Real estate law firm in the Netherlands

Published on 12 July 2022 · Last updated 24 October 2026

Dutch real estate law is mainly found in the Dutch Civil Code (DCC). On a sale, ownership of land or a building passes only when a notarial deed of transfer is entered in the public registers (Article 3:89 DCC). A consumer must buy a home in writing (Article 7:2 DCC), and tenants of retail and hospitality premises enjoy statutory protection (Article 7:290 DCC onwards).

Our real estate lawyers in the Netherlands advise investors, developers, landlords, tenants and construction companies on purchases, leases, long leases (erfpacht), building rights and construction disputes, and represent them in Dutch courts and in arbitration. This page sets out the main rules for foreign businesses.

Why are Dutch real estate transactions different for foreign parties?

Three features of Dutch law often surprise foreign buyers, sellers and tenants:

• Signing is not transferring. A signed purchase agreement (koopovereenkomst) only creates an obligation to transfer. Ownership passes when the deed of transfer (akte van levering), executed before a civil-law notary, is entered in the public registers (Article 3:89(1) DCC), provided there is a valid title and the seller is entitled to dispose of the property (Article 3:84(1) DCC).
• The notary is impartial. A Dutch civil-law notary (notaris) acts independently and protects the interests of all parties to the transaction impartially (Article 17(1) Notaries Act). The notary is not one party’s lawyer.
• Lease protection is partly mandatory. For retail and hospitality premises, the lease cannot deviate from the statutory rules to the tenant’s detriment, unless the court has approved the deviating clause (Article 7:291 DCC).

We advise on these matters in sectors such as retail, housing, logistics and energy, including joint ventures and property funds.

Key Takeaways

• On a sale, ownership of real estate passes by a notarial deed followed by registration in the public registers (Article 3:89 DCC).
• A consumer’s purchase of a home must be in writing and comes with a three-day cooling-off period (Article 7:2 DCC).
• Leases of retail and hospitality premises in principle run for at least five years, and leases of less than ten years are renewed by law up to ten years in total (Article 7:292 DCC), with an exception for leases of two years or less (Article 7:301 DCC); offices fall under a lighter regime (Article 7:230a DCC).
• Long lease (erfpacht) and building rights (opstal) let you use or own buildings on land owned by someone else (Articles 5:85 and 5:101 DCC).
• The Spatial Planning Act (Wet ruimtelijke ordening) was repealed as of 1 January 2024; planning rules are now in the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet).

How does the Dutch real estate market work?

Legally, the Dutch market works with a small number of property rights. Facts relevant to these rights, such as transfers and mortgages, are entered in the public registers (openbare registers) (Articles 3:16 and 3:17 DCC), which are kept by the Kadaster (Dienst voor het kadaster en de openbare registers) under the Cadastre Act (Kadasterwet):

• Ownership (eigendom) of land, usually including the buildings on it.
• Apartment rights (appartementsrechten): a share in a building (with its land) that has been divided into apartment rights, which includes the exclusive right to use a specific part of the building (Article 5:106 DCC). The regulations of the division must provide for an owners’ association (vereniging van eigenaars, VvE) (Article 5:112(1)(e) DCC).
• Long lease (erfpacht): a property right to hold and use someone else’s land; the deed creating it can require a payment to the owner, the canon (Article 5:85 DCC).
• Building right (opstal): a property right to own buildings or works in, on or above someone else’s land (Article 5:101 DCC).

Before you buy, check which of these rights you are acquiring and on what terms. A long lease, for example, may come with a canon and with conditions set in the deed that created it.

Why use a lawyer in a Dutch real estate transaction?

The law does not require a lawyer for a property transaction, but it does require a notary for the transfer itself (Article 3:89 DCC). Because the notary must act impartially, many buyers, sellers and tenants also instruct their own lawyer.

