Kosten koper: what buying a house in the Netherlands actually costs

Kosten koper means the buyer pays the transfer costs

The letters k.k. after a Dutch asking price mean that the costs of transferring ownership are yours, not the seller's. Vrij op naam (v.o.n.) means the opposite: the seller has already absorbed those costs into the quoted price, so what you see is what you pay for the property itself. Almost every existing home in the Netherlands is offered kosten koper. Newly built homes are normally offered vrij op naam, because a new build is sold with VAT rather than transfer tax, and the developer settles the deed of transfer.

It helps to know what kosten koper is not. It is not a fee paid to the seller, and it is not a fixed percentage set by anyone. It is a bundle of different things: one tax, two notarial deeds, two Kadaster registrations, and a set of professional services you contract and pay for yourself. Only the tax and the registration fees are fixed by rule. Everything else is priced by the firm you hire, which is why two buyers of identical houses can pay noticeably different totals.

A v.o.n. price is not automatically the better deal. With vrij op naam you still pay for your own mortgage deed, mortgage advice, valuation and any NHG premium, because those relate to your financing rather than to the transfer of the property.

Transfer tax is the largest single line, and 2026 has four rates

Transfer tax (overdrachtsbelasting) is charged on the value of the property you acquire, and the rate depends entirely on what you are going to do with it. The Belastingdienst, the Dutch tax authority, sets 2% for a home you will live in yourself as your main residence. From 2026 a rate of 8% applies to a home you will not live in yourself, such as a second home or one you buy to rent out, down from 10.4% in 2025. The 10.4% rate remains for other immovable property, such as building land or commercial premises.

The 2% rate is not automatic. You have to declare in writing, before the notarial deed of transfer is signed, that you are going to live in the home yourself for a longer period. The notary attaches that declaration to the deed and uses it in the transfer tax return. The tax is calculated on the value in economic terms (waarde in het economisch verkeer), which the Belastingdienst treats as at least equal to the purchase price plus any charges you take on, so in a normal arm's-length sale it comes down to the price in your contract, and it is settled through the notary on the day of transfer.

The starter exemption can remove the transfer tax entirely

Buyers under 35 can claim a full exemption (startersvrijstelling) that reduces the transfer tax to zero, once in their lifetime. Despite the English name people use for it, it is not restricted to people who have never owned a home. What matters is your age, your intention to live there, the value of the property, and whether you have used the exemption before. All of the conditions have to be met at the moment of acquisition, which is the moment the notarial deed of transfer is signed.

• You are an adult and younger than 35 at the moment you acquire the home.
• You are going to live in the home yourself for a longer period.
• You have not used the starter exemption before.
• The value of the home is not higher than 555,000 euro, the limit that applies in 2026.

The value limit is a cliff edge, not a taper. If the home is worth more than the limit, the exemption does not apply at all and 2% is charged on the whole value, not just the part above the threshold. Where two people buy together and only one is under 35, the exemption is applied per buyer: the younger buyer can pay 0% on their share while the older buyer pays 2% on theirs, provided the other conditions are met.

The exemption is claimed through a separate signed declaration form that the notary must hold before the deed is signed. If you buy with someone else, each buyer completes and signs their own form. Ask your notary for the form early rather than on the day.

You pay for two notarial deeds and two Kadaster registrations

A Dutch property purchase produces two notarial deeds, and if you use a mortgage you pay for both. The deed of transfer (leveringsakte) moves ownership from the seller to you. The mortgage deed (hypotheekakte) creates the lender's security over the property. A civil-law notary (notaris) draws up both, and the notary submits each of them for registration in the public registers at the Kadaster, the Dutch land registry.

Notary fees are not regulated in the Netherlands, so offices set their own prices and you are free to choose any of them. Notaris.nl, the consumer site of the Dutch royal notarial association, puts the mortgage deed and the deed of transfer together at around 1,300 euro including VAT, the indicative figure it published in 2026, while stating that prices differ per office. Ask more than one office for a written quote, and check specifically whether the quote is inclusive of VAT and whether the Kadaster registration fees are already inside it or added on top.

The Kadaster fees themselves are published and identical for everyone. In 2026, registering a deed costs 103.50 euro per deed when it is submitted electronically through the KIK system that most notaries use, 181 euro per deed for other electronic submissions, and 215 euro per deed on paper. Kadaster left these registration tariffs unchanged for 2026 while applying an inflation correction of 3.5% to most of its other services. Because there are two deeds, the fee is charged twice, and it normally appears on the notary's statement as a disbursement rather than as the notary's own fee.

Valuation, advice and NHG are the financing side of the bill

Three more costs come from arranging the mortgage rather than from the property. The first is the valuation report (taxatierapport). Lenders want an independent valuation of the home before they commit, and the fee is set by the valuer, so it is worth asking what a full report costs before you instruct one. There is no official tariff for a valuation in the Netherlands.

The second is mortgage advice and arrangement (advies- en bemiddelingskosten). Advisers charge in different ways, including an hourly rate, a fixed fee or a subscription, and the AFM, the Dutch financial markets regulator, requires an adviser to give you a standardised comparison card (vergelijkingskaart) showing their service, independence and costs before they advise you. The AFM does not publish a benchmark price, so the comparison card from two or three advisers is the practical way to see the range.

The third is the premium for the national mortgage guarantee (Nationale Hypotheek Garantie, or NHG). NHG is optional, and it is available in 2026 for mortgages up to 470,000 euro, rising to 498,200 euro when you also finance energy-saving measures. The one-off premium (borgtochtprovisie) is 0.4% of the total mortgage in 2026. In return, lenders typically apply a lower interest rate because of the extra security, and NHG can write off residual debt under set conditions if you have to sell at a loss through circumstances outside your control.

