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Buying an older Dutch house as an international: check the energy label first

Updated 2026-09-15 · Netzy B.V., Eindhoven

Before you bid on an older Dutch house, look up its registered energy label, check how old that label is, and get an estimate of what it takes to improve it. A poor label means higher energy bills, but also more borrowing space for improvements, which you can arrange together with the purchase.

What to check before you bid

Look up the registered label and its date. Labels registered up to 2020 used an older method; phrases like 'not additionally insulated' on those labels do not tell you much about the real state of the walls or roof.

Check roof, cavity wall and crawl space in the viewing. Ask the seller what has already been insulated, and when.

Decide early whether you want to renovate before moving in. Insulation and ventilation are much easier in an empty house, and the extra borrowing space for energy saving measures is arranged at the moment you take the mortgage.

Using the purchase moment

At the purchase you can include the improvement budget in your mortgage (see the table on the mortgage page). That requires a substantiated amount. A Netzy scan based on the address gives measured areas, a route with cost ranges and the subsidy that applies, so your adviser has something to work with.

How Netzy tells you in advance what is technically feasible

Before anyone visits, we measure the roof, facade and floor areas of your specific house from the national 3D building model and public registers (BAG, EP-Online). From those areas we calculate the heat demand and, per measure, what it does to the label.

Every assumption gets a certainty percentage and a source. If a key fact is missing (year of construction, floor area or house type), we give no advice rather than filling in an average.

The order is fixed: insulate the building shell first, then install. Ventilation is decided together with the insulation, because once ducts are closed off, heat recovery ventilation is usually no longer possible.

Frequently asked questions

Can I do a scan of a house I don't own yet?

Yes. The scan works on the address, using public registers and the 3D model. It does not need access to the house, although a later inspection is always part of the final quote.

Which subsidies are there for insulation in the Netherlands?

The main national subsidy is the ISDE, paid per square metre of insulation when you do at least two measures, or one measure combined with a heat pump. Some municipalities add their own schemes. Amounts change; we calculate the current amount per measure in the scan.

Netzy calculates what is technically feasible and what it costs, and explains the schemes. We do not give mortgage advice and do not broker mortgages. What you personally can borrow, and at what rate, is assessed by a mortgage adviser or lender. Label outcomes are route indications, never a guarantee.
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Questions in English: contact@netzy.nl · +31 85 401 8481

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