A real estate lawyer acts for one party only. Typical tasks are negotiating the purchase agreement or lease, investigating the property (due diligence), agreeing conditions such as financing or a permit, and allocating risks such as soil contamination or defects. Once the agreement has been signed, the notary prepares the deed of transfer, which is usually signed at the notary’s office.

If a dispute arises, a lawyer can represent you in court. In cases before the district court (rechtbank), a lawyer is in principle required; before the subdistrict court (kantonrechter), which hears all lease cases, you can also litigate yourself (Article 79 Code of Civil Procedure).

Which types of real estate transaction exist?

The main types of transaction are:

• Sale and purchase (koop) of land, buildings or apartment rights (Article 7:1 DCC), followed by transfer by notarial deed (Article 3:89 DCC). The buyer can have the purchase agreement entered in the public registers. This protects the buyer against, for example, a later sale, attachment or bankruptcy of the seller, but the protection lapses retroactively if the property is not transferred within six months of registration (Article 7:3(3) and (4) DCC).
• Lease (huur) of residential space, of retail and hospitality premises, or of other premises such as offices (Article 7:201 DCC). For example, a company that leases office space in Amsterdam for its European headquarters falls under Article 7:230a DCC, not under the stronger regime for retail premises (Article 7:290 DCC).
• Long lease and building rights, which are created by notarial deed and registration in the same way as a transfer (Article 3:98 DCC; Articles 5:85 and 5:101 DCC).
• Development and construction, usually under a contract for work (aanneming van werk) between client and contractor (Article 7:750 DCC).

Each type has its own rules; they are explained in the sections below.

Which laws govern Dutch real estate?

The core rules are in the Dutch Civil Code and in the Environment and Planning Act:

• Book 3 DCC: transfer of property (Articles 3:84 and 3:89), the public registers (Articles 3:16 onwards) and mortgages (Article 3:260).
• Book 5 DCC: ownership, long lease (Article 5:85 onwards), building rights (Article 5:101 onwards) and apartment rights (Article 5:106 onwards).
• Book 7 DCC: sale (Article 7:1 onwards), lease (Article 7:201 onwards), with separate sections for residential space (Articles 7:232–7:282) and retail and hospitality premises (Articles 7:290-7:310), and contracts for work (Article 7:750 onwards).
• Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet): the Spatial Planning Act was repealed as of 1 January 2024, and land use is now regulated under this act. Each municipal council adopts one environment plan (omgevingsplan) with rules for its entire territory (Article 2.4 Omgevingswet).

Rent rules for residential space, tax rules and public housing rules are outside the scope of this page.

What does a Dutch real estate lawyer do?

A Dutch real estate lawyer typically:

• investigates the property and the seller: the public registers, leases, long-lease conditions, permits and the environment plan;
• drafts and negotiates purchase agreements, leases and development agreements;
• advises on financing; a mortgage (hypotheek) is created by notarial deed and registration (Article 3:260 DCC);
• advises developers on construction contracts and permits;
• handles disputes, in negotiation, in court or in arbitration.

How do you review and negotiate a real estate contract?

A Dutch purchase agreement is usually based on a standard model, but almost every clause can be negotiated. Points to check:

• What the property must be. The property must conform to the agreement: it must have the qualities the buyer was entitled to expect, including those needed for normal use whose presence the buyer had no reason to doubt, and those needed for any special use provided for in the agreement (Article 7:17(1) and (2) DCC). A buyer cannot invoke non-conformity it knew or could reasonably have known of when the agreement was concluded (Article 7:17(5) DCC). A stated surface area is presumed to be only an indication (Article 7:17(6) DCC). Specific warranties in the contract therefore matter.
• Expropriation (onteigening). Under the Environment and Planning Act, immovable property can be expropriated in the public interest of developing, using or managing the physical environment (Article 11.1 Omgevingswet). Check whether plans exist for the area.
• Apartment rights. Check the deed of division, the regulations and the finances of the owners’ association (VvE), which the regulations must provide for (Article 5:112(1)(e) DCC).
• Environmental condition. Agree who bears the risk of soil contamination or asbestos, and what investigations have been done.
• Conditions and penalties. Agree conditions (for example financing or a permit), the deposit or bank guarantee, and the consequences of default.

