Real estate attorney in the Netherlands: what a vastgoedadvocaat does

A real estate attorney in the Netherlands (vastgoedadvocaat) is a lawyer who acts for you alone in a property matter: reviewing and negotiating the purchase agreement, investigating the legal position of the property and conducting proceedings if a dispute arises. The civil-law notary (notaris) and the estate agent (makelaar) do something different: the notary must stay impartial between buyer and seller, and the agent negotiates but gives no legal advice.

For a standard home purchase on a model contract, you often do not need a lawyer. For commercial property, development plans, long lease, apartment rights, a let building or a dispute after completion, you usually do. Below we explain what the lawyer does, when it is worth instructing one and which deadlines decide most property cases.

What does a real estate attorney do that the notary and the agent do not?

The lawyer is the only one of the three who advises you on legal risk and may litigate for you. The notary makes the transfer official; the agent finds the property and negotiates the price.

The notary (notaris) holds a public office under the Notaries Act (Wet op het notarisambt). The notary executes the deed of transfer and the mortgage deed, registers them with the Land Registry (Kadaster) and handles the money through a third-party account. Under Article 17 of that Act the notary must serve both parties impartially, so the notary will tell you what a clause says, but not whether you should accept it.

The estate agent works for whoever engaged them. A selling agent owes duties to the seller, not to you. A buying agent advises on price, condition and negotiation rather than on legal risk. Neither agent may conduct proceedings for you.

The lawyer fills the space between them. In Dutch property law that means examining the title and the registered encumbrances, checking the planning position, drafting the resolutive conditions and, if needed, sending a notice of default or applying for interim relief. Unlike the agent and the notary, the lawyer may conduct proceedings for you.

How do the three roles compare?

By the time the file reaches the notary, the purchase agreement is usually signed and the resolutive conditions have expired, so a lawyer adds most value before you sign. Our guide to the role of the Dutch notary when buying a house sets out what the notary does and does not check.

When do you need a real estate attorney?

You need one when the risk in the transaction is legal rather than commercial. A standard home purchase on the model contract of the NVM, VBO, VastgoedPRO and Vereniging Eigen Huis is normally handled well enough by an agent and a notary; the cases below are different.

Commercial property is the clearest case. Buying an office, shop or warehouse brings in lease law, planning law, soil liability and the interaction of VAT and transfer tax, and an existing tenant’s rights bind you as new owner (Article 7:226 BW).

Development and renovation projects are the second case. If the value depends on being allowed to build or change the use, the contract needs a condition tied to the permit. Our guide to the environmental permit under the Environment and Planning Act explains the procedure, which normally takes eight weeks for the regular procedure.

The remaining cases follow the same logic:

• Property from an estate. Several heirs must all cooperate, and the estate may still be unsettled.
• Long lease (erfpacht). The ground rent, the review dates and the municipality’s general conditions determine what the property is really worth.
• Apartment rights. The deed of division and the owners association carry obligations that pass to you.
• A buyer living abroad. Identification, financing and the interaction of Dutch and foreign law all take time.
• A seller who never lived in the property. Such sellers usually sell with a clause limiting liability for defects.

If you are buying as a private individual and want to know what protection you have, read our guides on purchasing a home in the Netherlands as an expat and on buying a house together. They cover the situations that arise most often.

What rules govern the purchase agreement?

When a private buyer purchases a home, the agreement must be in writing, and the buyer then has a three-day cooling-off period. After that, only properly agreed and properly invoked resolutive conditions let the buyer withdraw without cost.

Is a verbal agreement binding?

Not for the sale of a home to a private buyer. According to article 7:2(1) BW, the sale of a dwelling to a buyer who is a natural person not acting in the course of a profession or business must be recorded in writing.

Until both parties have signed, there is no enforceable contract, however firm the handshake or e-mail exchange seemed. The rule does not apply to commercial property or to a buyer acting in the course of a business; there, an oral agreement can bind.

How does the cooling-off period work?

According to article 7:2(2) BW, a private buyer of a dwelling may dissolve the purchase within three days without giving reasons and without owing anything. The period runs from the day after the buyer receives a copy of the signed agreement.

Under the General Time Limits Act (Algemene termijnenwet), the period is extended so that it includes at least two working days. The right belongs to the buyer only; send your withdrawal in writing within the period. Our guide on withdrawing from a Dutch property purchase sets out the routes that remain afterwards.

Why are resolutive conditions the buyer’s real protection?

Because after the cooling-off period they are the only way out without cost. They are not implied by law: if a resolutive condition (ontbindende voorwaarde) is not in the contract, it does not exist. The usual ones are:

• a financing condition, giving the buyer a set period, commonly four to six weeks, to obtain a mortgage offer;
• a condition tied to the National Mortgage Guarantee (Nationale Hypotheek Garantie, NHG) where the buyer relies on it;
• a structural survey condition, allowing the buyer to withdraw if a building inspection shows repair costs above an agreed threshold;
• for anything other than a straightforward home, a condition tied to a permit, a change of use, or a satisfactory outcome of the legal investigation.

