Woning splitsen · Nederland

Splitting a house: from one home to two addresses

Turning one self-contained dwelling into two or more: splitting a house takes building work, usually an omgevingsvergunning, and in many Dutch municipalities a separate dwelling-formation permit.

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What does splitting a house mean?

Splitting a house (woning splitsen) means dividing one self-contained dwelling into two or more, each with its own lockable entrance and its own facilities such as a kitchen, toilet and bathroom. Municipal policy in the Netherlands calls that woningvorming. Turning a house into non-self-contained rooms is a different route altogether: that one is omzetting, better known as verkamering.

Whether it is allowed is not written in one place. The omgevingsplan decides whether more than one dwelling is permitted at that location, and in many municipalities that rule still sits in an old bestemmingsplan that forms the temporary part of the omgevingsplan. The Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving sets the building requirements: sound, fire safety, daylight, escape routes between the new dwellings. And then the municipality often has a dwelling-formation permit requirement in its huisvestingsverordening, under the Huisvestingswet.

Registration runs alongside the building work. The municipality issues new house numbers and extra dwelling units appear in the BAG on the same building, first as formed and after completion as in use. If you also want to sell or finance the dwellings separately, you need a legal division into apartment rights, drawn up by a notary.

How a dwelling split runs

Four steps. The first two decide whether the other two ever happen.

Check the omgevingsplan

Start with whether the location allows more than one dwelling, and which use is registered there now. If the plan doesn't allow it, a buitenplanse omgevingsplanactiviteit (BOPA) can be a route. That does mean a bigger application and a longer wait.

Find your municipality's policy rules

Many municipalities have their own dwelling-formation rules, with conditions on minimum floor area, sound insulation, parking or outdoor space. Those vary sharply, sometimes street by street. This is the step where plans fail.

Apply for the permits

The omgevingsvergunning for the building work goes through the Omgevingsloket. A separate dwelling-formation permit runs through the municipality itself.

Divide legally and register

A notary draws up the deed of division that establishes the apartment rights and creates an owners' association. The municipality issues new house numbers. After that the dwellings stand separately in the BAG and at the Kadaster.

Splitting the building and splitting the ownership are two separate jobs

This is where most plans come unstuck. Physically dividing a house into two self-contained dwellings does not by itself let you sell them separately, and a notarial deed of division does not turn one house into two dwellings that meet the building rules.

You usually need both, and in this order: first the public-law side (omgevingsplan, permits, building requirements), then the private-law side (deed of division, apartment rights, owners' association). Plenty of people start at the notary and find out later that the first half is missing.

Physical division

Two or more self-contained dwellings, each with its own kitchen, toilet and bathroom
Requirements for sound insulation, fire compartmentation, daylight and escape routes
An omgevingsvergunning for the technical building activity, plus an omgevingsplanactiviteit where the plan does not allow the extra dwelling
New house numbers and new dwelling units in the BAG

Legal division into apartment rights

A deed of division at the notary, with a division drawing and regulations
Each dwelling becomes an apartment right with its own cadastral designation
An owners' association is created for the shared parts of the building
Only after this can the dwellings be sold and financed separately

If it is not the building but the land underneath that gets divided, the term you want is kadastraal splitsen: the Kadaster surveys new parcel boundaries and new parcel numbers appear. Read about splitting a parcel

Splits are a market signal

A split changes what a building is worth and, more often than not, who owns it. Both land in the public registers before anything reaches an agent.

New addresses on an existing building

Dwelling formation shows up as extra dwelling units with new house numbers on a building that already existed. Nobody has to announce it; the BAG shows the pattern on its own.

Portfolios in motion

Splitting usually comes before a sale per unit, which is why a fresh split is worth a call long before anything is listed.

Local rules keep moving

Municipalities tighten their splitting rules, then loosen them again. Where splits pile up or dry up tells you how much room the local policy actually leaves.

A jump in value on dividing

Two smaller dwellings together often fetch more than one large one. The registers show you who has already cashed that difference in.

01Revelop

Every building in the Netherlands, rechecked daily

Checking one address is something the BAG can do. Keeping up with every new dwelling unit in your region is not.

Nationwide address monitoring

Revelop follows BAG mutations across the Netherlands and flags new dwelling units and house numbers on buildings that already existed. Same-day, with the short lag that registration itself has.

Tied to ownership

Every mutation is tied to building, parcel and owner, so you get from signal to who to call without a detour.

Filter down to your patch

Narrow to a municipality, a district or an area you draw yourself, then by construction year, floor area, use and who owns it.

Export and follow up

Turn a selection into a list of addresses and owners, or have an alert sent the moment something splits in your area.

Frequently asked questions about splitting a house

Do I need a permit to split a house?

Almost always. The building work itself usually needs an omgevingsvergunning, and many municipalities have a dwelling-formation permit requirement in their huisvestingsverordening on top of that, under the Huisvestingswet. Start with your own municipality, because those rules vary a lot.

What is the difference between splitting a house and verkamering?

Splitting creates self-contained dwellings, each with its own kitchen, toilet and bathroom. Verkamering, or conversion, creates non-self-contained rooms that share facilities. Municipalities often apply different permits and conditions to the two routes.

How long does splitting a house take?

That depends on the municipality, on the notary's schedule and above all on whether you need a buitenplanse omgevingsplanactiviteit. An application that fits the omgevingsplan follows a shorter procedure than one that needs the plan to give way. Your municipality can tell you the current lead times.

Can I sell the dwellings separately afterwards?

Only after a legal division into apartment rights. A notary draws up the deed of division with a division drawing. In some municipalities a splitting permit is needed before the notary can divide at all. After that each dwelling has its own cadastral designation and there is an owners' association.

Where can I see whether a building has already been split?

If new dwelling units appear on a building that already stood there, that is the pattern of a split. A block put up as an apartment complex has had those dwelling units since it was built. The Kadaster shows whether apartment rights have been created.

Does Revelop track splits automatically?

Yes. Revelop flags new dwelling units and house numbers on existing buildings across the Netherlands, tied to parcel and owner, and can send an alert per area.

Wondering what is splitting near you?

Tell us where you're looking and we'll show you which buildings have been split there in the past few months.