How are real estate disputes resolved?

Real estate disputes often concern defects, delayed transfer, lease terms, service charges or construction. Parties can try to settle them through negotiation or mediation. If that fails, the court decides, unless the parties agreed on arbitration.

Lease cases go to the subdistrict court (kantonrechter), regardless of the amount (Article 93(c) Code of Civil Procedure). The subdistrict court also hears claims of up to €25,000, including interest accrued up to the date of the summons, unless the legal basis exceeds that amount and is disputed (Article 93(a)), claims of indeterminate value that clearly do not exceed €25,000 (Article 93(b)) and other cases assigned to it by law (Article 93(d)). Other cases go to the district court (rechtbank).

Parties can also agree on arbitration, in which arbitrators give a binding award. If the parties so agree, a construction dispute can be referred to the Raad van Arbitrage in bouwgeschillen. Arbitration has its own costs.

In construction disputes, the contractor is no longer liable for defects that the client should reasonably have discovered at completion (oplevering) (Article 7:758(3) DCC). For building works, however, the contractor is liable for defects not discovered at completion, unless they cannot be attributed to it (Article 7:758(4) DCC). Where the client is a consumer, the contract cannot deviate from this rule to the client’s detriment; for other clients, such a deviation is only possible if it is expressly included in the contract. It applies to contracts concluded on or after 1 January 2024 (Article 218(1) Transitional Act New Civil Code). A claim for a defect is time-barred two years after the client has complained about it (or, if the client gave the contractor a period to remedy the defect, two years after that period ends, or earlier if the contractor indicates that it will not remedy the defect), and for building works in any event twenty years after completion (Article 7:761(1) and (2) DCC). See also our page on construction law in the Netherlands.

How do you verify ownership of a property?

In the Netherlands, you verify ownership in the public registers kept by the Kadaster (Article 3:16 DCC). The registers show the owner, mortgages, attachments, long leases, easements and other registered facts. In practice, the notary checks the registers before the transfer.

The registers protect a buyer. A fact that could have been registered but was not registered when the buyer’s acquisition was entered cannot be invoked against the buyer, unless the buyer knew of it (Article 3:24(1) DCC). There are exceptions, for example for bankruptcy orders, for prescription (verjaring) and for some inheritances (Article 3:24(2) and (3)). An incorrect registered fact cannot be invoked against the buyer by someone who could reasonably have had it corrected, unless the buyer knew of the error or could have known of the possibility of the error by consulting the registers (Article 3:26 DCC).

Leases can only be registered where a specific statutory provision allows it (Article 3:17(2) DCC). A buyer must therefore ask the seller for all leases: on a transfer, the landlord’s rights and obligations under a lease that become due afterwards pass to the buyer (Article 7:226(1) DCC), although the buyer is bound only by the clauses directly connected with giving the use of the property for rent (Article 7:226(3)).

Which zoning rules apply?

The Spatial Planning Act was repealed as of 1 January 2024. Land use is now regulated under the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet). Each municipal council adopts one environment plan (omgevingsplan) with rules for its entire territory (Article 2.4 Omgevingswet).

An activity that conflicts with the environment plan, or for which the environment plan itself requires a permit (an omgevingsplanactiviteit, as defined in the annex to the act), requires an environmental permit (omgevingsvergunning), unless an order in council designates an exception (Article 5.1(1)(a) Omgevingswet). Building activities require a permit in cases designated by order in council (Article 5.1(2)(a)). Before buying a property for a specific use, check that the environment plan allows that use, or that a permit can be obtained.

Which environmental rules apply to a project?

Environmental rules for projects are also largely in the Environment and Planning Act. For example, an environmentally harmful activity (milieubelastende activiteit) requires an environmental permit in cases designated by order in council (Article 5.1(2)(b) Omgevingswet). Which rules apply depends on the project and the location.

