An increasing number of home owners in the Netherlands are worried about how they will cover all the costs associated with owning a home, according to new research by the Nationale Hypotheek Garantie organisation (NHG).

In particular, home owners whose fixed-interest mortgage period is coming to an end are concerned about the impact of higher interest rates on their household spending, the NHG said. In total, some 2,400 people with an NHG guarantee took part in the survey.

Just under one in five home owners said they are concerned about their financial situation, and 35% said their income is only just enough or insufficient to meet all their housing costs.

Many are concerned about the impact of rising mortgage interest rates on their domestic spending. Between 2015 and 2021, buyers were able to take advantage of historically low interest rates, but these have been rising since 2022.

In early 2022, the average interest rate for a 10-year fixed mortgage was 0.9%, but it has now increased to just under 4%. Almost 25% of home owners said they were worried about the impact of a higher interest rate on their spending, 13% said they had not thought about it, and 65% said they had no concerns.

“Concerns about the cost of home ownership are significant,” said Carla Muters, chairwoman of the NHG management board. “There is a clear job for mortgage providers and ourselves to better inform people about the help that is available.”

The survey also showed that average arrears in mortgage payments have fallen from eight months to 4.5 months. One in 20 home owners had experienced a backlog in payments at some point.

Overall, just 3% of respondents said they had great difficulty paying their bills, while 81% said they had little or no difficulty.

The NHG is a national mortgage guarantee scheme that protects home owners from residual debt if they are forced to sell their home due to circumstances such as unemployment, divorce or disability. It covers homes worth up to € 450.000.