You do not need to be married to get a joint mortgage in the Netherlands, but the paperwork works differently than it does for married couples. You both sign the mortgage and are fully liable for the whole debt, while ownership of the home has to be arranged separately and explicitly. Get that part wrong, and you can end up with a mortgage that does not match who actually owns what.
Most notaries will ask directly what percentage of the home each of you owns, because unlike a married couple, that split is not automatic. You state a concrete percentage, for example 50/50 or 60/40, recorded in the deed of delivery (akte van levering).
What surprises a lot of expat couples is that the ownership percentage and the mortgage liability are two separate things. Regardless of how you split ownership, both of you sign the mortgage deed and are jointly and individually liable (hoofdelijk aansprakelijk) for the full amount, not just your own share.
If one of you puts in significantly more own funds (eigen geld) for the down payment, that difference is usually reflected in the ownership percentage. Say you buy a home worth 500,000 euros with a mortgage of 450,000 euros, and one partner covers 40,000 euros of the 50,000 euros in own funds. A 60/40 split, rather than a default 50/50, protects the partner who contributed more if you later sell or separate.
| Topic | Married or registered partners | Unmarried couple |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership split | Often follows the marital property regime by default | Must be explicitly agreed and recorded at the notary |
| Liability for the mortgage | Both partners jointly and individually liable | Both partners jointly and individually liable |
| Interest deduction split | Flexible ratio as fiscal partners by default | Flexible ratio only once fiscal partner conditions are met |
| Inheritance without a will | Surviving spouse generally inherits automatically | Surviving partner has no automatic right without a will |
Banks look at your combined gross income the same way they would for a married couple, so there is no penalty in your borrowing capacity just because you are not married. Both incomes are added together and tested against current lending norms, and your maximum mortgage is based on that combined figure rather than either income alone.
If one or both of you benefit from the 30% ruling, it mainly affects your net income, not the maximum mortgage a lender will offer, since Dutch lenders generally calculate borrowing capacity on your full gross salary as if it were fully taxable. Some lenders also stress test what your situation looks like once the ruling ends, since it currently applies for a maximum of five years.
Documentation tends to be the bigger practical hurdle than the income calculation itself. Expect an employment contract, an employer statement, recent payslips, and proof of your residence permit for each of you, and sometimes evidence of foreign credit history if you have not been in the Netherlands long.
If one partner is self-employed, banks typically average their profit over the past few years, capped at the most recent year’s result, while the salaried partner’s income is assessed the standard way. Some lenders combine both for a higher overall assessment, others are more conservative, so it pays to compare rather than assume your first quote is realistic.
A samenlevingscontract is not a legal requirement to get a mortgage as an unmarried couple, but most advisors and notaries strongly recommend arranging one before you sign. Without it, the consequences of buying together, and of what happens if you split up, are far less clearly defined than for a married couple.
A cohabitation agreement typically sets out how you will handle shared costs. Some couples also draw up a draagplichtovereenkomst, an agreement about who is responsible for which share of the mortgage payments, useful when ownership percentage does not match how you split monthly costs.
It also matters for tax purposes, since dividing the mortgage interest deduction flexibly as fiscal partners generally requires meeting the Belastingdienst’s conditions first. It is worth arranging life insurance (overlijdensrisicoverzekering) in the same conversation, given the inheritance gap shown in the table above.
Nationale Hypotheek Garantie is available to unmarried couples on the same terms as married ones, so there is no separate eligibility hurdle tied to your relationship status. In 2026, the NHG cost limit is 470,000 euros, rising to 498,200 euros if you are also financing energy-saving measures.
NHG applies to your joint situation rather than to each of you individually. If you can no longer meet your mortgage payments due to job loss, disability, or separation, NHG can cover a residual debt if you are forced to sell for less than you owe, which makes splitting up considerably less stressful financially.
NHG-backed mortgages also tend to come with a lower interest rate, since lenders see them as lower risk. If your combined mortgage falls under the 470,000 euro limit, it is worth checking what an NHG-backed offer looks like next to a standard one.
If you separate as an unmarried couple, the mortgage does not automatically get divided or cancelled, both of you stay fully liable until the situation is formally resolved. Whoever wants to stay needs a release from joint liability (ontslag hoofdelijke aansprakelijkheid, or OHV), effectively a full mortgage reassessment in that person’s name alone. Lenders want a signed agreement first, and for unmarried cohabitants that typically means a vaststellingsovereenkomst rather than the divorce agreement a married couple would use, so having a cohabitation agreement already in place speeds things up considerably.
The financial mechanics stay the same as for a married couple. Say your home is worth 550,000 euros with an outstanding mortgage of 350,000 euros and a 50/50 split. Equity is 200,000 euros, so the departing partner’s share is 100,000 euros, and the partner who stays needs a new mortgage of 450,000 euros to cover the existing debt plus the buy-out, which depends mainly on that one partner’s individual income.
If the numbers do not work out, alternatives include a lower buy-out, a temporary period of co-ownership, or selling the property outright. You can book a no-obligation conversation to run the numbers on your specific situation.
Buying a home together as an unmarried expat couple involves more moving parts than a standard application, and getting the ownership split, income assessment, and paperwork aligned from the start makes a real difference later on.
Reach out via @dekredieter, visit www.kredieter.nl, or call 020-5753320 to talk through your situation with an advisor. You can also meet the team behind that advice on the team page.
Yes, but adding a partner later means reapplying with the lender as if it were a new mortgage, including a fresh income and affordability assessment for both of you together. It is usually simpler and cheaper to apply jointly from the start if you both plan to own and live in the home, rather than restructuring the mortgage afterward.
No, lenders combine your gross incomes into one total and assess the mortgage against that combined figure, not against either income separately. The higher earner does not need to be the main applicant, and your ownership percentage in the deed does not have to match the ratio of your incomes either.
Without a will, an unmarried partner has no automatic right of inheritance under Dutch law, so the deceased partner’s share of the home and mortgage debt passes to their legal heirs, not automatically to the surviving partner. This is one of the main reasons advisors recommend arranging a will alongside a cohabitation agreement when buying together.
Yes, a mortgage can be based on one income if that is what the affordability assessment supports, and the other partner can still be a co-owner without contributing income to the application. In that case the lender tests affordability on the working partner’s income alone, which usually means a lower maximum mortgage than if both incomes counted.
