Short answer: when you buy a house, you provide documents to two parties. The lender wants to know whether you can carry the loan and what the house is worth: your ID, proof of income, the signed purchase agreement (koopakte) and a validated valuation report (gevalideerd taxatierapport), and sometimes a building survey report or the leasehold terms. The notary (notaris) does their own investigation under the Dutch anti-money laundering act (Wwft): who are you, are you a politically exposed person, and where does your own money come from? Start right after signing the purchase agreement, because your financing condition is already running by then.
Why the same questions twice?
The bank checks whether you can pay. The notary checks whether the money is legal. Those are two separate legal duties. The notary has their own duty to investigate, alongside the bank's, even if your money simply comes from a Dutch bank account. So the fact that the bank has already seen your savings account doesn't save you a single form at the notary.
Below, for each stage, is what you need. Every lender has its own list; the requirements for a mortgage with NHG (Nationale Hypotheek Garantie) are set out in the NHG Terms and standards 2026, and most banks roughly follow those.
Before you make an offer: what your adviser needs
For a first calculation of how much you can borrow:
- a passport or ID card;
- proof of income. If you're employed, that's an employer's statement (werkgeversverklaring) on the NHG template with a payslip. With NHG, both may be no more than 3 months old on the date of the binding mortgage offer;
- if you're self-employed and have been for at least 12 months, an NHG lender uses an Income Statement for Entrepreneurs (Inkomensverklaring Ondernemer, IKV) to determine your income;
- if you're retired, a pension statement or a printout from mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl no more than 3 months old;
- an overview of your current loans. The lender checks with the BKR (the Dutch credit registry) whether you have credit, and every loan reduces how much you can borrow.
Only request the employer's statement once you know when the binding offer will come, so it isn't too old by then.
After signing: documents about the house
Once the purchase agreement is signed, it's about the house itself.
The signed purchase agreement. Your adviser sends it to the lender. The deadline for your financing condition is in it; plan everything back from that date.
The valuation report (taxatierapport). For NHG the report must be validated by an accepted validation institute, and may be no more than 6 months old, counted from the valuation date. The valuer must be independent: they may not have been involved in the purchase, the sale, the brokering, the building survey or the financing. So your own buying agent can't do it.
A building survey report, if the valuer sees reason for one. With a house this comes up more often than with an apartment, because you're responsible for the roof, the façade and the foundations. With NHG a building survey report is required if the valuation shows overdue maintenance that needs to be fixed soon and costs more than 10% of the market value, or if the valuer considers more investigation necessary or calls the structural condition poor. If you already had your own survey done for your condition, keep the report at hand.
The leasehold terms, if the house is on leasehold land (erfpacht). The ground rent (canon) is a fixed cost and counts towards your financing costs. If the ground rent is revised within 12 months after the binding mortgage offer and goes up, an NHG lender calculates with the new amount. See Leasehold, easements and chain clauses.
Quotes, if you want to renovate. If you borrow money for changes to the house, the lender puts that amount in a construction deposit (bouwdepot). If you pay part yourself, your own money is used first, and then payments come from the deposit. For energy-saving measures you can borrow up to 106% of the market value with NHG.
A few weeks before the transfer: what the notary asks for
The notary usually sends you these documents:
- A questionnaire with your personal details and marital status. If you're married or in a registered partnership with a prenuptial or partnership agreement, send a copy of that agreement along.
- A copy of your ID. You bring the original to the signing.
- A PEP statement. A politically exposed person is someone who holds or has held a prominent public position. Family members and close business associates of such a person also count. If the answer is yes, the notary must take extra measures. For almost everyone, the answer is no.
- A statement on the source of your own funds (verklaring herkomst eigen middelen). For each source, the amount you're putting in, with proof.
That last form takes the most time. What the notary wants to see for each source:
| Where your money comes from | Which proof |
|---|---|
| Savings from your salary | bank statements and your income tax return |
| The sale of your current home | the notary's statement of settlement from that sale |
| Your own business | annual accounts, tax return, and for a BV (private limited company) the resolution to pay out |
| Investments or crypto | statements from the broker or exchange, and the transfer to your own account |
| A loan from family | the loan agreement |
| A gift | the gift agreement and the gift tax return |
| An inheritance | the certificate of inheritance (verklaring van erfrecht) or the settlement of the estate |
How deep the notary digs depends on the risk. Money from abroad, from crypto or a large gift from someone who isn't family leads to more questions. The duty also applies to money you pay directly to the seller, outside the notary. If the notary can't complete their investigation, they must refuse to cooperate, and they can file a report with FIU-Nederland (the Dutch financial intelligence unit).
You can forget about cash. Under their professional rules, notaries don't accept cash amounts above € 2,500, and they must report cash payments of € 10,000 or more to FIU-Nederland.
If you're selling your current home at the same time and using the surplus value, make sure the settlement of that sale reaches the notary handling your purchase in time. If the sale completes later than the purchase, ask your adviser how the gap will be bridged.
Money from your parents
You record a gift in a gift agreement (schenkingsovereenkomst), and you keep the statements of the transfer. The amounts for 2026:
- tax-free each year from parents to a child: € 6,908;
- a one-off higher amount if you're between 18 and 40: € 33,129, free to spend, so also on a house.
A separate, higher exemption for your own home no longer exists since 1 January 2024. If your parents give more than the exemption, you file a gift tax return, and the notary wants to see that return.
If it's a loan, there should be a loan agreement. The interest and repayments to your parents are a fixed cost, and your adviser includes them in the calculation.
On the day of the transfer
Your own money must be in the notary's client account (derdengeldenrekening) before the transfer; the notary sends you a statement with the amount in advance. You bring your original ID. Then you sign the deed of transfer (leveringsakte) and the mortgage deed. How this fits into the whole process is explained in Buying a house in the Netherlands, step by step.
Frequently asked questions
I've already given my bank statements to the bank. Why does the notary want them too?
Because under the Wwft the notary has their own duty to investigate, separate from the bank. They must establish for themselves that your money comes from a legal source.
How old may the valuation report be?
With NHG no more than 6 months from the valuation date, and it must be validated. Other lenders often use similar requirements; ask your adviser.
When do I need a building survey report for the mortgage?
With NHG, if the valuer finds overdue maintenance that needs to be fixed soon and costs more than 10% of the market value, or if they consider more investigation necessary. Apart from that, having your own survey done on a house is sensible.
What happens if I can't prove where my money comes from?
Then the notary may not cooperate with the transfer, and can file a report with FIU-Nederland. So collect the proof early, especially for an inheritance, investments or money from abroad.
Can I bring in my own money in cash?
In practice, no. Notaries don't accept cash amounts above € 2,500.
Sources
- NHG: Terms and standards 2026-1 (employer's statement, IKV, BKR, valuation, building survey report, ground rent, construction deposit; accessed 27 October 2026; in Dutch)
- Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (Wwft) (articles 1, 1a, 3, 5 and 8; accessed 27 October 2026; in Dutch)
- KNB: Client due diligence and reporting obligation for notaries (March 2022 version; in Dutch)
- Belastingdienst: Up to what amount is a gift tax-free? (2026 amounts; accessed 27 October 2026; in Dutch)