Buying to let in Amsterdam: check the WOZ threshold first

If you are buying a home in Amsterdam to rent it out, or planning to let it to your children while they study, there is a rule you need to check before you make an offer. Many owner-occupied homes in the city fall under the municipality's buy-to-let protection, known in Dutch as opkoopbescherming. For those homes, the buyer has to live there and may not rent the property out for the first four years without a permit.

Whether a home is covered depends on its WOZ value and on the date of the transfer at the notary. Buyers from abroad often expect the purchase price to decide it. It does not.

What the rule says

Since 1 January 2022, Dutch municipalities have been allowed to introduce buy-to-let protection in areas where affordable and mid-priced owner-occupied homes are scarce, according to Volkshuisvesting Nederland, the national government's housing platform. Amsterdam has applied it since 1 April 2022. In the city's own words, anyone who buys a lower or mid-priced home must live in it, and the owner may only rent it out after four years.

The aim is to keep these homes available for people who want to live in them rather than for investors. If you plan to live in the property yourself, the rule changes very little for you.

WOZ value, not purchase price

The WOZ value is the official value the municipality sets each year for property tax. Amsterdam compares it with a threshold that is adjusted every 1 January. The city's page on the rules for buy-to-let protection (in Dutch) lists these thresholds by year of transfer:

2022: €512,000
2023: €533,000
2024: €641,000
2025: €623,000
2026: €637,000

Note that the threshold went down in 2025. A home that was just above the line one year can be just below it the next, depending on how its own WOZ value has moved.

The transfer date decides which numbers apply

Two dates matter. The first is the day the deed of transfer is registered with the Land Registry (Kadaster). In practice that is the completion date at the notary, not the day you sign the purchase agreement. The calendar year of registration determines which threshold applies. The second date is the valuation date of the WOZ value: 1 January of the year before the transfer.

The municipality gives its own example. If the deed is registered on 1 October 2023, you look at the WOZ value with a valuation date of 1 January 2022. If that value was below €533,000, the 2023 threshold, the home is covered.

Completing in late 2026 or early 2027

For a transfer during the rest of 2026, you compare the WOZ value dated 1 January 2025 with €637,000. If completion moves into January 2027, a new threshold and a new WOZ value apply. At the time of writing, Amsterdam had not yet published the 2027 threshold. For a home close to the line, a few weeks' difference in the completion date can change the outcome, so raise it with the notary before the date is fixed.

Exceptions

The rules do not apply in a number of situations, including when:

the home had already been rented out for at least six months at the time of transfer;
the tenants stay on after the transfer;
one buyer purchases ten or more rental homes in a single complex at once;
a new-build home has a rental ban in its ground lease conditions, in which case those conditions apply instead.

There are further exceptions for certain new-build and renovation projects agreed with developers, and the rule also covers houseboats. If you are buying a new-build home on leasehold land, read the lease conditions carefully. Our article on Amsterdam ground lease explains what to look for.

Renting out with a permit

If the home is covered, you can apply for a permit or exemption in specific cases. The city's page on renting out under buy-to-let protection (in Dutch) mentions letting to a first or second-degree family member, temporary letting for up to one year after you have lived there yourself for at least a year, a home that is inseparably linked to business premises, and renting out part of the home while you live in it. An application costs €411.30 and requires, among other things, the deed of transfer and the WOZ value.

So buying a flat for a child who studies in Amsterdam is possible, but only with permission. Do not assume it will be granted after the fact.

A short checklist before you bid

Look up the WOZ value on the WOZ-waardeloket, using the valuation date of 1 January of the year before the expected completion.
Compare it with the threshold for the year in which the deed will be registered.
Double-check with the WOZ value checker on the City of Amsterdam's website.
If you intend to rent out, find out whether you qualify for a permit before making an offer.
If completion falls around the turn of the year, agree on the date deliberately.

The WOZ value is a tax value and says little about what a home is worth on the market today. A purchase broker can help you with that question and with the rest of the buying process. Selling a home below the threshold? Then your likely buyers are owner-occupiers, which is worth knowing when you prepare the sale.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules and thresholds can change; the current text is on the City of Amsterdam's website. Sources: City of Amsterdam, Regels opkoopbescherming and Woning verhuren bij opkoopbescherming (consulted 5 October 2026); Volkshuisvesting Nederland, Opkoopbescherming.