Investing in real estate

Investing in real estate: How the purchase protection regulation may affect you as an investor

Various Dutch cities have introduced a new law to prevent investors from taking away homes from first-time home buyers: the purchase protection regulation. The purchase protection law forbids renting out a property under certain conditions. The primary goal is to address the shortage of modestly priced, owner-occupied homes that are both affordable and available on the housing market. Real Estate agent explains how this law will affect you as an investor.

The purchase protection regulation only applies if you want to buy a property for investment purposes. Each municipality is free to determine its own policies. For instance, local governments may forbid new investments properties in certain parts of the city and under a certain value.

Please note:
Firstly this regulation do not relate to all cities in the Netherlands.
Secondly the purchase protection applies for a period for 4 years after you have become owner of a home. The date of the deed of delivery is leading. This is the date on which you as the owner are registered in public registers. After that period you have possibilities to rent it out.
Thirdly this is not applicable on properties that were rented out before March 1, 2022.
Finally, this does not apply to owners who owned a property before March 1, 2022 and do not want to sell it, but want to rent it out.

Which municipalities introduced the purchase protection regulation?

There are various cities that have introduced purchase protection regulation to protect existing cheap and medium-priced owner-occupied properties from being bought up by investors. The purchase protection must ensure that these homes remain available to buyers who are looking for their own homes, starters in particular.

In some cases it concerns single neighborhoods and in other cases it concerns the entire municipality. The purchase protection applies up to a certain amount of the WOZ value (the value given by the municipality) of the property. The purchase protection applies in the following municipalities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag, Utrecht, Eindhoven, Haarlem, Amstelveen, Tilburg, Den Helder, Groningen and Almere. Our real estate agents will advise you extensively about the rules within each municipality. The conditions and the WOZ value limit are different for each municipality.

The purchase protection has three exceptions. With these exceptions, the municipality must still grant a permit for rental, despite the applicable purchase protection. Municipalities can also determine additional exceptional cases that are appropriate to the problems and composition of the neighborhood. The exceptions apply to properties that are rented to family (first or second degree), are part of an office, shop or business premises or can be rented temporarily on the condition that the owner has occupied the property for at least one year.

There are still plenty of places in the Netherlands where it is still allowed to buy investments for rental purposes. So there are still plenty of opportunities for investors in the real estate market. We are happy to help you find a suitable investment property.

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