In a transaction, environmental risks are mainly a matter of investigation and contract. Ask for soil and asbestos reports, and agree in the purchase agreement or lease who bears the risk of contamination.

Which role does the notary play?

The civil-law notary (notaris) is required for the transfer of real estate: the deed of transfer is a notarial deed, which is then entered in the public registers (Article 3:89(1) DCC). The same applies to a mortgage (Article 3:260 DCC) and, through Article 3:98 DCC, to the creation of a long lease or building right.

The notary acts independently and must protect the interests of all parties impartially (Article 17(1) Notaries Act). In practice, the notary checks the public registers before the transfer and prepares the deed.

The purchase price is usually paid through the notary. Money entrusted to a notary for third parties must be held in a special account (bijzondere rekening, often called kwaliteitsrekening); the notary may only make payments from it on the instructions of a person entitled to the funds (Article 25(1) and (2) Notaries Act).

The notary does not usually draft a lease, and the purchase agreement is often drafted by an estate agent or a lawyer. A notary must be involved in the purchase agreement itself only in specific cases, for example if the purchase is to be entered in the public registers (Article 7:3(2) and (6) DCC).

Which rules apply to leases of business and residential premises?

Dutch law has three lease regimes for buildings:

• Residential space (woonruimte): Articles 7:232-7:282 DCC, with strong tenant protection.
• Retail and hospitality premises (bedrijfsruimte): built property let for a retail business, a restaurant or café, a takeaway or delivery service or a craft business, where the premises include a space open to the public for the direct delivery of goods or services, as well as premises for a hotel or a campsite (Article 7:290(2) DCC).
• Other premises, such as offices: the general lease rules apply, with limited protection against eviction (Article 7:230a DCC).

A lease of retail or hospitality premises runs for five years, or for a longer agreed fixed term. A five-year lease is renewed by law for another five years; a lease of more than five but less than ten years is renewed for a second term, up to ten years in total (Article 7:292 DCC). After that, and for a lease of ten years or more, the lease does not end by mere expiry but must be terminated (Article 7:300 DCC). Notice must be given by bailiff’s writ or registered letter, at least one year in advance (Article 7:293(2) DCC), but no notice is needed if the parties agree to end the lease after it was concluded (Article 7:293(3) DCC). A landlord’s notice must state the grounds, or it is void (Article 7:294 DCC).

Unless the tenant gave notice itself or agreed to the termination in writing, the lease continues until the court has irrevocably decided on the landlord’s claim to end it (Article 7:295(1) DCC). At the end of the first term, the court can only allow that claim on two grounds: the tenant has not run the business as a good tenant should, or the landlord shows that it, or certain close relatives, urgently need the premises for personal, long-term use (Article 7:296(1) DCC). Selling the premises does not count as personal use, but a renovation that is impossible without ending the lease does. A landlord who has succeeded a previous landlord, and is not a close relative of that landlord, cannot rely on urgent personal use if notice is given within three years after the tenant was informed in writing of the succession (Article 7:296(2) DCC). A lease of two years or less falls outside these rules, but if the use continues for more than two years, a five-year lease applies by law, minus the two years already passed, unless the exceptions of Article 7:301(3) apply (Article 7:301 DCC).

For more detail, see our page on the lease agreement under Dutch law.

Can a foreign company buy real estate in the Netherlands?

The Civil Code rules on sale and transfer described above (Articles 7:1, 7:2 and 3:89 DCC) do not depend on the nationality or seat of the buyer. A foreign company buys Dutch real estate through the same notarial deed and registration as a Dutch buyer.

In practice, a foreign buyer should plan for the notary’s client identification checks, for Dutch tax (such as transfer tax, overdrachtsbelasting) and for public-law rules that may restrict the use or letting of a property. These points are outside the scope of this page; obtain specific tax and regulatory advice before signing.