A structural survey is optional, and the one cost you choose freely

A structural survey (bouwkundige keuring) is a cost you choose, and no rule fixes its price. A surveyor inspects the fabric of the house and reports on the condition of the roof, foundations, walls, floors, wiring and any obvious defects, usually with an indication of what the repairs would cost in the short and longer term. For a buyer who has never owned a Dutch house, the report is also a translation exercise: it tells you what you are actually buying, in a market where existing homes are sold in the state they are in.

A survey is worth planning for in two directions. It is a cost you pay whether or not you win the property, unless you make the offer conditional on a satisfactory survey, and it is a cost that can pay for itself several times over if it finds a problem before you are contractually bound. Because it relates to the property rather than to the loan, treat it as a purchase cost, and see the deductibility section below before you assume it reduces your tax bill.

Some of these costs are deductible, most of them are not

The Dutch rule is a clean split: costs of arranging the loan are deductible, costs of buying the property are not. Where the mortgage qualifies as a loan for your own home, the Belastingdienst lets you deduct the financing costs once, in the year you incur them, in box 1 of your income tax return. This is a genuinely valuable line for buyers who did not expect it, and it is the reason you should ask the notary for an invoice that splits the two deeds rather than giving one total.

• Deductible: advice and brokerage fees for your mortgage adviser.
• Deductible: notary fees for the mortgage deed.
• Deductible: Kadaster fees for the mortgage deed.
• Deductible: the valuation fee, where the valuation was needed to obtain the loan.
• Deductible: the costs of Nationale Hypotheek Garantie.
• Deductible: bereidstellingsprovisie (a fee to hold an interest rate) and boeterente (early repayment penalty).
• Not deductible: transfer tax and VAT.
• Not deductible: estate agent or brokerage fees for buying the property.
• Not deductible: notary and Kadaster costs for the deed of transfer.
• Not deductible: maintenance, renovation and repayment of the loan itself.

This guide explains the mechanism, not your position. Whether a specific invoice falls on the deductible side, and how the deduction interacts with the rest of your Dutch tax return, is a question for a tax adviser or your mortgage adviser, particularly if you have income outside the Netherlands or are on the 30% ruling.

A worked example on a 450,000 euro purchase

Take an existing home bought for 450,000 euro, financed with a 450,000 euro mortgage with NHG, where the buyer will live in the home themselves. Only three lines in this table are set by published rates: the transfer tax, the Kadaster registration and the NHG premium. Everything else is a quoted fee, so the honest way to read the table is as a floor plus your own quotes.

The gap between the two columns is the whole point of the starter exemption: on this purchase it is worth 9,000 euro, and it can be claimed only once. Note also that the NHG premium and, if the mortgage qualifies, the mortgage deed, the valuation and the advice fee fall on the deductible side, so part of the remaining bill comes back through your tax return.

You cannot borrow these costs. In the Netherlands a mortgage is capped at 100% of the value of the home, with a limited exception allowing up to 106% when you co-finance energy-saving measures. Kosten koper therefore has to come out of your own savings, on top of any amount by which your bid exceeds the valuation.

Common questions

How much is kosten koper as a percentage of the purchase price?

There is no official percentage, because most of the bundle is priced by the firms you hire rather than fixed by rule. Only the transfer tax (2% for a home you will live in yourself in 2026), the Kadaster registration fees and the NHG premium (0.4% of the mortgage in 2026) are set rates. The rest depends on the notary, valuer and adviser you choose, so ask for written quotes before you budget.

Can I add kosten koper to my mortgage?

No. In the Netherlands you can borrow up to 100% of the value of the home, so the purchase costs have to come from your own money. The one exception is that the total mortgage may reach 106% of the value when you co-finance energy-saving measures. Plan for kosten koper as savings you need in your account before the transfer date.

I am 34 and have owned a home in my home country. Can I still use the starter exemption?

Possibly. The Dutch starter exemption depends on your age at the moment of acquisition, on your intention to live in the home yourself for a longer period, on the value of the home not exceeding 555,000 euro in 2026, and on your not having used this Dutch exemption before. Previous home ownership does not by itself disqualify you. Confirm your position with your notary, who has to hold your signed declaration before the deed is signed.

Who chooses the notary, and does it matter?

In a kosten koper purchase the buyer normally chooses the notary, because the buyer pays. It matters financially, because notary fees are not regulated in the Netherlands and offices set their own prices. Notaris.nl puts the two deeds together at around 1,300 euro including VAT, the indicative figure it published in 2026, while noting that prices differ per office, so ask several offices for a written quote and check what is included.

Is a new-build home cheaper because it is sold vrij op naam?

Not necessarily. Vrij op naam means the seller has already included the transfer costs in the quoted price, and a new build is sold with VAT rather than transfer tax. You still pay separately for your own mortgage deed, mortgage advice, valuation and any NHG premium, and new-build purchases bring their own costs during the build. Compare the total you will actually pay, not the label on the price.

Which of these costs can I deduct from my Dutch income tax?

Only the financing costs. Where the loan qualifies as a mortgage for your own home, the Belastingdienst allows a one-off deduction for mortgage advice and brokerage fees, the notary and Kadaster costs of the mortgage deed, the valuation needed to get the loan and the NHG costs. Transfer tax, estate agent fees for the purchase and the notary costs of the deed of transfer are not deductible. Ask a tax adviser how this applies to your return.