Does my partner's lower income count fully towards our mortgage?

Yes. Under the current rules the lender adds both test incomes and applies the percentage for the combined total, and Nibud notes that the second income has counted in full since 2023. Two households with the same total gross income can borrow the same amount, however the income is split.

Can my partner's income count if their residence permit is temporary?

For a loan with NHG, a partner with a permit for a temporary purpose, such as study or an intra-company transfer, can be on the loan but their income is left out. Other lenders set their own rules, so ask before you apply.

Does a cohabitation agreement make us both owners of the house?

No. Ownership is recorded in the transfer deed at the notary, so arrange there who owns which share. A cohabitation agreement records what you agree between yourselves, such as who pays what, and a will decides what happens to the home if one of you dies.

Buying with a partner when only one of you has the ruling

When you apply together, a Dutch lender adds your two test incomes and uses the percentage for the combined total. Since 2023 the lower income has counted in full. The difficulty for international couples is not that sum. It is what each income is made of: one partner's 30% ruling allowance, the other partner's foreign salary or temporary permit. And if you are not married, the law does very little for you until you have been to a notary.

How two incomes are combined

Under the Tijdelijke regeling hypothecair krediet (Temporary Mortgage Credit Regulation), a loan for more than one person is tested against the financing-burden percentage that belongs to your joint test income. Nibud, which advises the government on the tables, notes that the second income may count in full from 2023. Households with the same total gross income can therefore borrow the same amount, however it is split between the partners.

Because the percentage rises with income, a second income adds more than it would on its own. Here is a hypothetical example at a 5% test rate, using the 2026 table:

Who applies	Test income	Share of income	Rough maximum loan
Partner A alone	€70,000	25.3%	about €275,000
Partner B alone	€30,000	21.6%	about €101,000
A and B together	€100,000	28.0%	about €435,000

The figures are 30-year annuity estimates, before any extra room for the energy label. The combined figure is well above the two separate ones added together. That is why it usually matters so much whether a lender will count the second income at all.

When one of you has the ruling and the other does not

The partner with the ruling. The regulation does not mention the tax-free allowance, so each lender decides how much of it counts. On an €80,000 package, it can be the difference between a test income of €80,000 and one of €56,000. The 30% ruling and your mortgage works through this. In a couple, the effect carries over to your combined percentage as well.

The partner without it. Their income is tested like any other Dutch income. A permanent contract is the simplest case. A fixed-term contract counts for the full term with a declaration of intent from the employer, or through the other routes in buying a house on a temporary contract. For a loan with NHG, the national mortgage guarantee, a self-employed partner's income is assessed with an income statement for business owners once they have been trading for at least 12 months.

A partner without Dutch income. NHG allows a lender to test on income in a foreign currency where that is suitable and responsible. The lender may take steps to limit the currency risk, and the loan itself stays in euros. If your partner has no income yet, the loan is assessed on your income alone. Ask the lender whether a partner who is not on the loan can still be a co-owner of the home.

A partner on a temporary permit. For a loan with NHG, each borrower needs EU, EEA or Swiss nationality, or a permanent permit, or a permit for a non-temporary purpose. If one of you holds a permit for a temporary purpose, you can still both be on the loan, but that partner's income is left out. The Vreemdelingenbesluit (Aliens Decree) lists the temporary purposes: they include study, seasonal work, intra-company transfer and the search year for recent graduates. A permit as a family member counts as temporary only when the main permit holder's own right to stay is temporary. Work as a highly skilled migrant, regular paid employment and the EU Blue Card are not on the list.

Joint liability

For a loan with NHG, everyone who receives the binding offer must be jointly and severally liable (hoofdelijk aansprakelijk), must live in the home as their main residence, and must be an owner or co-owner. Jointly and severally liable means the lender can claim the whole debt from either of you. It does not matter how you split the payments between yourselves or who owns which share. Between the two of you, those arrangements go into a written agreement. The lender is not bound by them.

Married, registered or living together

Your relationship status changes what the law does automatically:

	Marriage or registered partnership	Living together
Property	Since 1 January 2018, a limited community of property applies unless you agree otherwise: what you acquire during the marriage, including debts, is shared	No community of property unless you agree one in a cohabitation agreement
Inheritance	You inherit from each other by law	You do not inherit from each other unless you make wills
The home if one of you dies	Passes to the surviving partner under the law	Only if you arranged it, for example in a will
Official record	The municipality draws up a certificate	None

If you marry or register a partnership, you can opt out of the shared property through huwelijkse voorwaarden or partnerschapsvoorwaarden (a prenuptial or partnership agreement), drawn up at a notary. If you married abroad, ask the notary which country's property rules apply to you before you sign anything.

What cohabiting partners should arrange

If you live together without marrying or registering, you set everything up yourselves. Three documents do the work:

The transfer deed. Ownership is recorded when the notary transfers the home. A cohabitation agreement on its own does not make you both owners. If you want to own the home together, and in what shares, arrange that with the notary.
A cohabitation agreement (samenlevingscontract). You can write one yourselves or have a notary draw it up. A notarial one meets the Belastingdienst's requirements for tax partnership and the requirements of pension funds for a partner's pension. Use it to record who pays which part of the mortgage, how much of your own money each of you put in, and how you divide things if you separate. It can also include a survivorship clause (verblijvingsbeding), under which shared property passes to the surviving partner.
Wills. Without one, a cohabiting partner inherits nothing under the law. The notaries' organisation advises cohabiting buyers to have a will state that the home goes to the surviving partner.

If one of you puts in more of your own money, for example savings brought from abroad, record it, so that it is clear later whose money went into the house.

The simplest approach is to sign the cohabitation agreement and the wills at the same notary, around the same time as the transfer. You have to see the notary for the transfer anyway.

Where to go from here

The maximum mortgage calculator shows the combined-income test for 2026, and how Dutch lenders set your maximum mortgage explains the rules behind it. How the allowance, a foreign salary or a temporary permit is treated differs between lenders, and an adviser can tell you which of them will count your partner's income. You can request mortgage advice from up to three independent advisers who work in English.

Sources

Figures checked against the sources above on 23 September 2026.

Photo: Unknown photographer (Tresoar), Wikimedia Commons, CC0.