🧭 Guided setup
Answer a few questions and the calculator fills itself in. Don't know an answer? Every question has an “I don't know” — we'll use an honest default and tell you exactly what we assumed.
Done — the calculator below now uses your answers
Your financials
Partner financials
House
Mortgage rates (NHG, April 2026 defaults)
Sub-rent (kamerverhuur) — tax-free up to € 6.633 / yr
The kamerverhuurvrijstelling (KVV) lets you collect up to € 6.633 / year (2026 baseline) from renting a room in your owner-occupied home completely tax-free; rented portion stays in Box 1. The Belastingdienst indexes the cap each year — ~3 %/yr average since 2020, with recent steps closer to 5 % (+5,4 % in 2025, +4,9 % in 2026). The projection here deliberately uses a conservative 2,5 %/yr: by 2030 the cap is then ~€7.330 and by 2040 ~€9.380 — projected forward to your notary year. If your sub-rent grows at roughly the same rate (CPI), you stay safely under the cap throughout the term. Rent growing materially faster than CPI risks breaching the cap in later years (the model checks year-of-purchase only — keep a margin). Cliff edge: earn €1 over → the rented portion (by floor area) moves to Box 3: tax = WOZ × m²-fraction × 6,00 % × 36 % (2026 rates), independent of actual rent. HRA & EWF reduce proportionally too.
Different mode: if you buy with a sitting tenant or with rental intent from day 1, the rented fraction is treated as Box 3 from purchase, OVB on that fraction = 8 % (was 10,4 % pre-2026; no startersvrijstelling on it, even under 35), and the model assumes KVV does not apply (conservative — the Belastingdienst's KVV conditions don't explicitly address day-1 intent). Cliff rule: if your rented fraction is ≤ 10 % (you live in 90 %+), the startersvrijstelling still covers the whole property — no investor-rate slice. Toggle "Rental intent at purchase" below.
Extra repayment
Starterslening — optional municipality starter loan
An SVn-administered second mortgage some municipalities offer to first-time buyers — bridges the gap between your LTI cap and the home price. Wageningen does not participate; pick a nearby gemeente. Payment-free for years 1–3 (rente is paid by the SVn fund, not capitalised), then amortises over the remaining 27 years at 4.40 % (15-year fixed). The numbers below assume you take the loan you specify on top of your primary mortgage.
Source: SVn leningzoeker API + per-product-page parse, svn.nl product page · Rate: svn.nl/rentetarieven (4.40 %, 15y fixed; 4.00 % toetsrente). Year-15 reset modelled — set the field above to your scenario.
Bouwdepot — renovation financed inside the mortgage
A bouwdepot lets you borrow extra (on top of the purchase price) for renovations. The bank holds the funds and pays them out as you submit invoices. During the depot period the undrawn balance earns depot rente (typically equal to the mortgage rate) which offsets the interest you owe on it — so you only effectively pay interest on the drawn portion. Energy-saving (verduurzaming) renovations push the NHG cap up to +6 %. Any unspent balance at depot end is applied as a one-off principal reduction (annuity is recomputed on the new balance over the remaining term).
Sources: nhg.nl (kostengrens 2026 + verduurzamingsbonus), belastingdienst.nl (eigenwoningregeling: bouwdepotrente ontvangen verrekend met betaalde rente in HRA), restauratiefonds.nl (NRF Restauratiefonds-hypotheek, 1.00 % vloer), cultureelerfgoed.nl (Instandhoudingssubsidie woonhuizen rijksmonumenten, 38 %, max €38.000/jr per object). OVB stays on purchase price only — bouwdepot does NOT increase transfer tax. Old monumentenaftrek (extra HRA on restoration) was abolished 1-Jan-2019.
Verdict — at-a-glance summary
The headline numbers per scenario: can you do it, how much you'd borrow, the bank's cap for that term, and the gap between them. Full breakdown is in the comparison table below.
How is "viability" computed?
Scenario comparison — full breakdown
Per-scenario amortisation breakdown
How to read the chart: bars and cost lines use the LEFT axis (€ per year you spend); the emerald line uses the RIGHT axis (€ of loan still owed — a much bigger range).
