the purchase agreement before you sign. A general financing condition does not cover it in every wording.
Sources6 sources, 6 of them official
Checked on November 2, 2026. Livio provides information, not personal advice. Ask your adviser, notary or estate agent what applies to you.
Official
- 1Nationale Hypotheek Garantie, Conditions and standards 2027: the limits of €500,000 and €530,000 (C.2), "gelden voor leningen met NHG waarvoor het bindend aanbod op of na 1 januari 2027 aan de consument is gedaan" (A), and at least €20,000 for energy-saving measures with an E, F or G label (C.6.1.2) (November 2, 2026)
- 2Nationale Hypotheek Garantie, NHG limit for 2027 rises to €500,000 (November 2, 2026)
- 3Nationale Hypotheek Garantie, Terms explained: "Koop je een bestaande woning? Dan kun je uitgaan van de laagste waarde van de koopsom en marktwaarde volgens een taxatierapport." If that lower figure is no higher than the NHG limit, NHG is possible (October 7, 2026)
- 4Nationale Hypotheek Garantie, An NHG mortgage: "Het aankoopbedrag van de woning mag in 2026 maximaal € 470.000 zijn. Dit is inclusief eventuele verbouwingskosten." And on payment problems: "Verkoop je je woning met verlies? Dan kunnen we onder bepaalde voorwaarden de restschuld kwijtschelden." (October 7, 2026)
- 5Nationale Hypotheek Garantie, The NHG limit for 2026 (September 14, 2026)
- 6Nationale Hypotheek Garantie, The five main changes to NHG mortgages in 2026 (September 14, 2026)
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