More Dutch households are worrying about mortgage costs

More home owners in the Netherlands are finding it difficult to pay their mortgages, according to new research by the organisation that runs the Dutch mortgage guarantee scheme NHG.

Some 8.8% of people now say their income is not enough to cover all their costs, up from 5.8% at the beginning of 2024, while 4.3% say they face “significant struggles”. In particular, the number of young people under 34 who say their income is not enough to meet their housing costs has almost doubled to 23%.

“The figures show that pressure on households is increasing again, just after things had seemed more positive for some time,” NHG director Roald van der Linde said. “This calls for vigilance and timely support, so that problems do not escalate further.”

The NHG is a government scheme that covers homeowners’ losses if they have to sell their house for less than the outstanding mortgage because of divorce, illness or unemployment.

Buyers pay a surcharge of 0.7% on their mortgage to cover the cost of the scheme, but are often able to borrow at lower rates because of the reduced risk. Some 1.4 million households have an NHG-backed mortgage.

Despite concerns about payments, there has not been an increase in the number of households in arrears, and the average period owing is a record low of between 4.6 and 4.9 months, the NHG said.