Each year you pay a fixed monthly amount to the bank. That amount splits into: loan repayment (cyan, shrinks your debt) + interest (magenta, the bank's profit). The full bar = total cash sent to the bank that year. The Dutch tax office refunds part of the interest (the HRA — hypotheekrenteaftrek); the dashed yellow line shows what you actually pay the bank after that refund. If you rent out a room, the dotted violet line subtracts that rent income too. Year by year the yellow line creeps closer to the bar top — less interest paid = less HRA refund. VVE + maintenance (if you set them in the House panel) appear as their own faint slate dotted line — they're real cash-out but go to the building/yourself, not the bank, so they're shown separately.
Each chart shows what one mortgage scenario costs you, year by year. Bars are the cash you pay the bank that year; the dashed yellow line is what it really costs after the Dutch tax refund (HRA). The emerald line is your shrinking loan balance — read it against the right-hand axis.
Tip: drag the chart to pan left/right, Ctrl + mouse-wheel or pinch to zoom in/out, double-click to reset. Use the ⤢ button to open the chart full-screen, or tap outside any tooltip to dismiss it.
If I sold in year N — break-even vs. invest-and-rent
For each year, we sell the house and compare the result against the honest alternative: invest the same cash and pay rent for somewhere to live. The cash going into ETFs each year is (yearly ownership cost − alternative rent) — if owning is cheaper than renting, that diff is negative and the renting-and-investing scenario has less to invest. Plus the down payment + closing + moving never spent at year 0 also grows in the index fund. All rates in this panel are NOMINAL — the math compounds actual euro cash flows (fixed nominal annuity, alt-rent growing at its own rate), so enter house growth and investment return as nominal too. Defaults are deliberately low (1 %/yr house growth, 2.5 % investment return, 50 % share actually invested, plus the four hidden costs of owning); note the two low rates pull in opposite directions — low house growth tilts against buying, low investment return tilts against renting — so set both to your own view rather than trusting either default. These inputs only affect this panel (not your mortgage, LTI, or monthly cost). The Dutch primary-residence sale itself is tax-free — no capital gains tax — so no tax line is needed in the math.
Comparison assumptions
Hidden costs of owning — things the bare-bones model leaves out
Cell = net cash position vs. invest-and-rent: positive means buying-then-selling beat the index-fund-plus-renter alternative by that much. negative means renting + investing won. amber = within €2.000 of break-even. The boxed cell per column is the break-even year. Only viable scenarios are shown.
Formula per year N: net_N = sale_price × (1 − resale_cost) − balance_at_N − (down + closing) × (1+o)^N − Σ_{y=1..N} carry_y × (1+o)^(N−y), where carry_y = annuity − HRA − sub_rent + VVE + maintenance − alt_rent_y and alt_rent_y grows at the same rate as the sub-rent panel's Rent growth.
Split-up / buyout — if one of you keeps the house
The exit event nobody plans for. Per year: what the house is worth, what's left on the loan, what the leaving partner's half of the equity is worth, and whether the staying partner's income alone carries the refinance. Assumes a 50/50 split — samenlevingscontracten usually repay each partner's own inbreng (vergoedingsrecht) first, then split the rest; approximate yours with the haircut field. Uses today's incomes (no wage growth — deliberately conservative). Transfer tax on the acquired half is not modelled — a verdeling can be exempt under conditions; confirm with your notary. Assumes redemption at par: if your rate lock is still running and rates fell, add expected boeterente to the refinance costs.
FAQ
How is this calculated — and why should I trust it?
