The equity in your home is what is left when you subtract the selling costs and your mortgage debt from the sale price. If you move, Dutch tax rules take that equity into account when you buy your next home: under the additional borrowing rule (bijleenregeling), in 2026 you can only deduct interest on the purchase costs of the new home minus your equity. That applies even if you would rather keep the equity in the bank.
The calculation step by step
The Belastingdienst calculates equity like this: the sale price, minus the selling costs, minus the owner-occupied home debt (eigenwoningschuld). As selling costs it lists the estate agent, the mandatory energy label, the valuation and advertising costs. The eigenwoningschuld is the part of your mortgage on which you may deduct interest, plus the debt for the financing costs.
If this is the first time you sell a home you lived in, that equity becomes your home equity reserve (eigenwoningreserve) straight away. If you sold a home with equity before and that reserve has not yet expired, you add the two amounts together.
For an estimate before the sale you need a realistic sale price. The WOZ value is less suitable for this, because it is set on a reference date in the past. An estate agent's appraisal or a formal valuation is closer to what the home will fetch now.
Equity for tax purposes and the money in your account
The amount you receive after the sale does not have to match your equity for tax purposes. If you once increased your mortgage for a car or a holiday, for example, that part is not eigenwoningschuld. The Belastingdienst then does not subtract it in the calculation, so your equity for tax purposes is higher than the money you are left with. The Belastingdienst itself points out that you can have equity for tax purposes even when nothing is left in economic terms.
If you are unsure how high your eigenwoningschuld is, check your income tax return or ask your lender for the statement.
The additional borrowing rule: what equity does for your new home
When you buy a new home, you may deduct interest on at most the purchase price including the buyer's costs, minus your eigenwoningreserve. If you borrow more, the extra part falls into box 3 and the interest on it is not deductible.
So you can use the equity however you like, but it affects your monthly costs after tax. For a lender, the equity is simply your own money that you put in. How much you can borrow on top of that depends on your income, the value of the new home and the lending standards for 2026. You can read how those work in How much can I borrow for a mortgage in 2026?
Your equity counts for three years
The eigenwoningreserve expires three years after the sale. If you rent for a while after selling and buy within those three years, the equity still counts. If you buy later, it no longer does.
The reserve also goes down if, within that period, you spend your own money on maintenance or a renovation of your new home, or if you buy off a ground lease (erfpacht). The Belastingdienst gives the example of a reserve of € 35,000 that drops to € 20,000 after a € 15,000 renovation paid from your own money.
If you buy first and sell later, the Belastingdienst says you only need to take the equity into account once the old home is sold. For the period in which you own two homes, the rules in Double housing costs: how to avoid or bridge them apply.
An example from Almere
This example is indicative and based on the rules for 2026.
A family sells a terraced house in Almere Buiten for € 390,000. The estate agent, the energy label and the advertising cost € 6,000 in total. Their eigenwoningschuld is € 240,000. Their equity is € 390,000 minus € 6,000 minus € 240,000, which is € 144,000.
They buy a semi-detached house in Almere Poort for € 520,000. They pay 2 percent transfer tax on it, € 10,400. With € 5,600 in other buyer's costs, such as the notary and advice, the purchase costs in this example come to € 536,000. They may deduct interest on at most € 536,000 minus € 144,000, which is € 392,000.
If they borrow € 420,000 to keep € 28,000 of the equity in the bank, the interest on that € 28,000 is not deductible. Whether the lender will finance € 420,000 depends on their income and the valuation of the new home.
What you can do with your equity
If you put the equity into the new home, you borrow less and no part of the mortgage falls into box 3. If you keep part of it aside as a buffer or for a renovation and borrow more as a result, you pay interest on that part of the loan without tax relief. If that money goes towards a renovation of the new home within three years, the eigenwoningreserve goes down with it.
If you have a mortgage from before 2013, the transitional rules also play a part. You can read about them in Taking your mortgage with you to a new home. If you are staying in your current home and want to use the equity without moving, see our page on releasing home equity. More about moving to your next home is on the page for home movers, and mortgage advisor in Almere explains how we work.
Would you like to know how much equity you will have and what it means for your next mortgage? Book a free introductory meeting at our office on Schoutstraat in Almere, in English or Dutch. We will work it out with your own figures.