Are garden homes suitable for international informal care (expats)?
For the building, nationality makes no difference: the informal care exception looks at the care relationship and not at a passport. The difficult question lies elsewhere, namely whether the person coming to live here is allowed to stay. That is a matter of residence rights, which is completely separate from the building rules, so start there and not with the home.
For the building itself, it makes no difference where someone comes from. The informal care exception looks at the care relationship and at whether help is needed that goes beyond the usual help. Nationality plays no part in that assessment.
The difficult question lies elsewhere. Before someone can live in your garden, he or she must be allowed to stay in the Netherlands, and that is a matter of residence rights. That is completely separate from the building rules, it differs per situation, and it is the question that decides whether the plan can go ahead at all.
So start there. Ordering a home for someone who does not get residence rights is the most expensive order of doing things there is.
Three situations, three stories
| Who is coming to live there | Where the question lies |
|---|---|
| Someone with Dutch nationality | No residence question; only the usual rules |
| A citizen of the EU, EEA or Switzerland | Broad freedom of movement, with conditions for a longer stay |
| Someone from outside the EU | This is the real bottleneck; residence with family is limited |
That bottom row is the situation in which people usually call us: a parent in a country outside Europe who can no longer live alone, and children who have built their lives here. We cannot give an opinion on that, and you should be careful about anyone who does. Residence rights for a parent in the Netherlands are subject to strict conditions and the assessment is individual.
Put that question to the Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst (IND, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service) or to a specialised lawyer before you arrange anything else. What you can get from us is the answer on the building side.
Staying as a guest is not living here
There is a variant that is more common and that is legally very different: family who come for a few months a year and live elsewhere for the rest of the year. Someone who is visiting and stays within the permitted length of stay does not live here.
That also means the informal care exception does not come into play, because it concerns independent occupation. A guest room in the garden is, in planning terms, something different from a second home: no separate household is created.
That can actually make your plan simpler. A building that is used as guest accommodation and a workspace does not have to meet the requirements for independent occupation, although the rules for the back garden area (achtererfgebied) still apply as normal. If you later want someone to live there permanently after all, that is a new question for the municipality (gemeente).
What needs to be arranged in practice
If someone really is coming to live here, a few things are added that happen automatically for a Dutch resident.
- Registration in the basisregistratie personen (BRP, the Personal Records Database). Anyone who stays in the Netherlands for longer than four months should register with the municipality. This requires lawful residence.
- An address to register at. If the garden home does not get its own house number, the registration is at your address. What that means is explained on the page about benefits and allowances (toeslagen).
- Health insurance. Anyone who lives in the Netherlands is in principle required to take out insurance. Arrange this before care is needed, because an uninsured hospital admission is a bill you do not want.
- Evidence of the care needs. A care assessment from abroad does not automatically count here. Make sure there is a Dutch GP and a statement that supports the care needs, because that is what the municipality wants to see.
The expat who is only here temporarily
There is another variant that explains the wording of this question: the family itself is in the Netherlands temporarily for work, and a parent who needs care joins them. Then there is an extra factor, namely that you may leave again in three years.
That rarely makes buying sensible. A home you leave behind at an address where you no longer live is a problem rather than an asset, and selling takes time you do not have when you move. Renting fits much better here: when you leave, you cancel and we collect it.
Pay attention to something people forget: the home stands on a plot that you own or that you rent. If you rent the house, you need permission from the landlord before anything is placed in the garden, and that is a conversation you had better have beforehand.
Language and the municipality
The municipal procedure is conducted in Dutch. Forms, the environmental plan (omgevingsplan) and the correspondence are rarely translated, and that makes a process that is already complicated considerably harder.
So arrange for someone who speaks the language to look over things with you, and let that person also handle the contact with the municipality. That avoids misunderstandings on points where a misunderstood answer costs you weeks.
Where things get stuck at the municipality
Rarely on nationality, because that is not a criterion. But often on the evidence. For a parent who has just arrived, there is no file yet: no GP who has been involved for years, no district nurse, no care assessment.
That makes it harder to show plausibly that help is needed that goes beyond the usual. So build up that file deliberately from the moment someone arrives: register with a GP, request a Wmo assessment (under the Social Support Act) if needed, and keep whatever medical documents there are.
What else is involved in an application is explained in do I need a permit, and what to do if you are refused in lodging an objection.
What a home adds to this situation
International informal care involves something that plays less of a role with a Dutch parent: a whole life is left behind. Language, neighbours, habits, and often a climate that is nothing like the Netherlands.
A front door of their own helps with that more than people expect. Living in with adult children means being dependent in an environment where you can already arrange little for yourself; a home of your own with your own kitchen keeps part of that life intact. Cooking the way you did at home, your own rhythm, receiving your own visitors.
In practical terms: take the winter into account. Someone who comes from a warm country experiences a Dutch November differently from someone who grew up here. Good insulation and heating that responds quickly are not a side issue here; what is in our homes is explained in materials and insulation.
And if it is temporary
If the stay is based on a scheme that comes to an end, or if it is still unclear how it will turn out, renting is the sensible option. That way you do not buy a home costing around a hundred thousand euros for a situation whose duration is decided by an authority rather than by you.
With us, renting starts at around €1,100 a month, with installation and foundation charged separately, and you cancel when it is no longer needed. How the comparison works out is explained in what a garden home costs.
The order that works
First find out whether residence is possible and under what conditions. Alongside that, do the permit check for your address, because it costs nothing and tells you whether there is room on your property. Only when both answers are positive does it make sense to talk about models and sizes.
Sources
- [Act] Wet maatschappelijke ondersteuning 2015 (Wmo, Social Support Act) — art. 1.1.1 — definition of informal care, with no nationality requirement — accessed 2026-08-21
- [Act] Wet basisregistratie personen (Personal Records Database Act) — registration for a stay of longer than four months — accessed 2026-08-21
- [Act] Zorgverzekeringswet (Health Insurance Act) — insurance obligation for residents — accessed 2026-08-21
- [Guidance] Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst (IND) — residence with family and the conditions per situation — accessed 2026-08-21
- [Act] Omgevingswet (Environment and Planning Act) — art. 5.1 — building and use on your property — accessed 2026-08-21