Every rule in this calculator traces to an official source, and the whole engine was line-by-line audited against those sources in July 2026 — including hand-recomputing the amortisation, the lending-norm table and the tax formulas independently and comparing to the cent. Where the model simplifies, the tooltip on that number says so. What it runs on:
| Rule | Value used | Source · as of |
|---|---|---|
| Max borrowing (LTI) | official financieringslastpercentages, all income rows 30k–125k, PV over the actual looptijd, tested at the offered rate | Stcrt. 2025, 36471 (Tijdelijke regeling hypothecair krediet 2026) · Jul 2026 |
| DUO student debt | actual monthly × bruteringsfactor 1.05–1.40 by rate band | TRHK art. 3a · Jul 2026 |
| Box 1 brackets / HRA cap | 35,75 % / 37,56 % / 49,50 %; aftrek capped 37,56 % | Belastingdienst 2026 · Jul 2026 |
| EWF · KVV · Box 3 | 0,35 % WOZ · €6.633 cap · 2026 forfaits (bank % voorlopig) | Belastingdienst 2026 · Jul 2026 |
| Transfer tax (OVB) | 0 % starter (per buyer, per share) / 2 % / 8 % rented fraction; ≤10 % cliff rule | Belastingdienst · Belastingplan 2025 · Jul 2026 |
| NHG | €470.000 kostengrens on the property (€498.200 EBV), 0,4 % premium, tested on min(koopsom, taxatie) | NHG Voorwaarden & Normen 2026 · Jul 2026 |
| LTV cap | 100 % of value, 106 % only for energy measures — enforced in the verdict | TRHK art. 5 · Jul 2026 |
| Starterslening | SVn mechanics (3y payment-free, 27y annuity, year-15 reset), stacks on top of the bank max | SVn / NHG / Consumentenbond · Apr–Jul 2026 |
| Mortgage rates | user-editable — the defaults are an April 2026 NHG snapshot; replace with your quote | 'Mortgage rates' inputs · you |
This site is funded by its users only — donations, the optional personal report, and the Pro subscription that unlocks the Complete form. The Simple form and both guided questionnaires are free. No sponsor, no affiliate links, no lead-selling, no tracking — nobody pays us to make any answer look better than it is.
For professionals: hypotheekadviseurs, relocation services and makelaars can license this calculation engine (white-label, your branding, same audited rules) for their own site — get in touch.
What does this tool actually do?
It lays out eight setups side-by-side: solo or with a partner, locked in for 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. For each one you see the actual monthly cost, total interest paid over the term, lifetime cost after the HRA tax refund, and the bank's verdict on whether you can borrow that much. Tweak the price, your salary, your age, sub-rent a room, layer a Starterslening on top — every number updates in real time so you can see exactly which input moves which output. Built because I needed it myself.
What assumptions does Simple view make?
Simple view hides the fine-tuning inputs and runs the model on conservative-but-reasonable defaults. Switch to Complete to see (and edit) every one of them. The defaults Simple mode uses:
- Employment: permanent contract — no income haircut. ZZP / temp / new-permanent users should switch to the Complete form (a Pro feature) and lower their income manually (banks apply a discount of 10–20% on those).
- Wage growth: 0%/yr (real) — your salary stays flat in real terms. Higher growth would slightly increase the HRA tax refund over time.
- Other debts (BKR, leasing, credit cards, family loans): none. DUO is still shown in Simple, but other debts reduce the bank's max-mortgage and are only configurable in Complete.
- Energy label: A — no extra borrowing capacity from the green-home bonus (A++++ would add up to €40k).
- VVE / service charges: €0/mo — assumes a free-standing house, not an apartment. Apartments typically charge €80–€220/mo on top of the mortgage.
- Annual maintenance: 0%/yr — maintenance is NOT included in the monthly cost. Rule of thumb is ~1% of purchase price/yr (€250/mo on €300k).
- Other closing costs (kosten koper, excl. transfer tax): €6.000 — covers notaris, taxatie, mortgage advisor, building inspection, land registry. Real range is €3.500–€7.500.
- Mortgage rates (April 2026 NHG defaults): 10y 3,60% · 15y 3,67% · 20y 3,74% · 30y 3,89%. Real bank quotes can swing ±0,3% — pull yours from geld.nl or berekenhet.nl.
- Mortgage type: annuity (annuïteit). Linear (lineair) is in Complete — same total cost, faster early payoff, higher early monthly outlay.
- Sub-rent (kamerverhuur): off. Up to €6.633/yr (2026) is tax-free; layering this on can swing a tight verdict to viable.
- Starterslening (SVn municipal starter loan): off. Doesn't apply in Wageningen, but is available in many other NL municipalities — toggle in Complete.