How do you choose a real estate law firm?

Look for a firm that regularly handles Dutch real estate transactions and disputes, can explain Dutch concepts such as the notary’s role, erfpacht and lease protection in clear English, and can coordinate with the notary, the estate agent and your tax adviser. Ask in advance who will handle your matter and how fees are calculated.

Frequently asked questions about real estate law in the Netherlands

Do you need a notary to buy real estate in the Netherlands?

Yes. On a sale, ownership passes only through a notarial deed of transfer, followed by registration in the public registers (Article 3:89(1) DCC). A mortgage also requires a notarial deed (Article 3:260 DCC). The purchase agreement itself can, as a rule, be signed without a notary.

Does a Dutch property purchase agreement have to be in writing?

If the buyer is a natural person not acting in the course of a profession or business and the property is intended for residential use, yes. That buyer may also dissolve the purchase within three days after receiving the signed agreement (Article 7:2(1) and (2) DCC). This does not apply to hire-purchase, to a public auction before a notary, or to certain timeshare and long-term holiday product contracts (Article 7:2(5)). The cooling-off right does not arise again if, within six months after it was used, the same parties conclude a new purchase of the same property (Article 7:2(2)). For other buyers, Article 7:2 does not require writing, but in practice the agreement is almost always put in writing.

How long does a commercial lease run in the Netherlands?

For retail and hospitality premises, five years or a longer agreed fixed term; leases of two years or less are an exception (Article 7:301 DCC). A lease of at least five but less than ten years is renewed by law for a second term, up to ten years in total (Article 7:292 DCC). After that, and for a lease of ten years or more, the lease does not end by mere expiry but must be terminated (Article 7:300). Offices fall under Article 7:230a DCC, with limited protection against eviction.

What is erfpacht in Dutch real estate law?

Erfpacht (long lease) is a property right that allows the holder to hold and use someone else’s land (Article 5:85(1) DCC). The deed that creates it can require the holder to pay the owner a sum of money, the canon, whether or not at regular intervals (Article 5:85(2)). Always check the conditions and the canon before buying a property held in long lease.

Which court decides a real estate dispute in the Netherlands?

Lease cases go to the subdistrict court (kantonrechter), regardless of the amount (Article 93(c) Code of Civil Procedure). Other cases go to the district court, unless the subdistrict court is competent on other grounds, for example for claims of up to €25,000 (Article 93(a)). Parties can also agree on arbitration, such as before the Raad van Arbitrage in bouwgeschillen for construction disputes.

Primary sources

• Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek), Book 3: Articles 3:16, 3:17, 3:24, 3:26, 3:84, 3:89, 3:98 and 3:260
• Dutch Civil Code, Book 5: Articles 5:85, 5:101, 5:106 and 5:112
• Dutch Civil Code, Book 7: Articles 7:1, 7:2, 7:3, 7:17, 7:201, 7:226, 7:230a, 7:232, 7:282, 7:290, 7:291, 7:292, 7:293, 7:294, 7:295, 7:296, 7:300, 7:301, 7:750, 7:758 and 7:761
• Transitional Act New Civil Code (Overgangswet nieuw Burgerlijk Wetboek), Article 218
• Dutch Code of Civil Procedure (Wetboek van Burgerlijke Rechtsvordering): Articles 79 and 93
• Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet): Articles 2.4, 5.1 and 11.1
• Notaries Act (Wet op het notarisambt): Articles 17 and 25
• Cadastre Act (Kadasterwet)

Conclusion

Dutch real estate law combines a notarial transfer system with public registers (Article 3:89 DCC), formal protection for consumers buying a home (Article 7:2 DCC), mandatory protection for tenants of retail and hospitality premises (Article 7:290 DCC onwards) and a single planning regime under the Environment and Planning Act.

MAAK Advocaten advises foreign and Dutch businesses on purchases, leases, long leases and construction disputes, and represents them in Dutch courts and in arbitration.