Are there subsidies for buying a garden home?

There is no national subsidy for buying a garden home (mantelzorgwoning). No government scheme, no fixed amount, no counter where you fill in a form and get part of the purchase price back. That is the honest answer, and it saves you weeks of searching.

Money can come from four other directions, though, and they differ widely in what they bring: a customised provision (maatwerkvoorziening) under the Wmo (Social Support Act), a loan through your municipality, a local scheme that only exists in your municipality, and the tax side. What they have in common is one rule you need to know right now. Apply before you buy. Almost every scheme excludes costs that have already been incurred.

Why there is no national government subsidy

With making homes more sustainable, the government pays part of the cost of an insulation measure or a heat pump, because there is a national goal behind it. With informal care, the responsibility lies elsewhere. The Wet maatschappelijke ondersteuning 2015 (Social Support Act 2015) places support for people who want to keep living independently with the municipality, and the municipality looks at your situation rather than at your product.

That means the question is not "is there a subsidy for a garden home", but "what does this person need to be able to live independently". Money can certainly follow from that second question.

What the Wmo can pay for

Under article 2.3.5 of the Wmo 2015, the municipality can grant a customised provision if someone has limitations in their self-reliance. In practice, when it comes to housing, this is almost always about adaptations and facilities, not about the home itself.

• Home adaptations such as a step-free shower, a raised toilet, grab rails or an adapted kitchen.
• Aids such as a patient hoist, a stairlift in the main house or a wheelchair.
• Support and domestic help for the resident.
• Respite care, so that the carer can take a break now and then.

Having a complete garden home paid for is rare, and there is a logic to that which you should know in advance: the municipality looks for the cheapest adequate solution. If someone can stay in their own house with a stairlift and an adapted bathroom, that is the solution that gets the money.

What you can do, however, is keep the adaptations separate. Ask us to split the quote, so that the care facilities in the home are listed as separate items. An application for a step-free bathroom with a turning circle for a wheelchair is a different conversation from an application for a home of forty-six square metres.

How the Wmo application works

You contact the Wmo desk or the social neighbourhood team (sociaal wijkteam) of your municipality. This is followed by a conversation at your home, usually called the kitchen table conversation (keukentafelgesprek), in which they look at what is needed. A decision follows, and you can lodge an objection against that decision.

Two things people only hear about afterwards. As a rule, you pay a personal contribution (eigen bijdrage) for Wmo provisions, so an award is rarely free. And the application must come before the purchase; a bathroom that has already been fitted is no longer a provision for the municipality but an existing fact.

Municipal loans

This is the direction most often overlooked, because it is not a subsidy but a loan on favourable terms. Two forms are available across the country, through the Stimuleringsfonds Volkshuisvesting, which many municipalities are affiliated with.

• The Blijverslening. Intended for making a home suitable for later life, so that someone can keep living at home for longer. Whether a garden home qualifies is decided by your municipality in its own bylaw.
• The Verzilverlening. Intended for people with surplus value (overwaarde) in their home but too little income to get an ordinary loan. The interest is added to the debt and only settled when the house is sold.

Not every municipality takes part, and the conditions differ per municipality. It is worth one phone call to your municipality, because this is the instrument that comes closest to a real solution for anyone who does not have the money all at once.

Local schemes

Some municipalities have their own funds, and they cannot be found in one central place. They are rarely called "garden home subsidy"; they go by names such as living at home for longer (langer thuis wonen), home adaptation (woningaanpassing) or informal care support (mantelzorgondersteuning). Look in the subsidy register on your municipality's website and ask at the Wmo desk.

While you are there, ask straight away for the informal care consultant (mantelzorgconsulent). That is the person who knows the local schemes and knows which fund still has money this year. The annual token of appreciation for carers, which every municipality must arrange under article 2.1.6 of the Wmo 2015, also goes through that desk. It is not a large amount, but you do have to apply for it yourself.

What such an application looks like in practice

Suppose your 81-year-old mother can no longer live alone after a hip operation. She can walk with a rollator, but she can no longer manage stairs and showering over a step is too risky. You want a home in the garden.

What you then do not apply for is a subsidy for a garden home, because that does not exist. What you apply for is support for her situation. The kitchen table conversation covers whether she can stay in her own home with adaptations; if that turns out not to be possible, the conversation turns to what is needed in the new place. The step-free shower with turning circle, the grab rails and the raised toilet are then provisions that can be discussed, and so are the patient hoist and the height-adjustable bed.

That is why it makes sense to have our quote split. If the care features are listed as a separate item on paper, the municipality can make a decision about them. If everything is in one amount for a home, there is nothing to decide on and the answer will almost certainly be no.

What not to expect

Three things circulate on the internet that are not true, and it is better that you read them here than go into a conversation with them.

• There is no national subsidy fund for garden homes that you are entitled to.
• Health insurance does not contribute to a home. It covers care, not housing.
• A care assessment does not give a right to a home. A Wlz assessment (under the Long-term Care Act) says something about the care someone needs, not about where that person lives.

The sustainability side

Our homes are timber-frame buildings and are delivered well insulated. National energy schemes such as the ISDE (the government's subsidy for sustainable energy measures) come with conditions about the type of home and the owner, and new builds usually fall outside them. Check before you count on anything, and ask your installer and your municipality, not a salesperson.

If the municipality says no

A rejection is not the end of the road, and it pays to know what you can influence.

• Ask for the reasoning. A decision must be substantiated. It often turns out that the assessment was about something other than what you meant, for example the home instead of the provision.
• Object within the deadline. It is stated in the letter and is short, usually six weeks. After that, the route to the courts is closed.
• Bring in an informal care broker (mantelzorgmakelaar). They know their way around the application process, and in some cases their fees are reimbursed by the health insurer under supplementary insurance. Check this with your insurer.
• Apply again if your situation changes. If the care need changes, for example after a hospital admission, that is a new situation and therefore a new application.

What does not help is submitting the same application again when nothing has changed. What does help is focusing the application on what someone can no longer do, backed up by a GP or an occupational therapist, rather than on what you want to build.

The other side of the money

If there is no subsidy, the question remains how you pay for it. Four routes matter more in practice than hunting for subsidies, and all four are covered in detail.

• Financing with a mortgage, for example from the surplus value of the main house.
• The tax side, because the deductibility of care costs is more limited than people think.
• A second-hand home, which saves considerably on the purchase price.
• Renting instead of buying, which starts at around €1,100 per month with us and requires no purchase.

Also bear in mind that a home on your plot can raise the WOZ value (the municipal property valuation) of your plot, and with it your tax assessment. That is not a subsidy question, but it does belong in the same sum.

What we recommend

Call your municipality's Wmo desk before you buy anything, and ask three questions. Do I qualify for a customised provision for the adaptations. Does this municipality take part in the Blijverslening or the Verzilverlening. Is there a local scheme for living at home for longer.

Once you know what is possible financially, do the permit check for your address and look at what a garden home costs. Then you have both sides of the sum complete, and that is exactly what makes the conversation with the municipality easier.

Sources

• [Act] Wet maatschappelijke ondersteuning 2015 — art. 2.3.5 (customised provision) and art. 2.1.6 (token of appreciation) — accessed 2026-08-20
• [Explanation] Stimuleringsfonds Volkshuisvesting — Blijverslening and Verzilverlening, conditions per participating municipality — accessed 2026-08-20
• [Explanation] Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland — ISDE and the conditions for energy schemes — accessed 2026-08-20
• [Explanation] Rijksoverheid — support under the Wmo and the role of the municipality — accessed 2026-08-20