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As of February 1, 2022 , the Purchase Protection Act will come into effect in Haarlem. What this law means and what the consequences are, we simply explain to you here.
All hoses in Haarlem with a WOZ value of up to €389,000 can no longer be rented out without a permit.

Exceptions
You are only eligible for this permit in the following situations:

  1. You are going to rent the property to a first or second-degree relative (in other words, you are buying a property so that your (grand)son/(grand)daughter will rent it from you
  2. You want to rent it out for a maximum period of 12 months
  3. The property is part of a commercial or retail property
  4. You are a housing corporation

These rules apply 4 years after you have acquired the property.
So currently, as a real estate investor, you are only allowed to rent out the property without a license after 4 years.

Which date is leading for the application of the Purchase Protection Act in Haarlem?
First of all, it is NOT about when you have bought a house. It is about when the legal transfer of the house takes place at the notary and when it is registered in the land registry. If your ownership of the house is registered in the Land Registry by the civil-law notary after February 1, 2022, the Purchase Protection Act applies to you.

Example: If you buy a house in Haarlem on 1 January 2022 and the notary has registered the transfer of ownership of this house in the land register before 1 February 2022, then the Purchase Protection Act does NOT apply to you.

I already own a house, can I rent it out?
If you already owned an investment property in Haarlem before 1 February 2022, the Purchase Protection Act does not apply to you and you can simply rent it out from the municipality. It doesn’t matter if the property is/was empty or if it is/was rented.

What if you buy a rented house?
Less than 6 months
If you buy a rented house that was rented out less than 6 months ago, you must apply for a permit. You will probably just get these too, but you should be careful that the permits are personal/person-specific. So if you sell your rented home with a permit, that permit will not be transferred to the new buyer.


More than 6 months
If you buy a house that has been rented out for more than 6 months, you do not need to apply for a permit. The question is whether you should then apply for a permit if the property is owned by you and the tenant is leaving. You’ll find the answer to that question in this blog.