- Bouwdepot (renovation financed inside the mortgage): off.
- Extra repayment: off. Adding extra principal in early years materially cuts total interest.
- Rental intent (rent the whole place from day 1): off. If you do, the OVB jumps from 2% to 8% — toggle on in Complete to see the hit.
- Start date: today's month. Cosmetic only — controls the X-axis labels on the charts.
None of these affect what the bank's verdict can be in your favour — Simple errs toward conservative numbers (no green-home bonus, full closing costs, no sub-rent). If the verdict says "feasible" in Simple, real life is usually at least as kind. If it says "tight", flip to Complete and start nudging the inputs to see what would unblock it.
What's NOT in the model? (honest gaps)
A handful of real NL costs/benefits the model still doesn't include — typically small, but worth knowing:
- Year-1 HRA refund on advisor + valuation fees. The Belastingdienst lets you deduct the financing-cost portion of your closing costs (mortgage advisor, taxatie, NHG premie, bank guarantee) in year 1, at your marginal rate. Typical refund: ~€500–€1.500 once, the year after signing. Owner-side benefit not in the model — add it mentally as a year-1 windfall.
- Box 3 wealth tax on your leftover cash. Once you've signed, any cash you still have above the heffingsvrij threshold (~€57k single / €114k couple, 2026) gets taxed at the Box 3 forfaitair rate × 36%. For a saver who keeps a big buffer (e.g. €40k stocks untouched), this is ~€500–€1.000/yr of wealth tax. The model doesn't track your post-purchase cash balance, so this drag isn't included.
- Bijleenregeling (selling-and-rebuying). If you've sold a previous owner-occupied home with overwaarde and bought again within 3 years without rolling that equity into the new mortgage, the HRA-deductibility of that portion drops. Doesn't apply to first-time buyers; matters only for the second purchase.
- Starterslening fine print. The model treats the SL as one 30-year annuity. In reality SVn splits it after year 3 into a Starterslening + Combinatielening, and the rente on the Combinatielening part is NOT tax-deductible — the model's HRA is roughly €400 too generous over the life of a €30k SL. SVn's hertoets moments (income re-tests at year 3/6/10/15 that can extend the payment-free period) aren't modelled either — payments are assumed to start on schedule at year 4.
- Subsidy budget caps. The RCE woonhuissubsidie (38 % for rijksmonumenten) is modelled at the full percentage — in oversubscribed years the national budget can run out or be pro-rated, and payout arrives ~6–18 months after the work, not at depot end.
Things that ARE in the model and you can configure: ORV (overlijdensrisicoverzekering), aankoopmakelaar fee, translator at notary, erfpacht canon, property + water taxes, utilities + insurance + repairs all properly indexed at the Ownership-cost inflation rate.
Is this Dutch mortgage calculator free?
Yes — fully anonymous. No signup, no email, no quote request. No cookies, no advertising scripts, no fingerprinting, no per-user tracking. Every input you type into the calculator stays in your browser and is never sent anywhere. The only thing the site logs is anonymous aggregate counts (how many pageviews per day, how many people clicked the coffee / PDF / contact button) — no IPs stored against events, no individual session tracking, no way to link any visit back to a person. Used solely to tell whether the tool gets any traffic. If it saved you time, there's a "Buy me a coffee" button at the bottom-right.
What scenarios does it compare?
Eight setups side by side: solo or couple, each at 10, 15, 20, and 30-year fixed-rate locks. You can layer kamerverhuur (sub-rent income) on top of any of them. The Compare table shows monthly cost, total interest, lifetime cost, and the verdict for each.
Does it handle Dutch tax rules?
Yes. It models hypotheekrenteaftrek (mortgage interest tax refund, capped at 37.56%), eigenwoningforfait (imputed rental income on your own home), startersvrijstelling (zero transfer tax for first-time buyers under 35 buying ≤ €555k), the standard 2% overdrachtsbelasting (transfer tax) above that, the 8% investor OVB rate (2026; was 10.4% pre-2026) on the rented fraction when you buy with rental intent or a sitting tenant (no startersvrijstelling on that part — even under 35), the Box 1 / Box 3 split that follows, and the €6.633 kamerverhuurvrijstelling sub-rent cap for the casual room-rental case.
