The biggest advantage of buying your first home is that your monthly payments build equity instead of disappearing to a landlord. On top of that, first-time buyers aged 18 to 34 pay no transfer tax (0% instead of 2%) on a home up to €555,000, mortgage interest is tax-deductible, and with NHG you get a lower interest rate and a safety net. The downside: buying does require your own money upfront, and maintenance and risk are now yours. Below we honestly list both sides, with the 2026 figures.
First the honest caveat: buying costs money upfront
Before we list the advantages, the most important caveat: buying is not a free upgrade from renting. You need your own money for the purchase costs, as you cannot finance them into your mortgage. Expect roughly:
- Notary: on average about €1,800 for a home around €400,000 with a mortgage (deed of transfer, mortgage deed, and land registry combined).
- Mortgage advice and mediation: €2,500 to €3,500.
- Valuation for financing: €500 to €800.
- NHG guarantee fee (if you use it): 0.4% of the mortgage, so €1,600 on a €400,000 mortgage.
- Optional buying agent: roughly €2,500 to €4,000, or 1 to 2% of the purchase price.
Additionally, from the key handover onwards, you bear the maintenance, insurance, and risk if the market drops. There is no landlord to replace the boiler. This is information, not financial or tax advice: always have your situation calculated before making an offer. With that nuance on the table, the advantages are no less.
You build equity instead of "throwing away" rent
When renting, you pay each month for the use of someone else's home. That money is then gone. With a mortgage, your monthly payment consists of interest (the cost of borrowing) and repayment. That repayment part is not an expense but saving: your debt decreases and your ownership in the home grows. After thirty years, an annuity mortgage is fully repaid and you live in a home that is yours.
And rents have risen sharply. In our earlier analysis of rental and purchase supply, the core message was clear: renting has not become a clearly cheaper alternative anywhere in the Netherlands. Especially in cities where rents are highest, buying is often relatively the most favourable, simply because rental prices have skyrocketed there. For those paying high rent month after month, the calculation often tips in favour of buying.
How much does the starter exemption on transfer tax save?
This is perhaps the most concrete financial advantage for first-time buyers. Those aged 18 to 34, who will live in the home themselves and have not used the exemption before, pay 0% transfer tax on a home up to €555,000. You provide a brief declaration to the notary for this.
The standard rate for owner-occupation is 2%. On a home of €400,000, that is €8,000 you do not have to pay thanks to the exemption. At €470,000, the national median asking price in our own housing supply, it saves €9,400. That is money you would otherwise have had to add to your own contribution. Investors who do not live in the home themselves have been paying 8% since 1 January 2026, which makes the difference for starters even clearer.
What does the mortgage interest deduction yield?
The interest you pay on your mortgage can be deducted from your income tax, provided you repay an annuity or linear mortgage. As a result, your net monthly costs are lower than the gross interest suggests. On top of that, part of the one-off purchase costs are deductible: the mortgage advice, the NHG fee, the mortgage deed with associated land registry costs, and the valuation for your financing.
Not everything is deductible, to avoid disappointment: the transfer tax, the deed of transfer, the agent's commission, and a structural survey fall outside. But the deductible items together soften the threshold of the purchase costs considerably.
NHG: lower interest rate and a safety net
The National Mortgage Guarantee (NHG) is possible in 2026 up to a purchase price of €470,000, or €498,200 if you invest in energy-saving measures. You pay a one-off 0.4% of the mortgage amount as a guarantee fee (the €1,600 from the list above), and these costs are deductible.
This comes with two advantages. Firstly, an interest discount: banks see less risk, so you get a lower interest rate than without NHG. Secondly, a safety net. If you get into trouble through no fault of your own, for example due to unemployment, disability, or divorce, and you have to sell the home at a loss, NHG can, under certain conditions, forgive the residual debt. For a starter just beginning, this is a valuable safety net under the risk.
Predictable monthly costs and your own place
A rental price in the free sector goes up almost every year. A home with a fixed-rate mortgage does not. The mortgage interest rate in June 2026 for a ten-year fixed term with NHG was around 4%. If you fix that rate for, say, ten or twenty years, you know exactly what your interest and repayment portions will be for that entire period. No annual rent increase, no surprises.
Roughly calculated: with a mortgage of €400,000 and an interest rate of around 4%, you end up with roughly €1,900 gross per month for an annuity mortgage over thirty years, of which a growing part is repayment. Net, this is lower due to the interest deduction. This is a rough indication, not a quote: your own interest rate, income, and term determine the actual amount.
Not everything can be expressed in euros. In a home you own, you decide whether to knock through a wall, replace the kitchen, install solar panels, or get a dog. No landlord to give permission, no contract that expires after a few years, no uncertainty about whether you can stay next year. That certainty and freedom weigh just as heavily for many starters as the figures.
Where is it relatively achievable for starters?
The national median asking price in our own housing supply is €470,000, with a median of about €4,300 per square metre. But there are significant differences per city, and several larger cities outside the Randstad are relatively affordable for starters. A few median asking prices from our current supply:
- Groningen: median €325,000, well within the starter exemption and the NHG limit.
- Enschede: median €375,000.
- Tilburg: median €400,000.
- Nijmegen: median €413,000.
- Arnhem: median €419,000.
In these cities, a large part of the supply falls under the €470,000 NHG limit and well under the €555,000 starter exemption. That means: 0% transfer tax, a lower interest rate via NHG, and a safety net, all at once. For comparison: in Utrecht (median €510,000) and Amsterdam (median €595,000), much of the supply falls above those limits, meaning you miss out on some of the advantages.
Help from parents: what can be given tax-free?
Many starters receive a helping hand from their parents for the contribution. In 2026, parents can give €6,908 per year tax-free, and a one-off €33,129 to a child aged 18 to 40, freely spendable. Note: the old increased gift exemption for the own home (the "jubelton") has not existed since 2024. So do not count on it.
The trade-off in brief
Buying requires your own money upfront and you now bear the maintenance and risk yourself. Against that stand real advantages: you build equity instead of giving away rent, as a starter you pay 0% transfer tax up to €555,000, you deduct the interest, NHG gives a lower interest rate and a safety net, and your monthly costs are predictable with a fixed rate. Plus the freedom of your own place. It is not blindly "buying is always better", but for those who can afford the purchase costs and want to stay for a while, the advantages weigh heavily for many starters.
On Buurtje.nl you can see the current purchase supply per location, so you can check for your own city what is feasible and whether you stay within the NHG and starter limits.
Source: own current housing supply on Buurtje.nl, median asking prices. Asking prices are not transaction prices. Amounts and regulations as of June 2026.
