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Rent vs Buy Calculator: Netherlands

Find the year buying beats renting, using your country's real cost of getting in and out: stamp duty, notary fees and agent commission. 15 countries.

Reviewed by CentExactRates effective 1 sourceCalculated in your browser. Shared links include inputs.

Renting versus buying in the Netherlands

Overdrachtsbelasting is 2% for someone buying a home to live in, but which 2% you pay depends on who you are. A first-time buyer under 35 pays nothing up to €555,000 in 2026, which on an average €475,000 house removes the entry tax completely and takes years off the break-even. A buyer who will not live in the property pays 8% from 1 January 2026, down from 10.4%. The calculator above uses the owner-occupier rate and does not model the starter exemption, so a genuine first purchase is better than it shows.

The deposit defaults to zero because Dutch lending allows a mortgage of 100% of the home's value. That makes the Netherlands the one market here where the up-front sum is almost entirely tax and fees rather than equity, and it is why the renter's investment pot starts so small in this comparison.

Mortgage-interest relief is still material in the Netherlands and is not modelled here. Hypotheekrenteaftrek has been trimmed repeatedly but it remains a real deduction, and it makes Dutch buying meaningfully better than the figures above. This is the country in which the "what this comparison leaves out" list matters most.

Nationale Hypotheek Garantie is optional on mortgages up to €470,000 in 2026: a one-off fee of 0.4% of the loan that buys both a government guarantee and a lower interest rate. Unlike American PMI or Australian LMI it is a choice you can decline, and it is not counted above.

OZB is a municipal rate on the WOZ value, around 0.1%, and rent rises in the regulated sector are capped each year, which is why the rent-growth default sits below house-price growth.

For how the calculation works, the formula behind it and what it leaves out, see the full guide. For help interpreting a result or comparing it with a quote or statement, read the questions and answers.

Data sources

Dutch overdrachtsbelasting and Nationale Hypotheek GarantieGovernment.nlWithin its effective period

Every document each dataset was read from, its notes and how the figures were checked are listed in the guide's data sources.

This calculator in other countries

Each country has its own rates, thresholds and rules, and its own page that runs the calculator on them and cites the official sources they came from.

CentExactCalculator publisher

CentExact publishes the calculation method, worked examples and available data sources. Automated checks cover reference calculations; they do not certify a result for your circumstances or imply approval by a lender or tax authority.

How we build and test our calculators

This calculator is for general information only and is not financial advice. Results are estimates based on the figures you enter and the stated formula; lenders and providers may round or calculate differently. Check any decision with the institution involved or a qualified adviser.