Buyers most often lose this protection when invoking a condition. The model contracts require written notice to the seller within the agreed period and, for a financing condition, written evidence such as rejections from lenders. A late notice, or one without documents, leaves the contract in force.

What deposit and penalty apply?

The standard model contracts require a deposit or bank guarantee of ten per cent of the purchase price. The same contracts set a penalty of ten per cent of the purchase price for a party who stays in default.

The deposit is paid into the notary’s third-party account, or replaced by a bank guarantee, within the period set in the contract. The penalty is due once a party stays in default after a notice of default, and the other party keeps the right to claim performance or higher damages. Both are contractual, so you can negotiate them; under Article 6:94 BW a court may reduce a penalty only if full application would clearly be unacceptable.

What does legal due diligence cover?

Legal due diligence looks at the title, the boundaries and everything registered against the property, as well as its planning position. It is the part of the process most often skipped in a fast market.

Which encumbrances bind you as the new owner?

Encumbrances come in several forms, and they bind each successive owner. The most common are:

• Easement (erfdienstbaarheid): gives a neighbouring property a right over yours, such as a right of way, a right of drainage or a restriction on building.
• Qualitative obligation (kwalitatieve verplichting): obliges each successive owner to tolerate something or to refrain from something.
• Perpetual clause (kettingbeding): obliges the owner to impose the same obligation on the next buyer, usually backed by a penalty.
• Right of superficies (opstalrecht): gives someone else ownership of works or cables on your land. This is common where a utility company or a solar installation is involved.
• Long lease (erfpacht): you buy the leasehold rather than the freehold, with a ground rent and periodic reviews that can change the economics of the property entirely.

Our guide to erfpacht and long lease in the Netherlands explains how the review works.

How do you check planning, permits and use?

Check whether the current use is permitted, whether every alteration had the required permit, and whether your own plans fit the municipal environment plan. Since 1 January 2024 these questions fall under the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet).

Since 1 January 2024 the municipal zoning plans have become part of one environment plan (omgevingsplan) per municipality, and most permits are applied for as one environmental permit (omgevingsvergunning). An extension or dormer built without the required permit is not merely a paper problem: the municipality can order its removal under its duty to enforce.

Also check monument status, a pre-emption right (voorkeursrecht) of the municipality, province or State under chapter 9 of the Omgevingswet, and soil contamination or asbestos. For offices, check the energy label C requirement that has applied since 1 January 2023.

Who pays for hidden defects?

The seller is liable if the property does not match the contract, unless the risk was validly shifted to the buyer. The buyer must, however, complain in time: a claim brought too late fails on that ground alone.

According to article 7:17 BW, the property delivered must conform to the contract. The buyer may expect the property to have the qualities needed for normal use, and for any special use expressly agreed. That is the conformity standard, and it is the basis of nearly every dispute after completion.

Two duties sit on either side of it. The seller must disclose defects it knows about and that matter for the buyer’s decision. The buyer must investigate what a reasonably careful buyer would investigate. If both duties were breached, the seller’s silence generally weighs more heavily than the buyer’s failure to look. But a buyer who ignored an obvious warning sign will not be fully protected.

Which clauses shift the risk?

The age clause and the non-occupancy clause are the most common. Neither protects a seller who knew of the defect and said nothing.

An age clause (ouderdomsclausule) records that the buyer accepts an older building will not meet current standards. A non-occupancy clause (niet-zelfbewoningsclausule), used by heirs and investors, limits liability for defects the seller could not know about. Both are negotiable, and their wording decides who pays for the roof.

How quickly must you complain?

According to article 7:23(1) BW, the buyer must notify the seller within a reasonable time after discovering the defect, or after the moment it reasonably should have been discovered. A claim based on the defect then becomes time-barred two years after that notification (article 7:23(2) BW).

In practice, write to the seller as soon as the defect appears, before your investigation is finished, and keep the evidence. For new-build property the position is different again, with its own delivery and guarantee regime; see our guide on defects in newly built homes.

What happens to existing tenants when you buy?

They stay. According to article 7:226 BW, the sale of a let property does not end the lease: the buyer takes over the landlord’s position.

For commercial space, Dutch lease law has two regimes. Retail and hospitality space falls under Article 7:290 BW, with leases of five plus five years (Article 7:292 BW) and strong protection for the tenant. Offices, warehouses and other business space fall under the lighter regime of Article 7:230a BW, where the tenant can only ask the court to extend the vacating period.

Which regime applies depends on the use actually agreed, not on the label in the contract. The ROZ model leases are the market standard; see our guide to the ROZ model commercial lease and our comparison of Dutch property law and commercial tenancy law.

Where residential tenants are involved, the rules changed on 1 July 2024. Since then, fixed-term residential leases are restricted and mid-market rents are regulated, which limits what a landlord can do. Our page on tenant rights in the Netherlands sets out the current position.

What should you check when buying an apartment?

Check the deed of division, the minutes of recent general meetings and the finances of the owners association. Together they decide most of the risk.

