What is a land lease?

Sometimes, the house you own doesn’t stand on its own land, but on leased land. If there is mention of a lease, then the owner of the property must pay a monthly amount to the owner of the land, the so-called land lease. The amount to be paid is specified for a period of time and may be changed at a later date. Sometimes this period is very short: from three to five years. If there is mention of a lease, the seller of the real estate must inform the buyer of this fact. The buyer must account for these additional annual costs, which may increase in several years. It is important to pay attention to who the landowner is. Is it a private owner, who may increase the amount of the lease to the legal maximum, or is it the municipality. The municipality of Amsterdam, Utrecht and others will never sell land into private hands, because this is the most expensive and most valuable land in the Netherlands. A land lease in the Netherlands is usually perpetual and amounts to 30 Euro per month.