What if I buy with a sitting tenant or rent out from day 1?
Toggle "Rental intent at purchase" in section 5. The calculator then splits the property by floor area: the rented fraction goes to Box 3 from day 1 (8% OVB at purchase per 2026 — was 10.4% — no startersvrijstelling on that part), and only the owner-occupied fraction gets HRA on its share of the mortgage interest. The €6.633 kamerverhuurvrijstelling does NOT apply in this mode — it only covers casual room rentals inside your own residence. Heads-up: most NL banks' standard mortgage terms forbid letting out rooms or the property without prior consent — confirm with your specific lender before counting on this scenario.
Buying as a couple — does the tool assume we're fiscal partners?
Yes. The couple columns assume you count as fiscale partners for the Belastingdienst — which you are if you're married, in a geregistreerd partnerschap, have a samenlevingscontract, or simply buy a home together and are both registered at that address (the joint purchase itself creates the partnership from that point). If you're a couple but not fiscal partners, two numbers here are too rosy: Box 3 thresholds apply per person instead of doubled-and-pooled (€59.357 each rather than €118.714 shared), and the mortgage-interest deduction can't be freely allocated to the higher earner — each of you deducts your own ownership share at your own rate. For most couples who both go on the deed this doesn't matter; if your setup is unusual, ask a tax adviser.
What is NHG and when does it apply?
Nationale Hypotheek Garantie is a national mortgage guarantee that lowers your interest rate (~0.5–0.6 percentage points) in exchange for a one-time premium (0.4% of the loan in 2026). It's available when the purchase price is at or below the NHG limit (€470k in 2026). The calculator picks the NHG or non-NHG rate automatically based on your inputs.
Annuity or linear mortgage?
Both. Annuity (fixed monthly payment, principal/interest split shifting over time) is the default — the most common Dutch first-buyer product because the higher early-years interest gives a bigger HRA refund. Linear (fixed principal repayment, declining total payment — meaningfully less lifetime interest, but a higher first-year monthly) is fully modelled too: switch "Mortgage type" in Section 4.
How accurate are the rates?
Rate defaults reflect April 2026 NHG / non-NHG market rates (10/15/20/30-year fixed). You can override every rate manually in section 4 — banks vary, and your offer will differ. Treat the defaults as a starting point, not a quote.
Is this financial advice?
No. This is a modelling tool to help you compare scenarios with honest math, not advice. For a binding mortgage decision, talk to a licensed Dutch mortgage adviser (hypotheekadviseur). The calculator is open about its assumptions in the Sources line above so you can sanity-check each number.
Does anything I type get saved or sent anywhere?
Your inputs to the calculator never leave your browser. The site does log anonymous aggregate counts (pageviews per day, button-click totals) so I know whether anyone is using the tool — no IPs stored against events, no cookies, no individual visitor tracking. Close the tab and the inputs you typed are gone with it.
Can I buy a house with friends?
Yes — and the calculator covers it on a separate page. The product is called Vriendenhypotheek in Dutch (Triodos / Frits Hypotheken offer it via Consumentenbond) and it requires 3 or more buyers committing to live together for at least 3–5 years. Open the beta calculator → to model 1–4 buyers, per-buyer ownership shares, the Vriendenhypotheek-style stress test (each friend must carry their slice alone), joint-and-several legal exposure, and the buyout panel (what happens if one friend exits at year N). It's marked beta because some assumptions (Box 3 attribution, cash-vs-ownership splits) are approximations — see the warnings on that page.
Can I copy this calculator?
The live calculator at www.iwantathuis.nl is free for personal use — load it as often as you like, share the URL with whoever you want, screenshot the numbers for your mortgage advisor. That's all welcome. What's not welcome is republishing the formulas, scenario logic, UI copy, or page source as your own (or as someone else's "Dutch mortgage calculator"), embedding it into a commercial product, or running an adapted derivative without permission. The code is © 2026 Michele Butturini, all rights reserved. Building a calculator like this took a lot of time. If you want to use any of it commercially or as the basis for your own work, email mic.butturini@gmail.com first.