Buying a flat means buying an apartment right: a share in the building with the exclusive right to use one unit. The deed of division (splitsingsakte) decides what is communal and how costs are shared, and membership of the owners association (Vereniging van Eigenaars, VvE) follows automatically and cannot be renounced.

Pay particular attention to the reserve fund. Under Article 5:126 BW the VvE must keep a reserve fund, with a contribution based on a maintenance plan of at least ten years or at least 0.5% of the reinstatement value of the building. An underfunded reserve and a facade that needs work mean a special levy that the new owner pays.

How do you challenge a decision of the owners association?

You ask the subdistrict court (kantonrechter) to annul it. According to article 5:130 BW, you must do so within one month of the day you knew or could have known of the decision.

Annulment is possible if the decision conflicts with the law, the deed of division or reasonableness and fairness. Our guide to the VvE and Dutch apartment rights sets out the procedure.

What does a property purchase cost on top of the price?

Expect notarial fees, Land Registry fees, any agent’s fees, valuation and survey costs, and transfer tax (overdrachtsbelasting). The transfer tax rate depends on whether you will live in the property yourself.

On top of the price come notarial fees for the deed of transfer and mortgage deed, Kadaster fees, agent’s fees and survey costs. Transfer tax (overdrachtsbelasting) in 2026 is 2% for a home you will occupy as your main residence, 8% for other residential property and 10.4% for non-residential property. Buyers aged at least 18 and under 35 who will live in the home can use a one-time starters’ exemption if the value does not exceed €555,000 in 2026. The rules on the date of the notarial transfer apply; new-build is generally subject to VAT instead. Our overview of transfer tax and the buyer’s costs sets out where each cost falls.

We do not provide tax structuring advice. Where a transaction turns on the tax outcome, such as an asset deal versus a share deal, we work alongside your tax adviser on the legal structure and the contract.

What can you do when the other party does not perform?

Start with a written notice of default. If the seller refuses to transfer or has sold to someone else, interim relief and an attachment on the property can stop the property from being sold on.

If the other party is late, the first step is a written notice of default that gives a reasonable period to perform (Article 6:82 BW). Without it, neither damages nor dissolution of the contract (Article 6:265 BW) are generally available.

If the seller refuses to transfer, or has sold to someone else, interim relief proceedings (kort geding) can be used to compel cooperation with the transfer. With leave of the court, a prejudgment attachment for delivery can also be registered on the property so that it cannot be sold on. If a defect emerges after completion, follow this order: notification, investigation, quantification and then a claim.

Which deadlines decide most property cases?

Deadlines do most of the damage. Many cases that cannot be won were lost on a deadline, not on the merits:

• cooling-off period: three days, with at least two working days;
• resolutive conditions: usually a few weeks, as set in the contract;
• complaint about a defect: within a reasonable time after discovery, then two years to bring the claim;
• annulment of a decision of the owners association: one month.

What should you check as the buyer?

As buyer you carry the duty to investigate, and your rights depend on short deadlines. Check these points before and after signing:

• The financing and survey conditions are in the contract, with dates that match your mortgage timetable.
• You know when you received the signed contract, so you know when the cooling-off period of Article 7:2 BW ends.
• The Kadaster extract shows no unexpected easements, qualitative obligations or attachments.
• The current use and every extension are covered by the environment plan and a permit.
• For a flat: the deed of division, the last VvE minutes and the reserve fund are reviewed.
• For a let property: the lease and the regime that applies (Article 7:290 or 7:230a BW) are known.

What should you check as the seller?

As seller you must disclose what you know and deliver what the contract promises (Article 7:17 BW). Check these points:

• The sales questionnaire is complete, including known defects, permits and disputes with neighbours.
• An age clause or non-occupancy clause is included if it fits the property.
• The deposit or bank guarantee is paid on time, or you send a notice of default.
• Your spouse or registered partner consents to the sale of the family home where Article 1:88 BW requires it.
• Any complaint from the buyer after completion is answered in writing and checked against Article 7:23 BW.

What can we do for you as real estate attorney?

We act for buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants, owners associations and investors; see also our Dutch real estate law guides. Concretely:

• We review and negotiate the purchase agreement before you sign or before the cooling-off period ends.
• We carry out legal due diligence on title, encumbrances, planning and leases.
• We draft resolutive conditions tied to financing, a permit or a change of use.
• We send the notice of default and, where needed, apply for interim relief or a prejudgment attachment.
• We notify the seller of defects under Article 7:23 BW and bring the claim.
• We file the application to annul a VvE decision within the one-month deadline of Article 5:130 BW.

Summary

• A real estate attorney acts for you alone; the notary is impartial and the estate agent works for whoever engaged them.
• The best moment to involve a lawyer is before you sign, while resolutive conditions and terms can still be negotiated.
• A private buyer of a home has a written-form requirement and a three-day cooling-off period (Article 7:2 BW); after that, only the agreed resolutive conditions protect you.
• Complain about a defect within a reasonable time after discovery (Article 7:23 BW) and challenge a decision of the owners association within one month (Article 5:130 BW).
• A sale does not end an existing lease (Article 7:226 BW), so the lease is part of what you buy.

Frequently asked questions