What is allowed on your property?
No general rules of thumb: we retrieve the official rules that apply to your address and your municipality. Enter your address. That is the key.
Enter your own address and we will find your municipality automatically.
We use the national Omgevingsloket (DSO), the Dutch government's online portal for planning rules and permits. It is the same source your municipality uses. We only use your address for this check.
Is this your plot?
We are consulting the official Omgevingsloket. This sometimes takes a few seconds, because the rules differ per municipality.
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- Do you rent the house or the land? Then you also need written permission from your landlord or housing association. That is separate from this result. We can help you ask for it.
- Leasehold (erfpacht), an owners' association (VvE) or a shared garden? Check the conditions in your deed or the association's rules. That also falls outside the permit rules.
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That is not your fault. The Omgevingsloket is sometimes briefly unavailable. Not a problem: our adviser will look up your municipality's rules by hand, free of charge.
Or call us directly: 085 06 00 335
When is a garden home permit-free?
In many cases, a garden home (mantelzorgwoning) may be placed in the back garden without an environmental permit (omgevingsvergunning). In planning terms it usually counts as an ancillary building (bijbehorend bouwwerk) belonging to the main house, and the Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving (the national decree on building rules) designates that category as permit-free under certain conditions.
The important point is that two things are involved at the same time, and they are assessed separately: placing the building and using it as self-contained living space. Either may require a permit, and the first says nothing about the second.
The national rules set the framework, but your municipality fills them in through its environmental plan (omgevingsplan). That is why the same design can be permit-free in one municipality and not in the neighbouring one. That is exactly what the check above works out for your address.
What the municipality looks at
It stands in the back garden
The structure must stand behind the front building line, on the part of the property that counts as the rear yard area (achtererfgebied). Different rules apply in front of the house or on a side yard facing the street.
The dimensions stay within the limits
Floor area, building height and the distance to the plot boundary are limited, and there is a maximum on how much of the property may be built on. Those figures are in your municipality's environmental plan (omgevingsplan).
It is at ground level, with a single storey
A garden home (mantelzorgwoning) is single-storey and stands on the ground. That is not just a rule: it is also why this way of living works for someone who is becoming less steady on their feet.
There is a genuine care relationship
Living in it independently is linked to informal care as defined in the Wmo 2015 (Social Support Act). Municipalities may ask for evidence of the need for care, for example a written statement.
The use fits the environmental plan
The structure may be permit-free while its use as a self-contained home is still not permitted. The two are assessed separately.
Your municipality sets no extra requirements
Municipalities can set additional rules on dimensions, siting and use. Two neighbouring municipalities can differ on this, and that is where a rule of thumb from the internet breaks down.
When you do need a permit
You do need an environmental permit as soon as the home falls outside the permit-free limits: larger than the environmental plan allows, outside the back garden area, too close to the plot boundary or on a plot that is already too built-up. Living in it independently may also require a permit for an environmental plan activity (omgevingsplanactiviteit) if the environmental plan does not allow that form of housing.
That is not the end of the road. A permit application is a normal route and is granted regularly; we guide you through it and know what a municipality wants to see. The difference lies mainly in processing time and supporting evidence.
Frequently asked questions about the permit
Often not, if the home stays within the permit-free limits of the Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving (Bbl, the national building regulations) and stands in the back garden. Whether that applies to your plot depends on your municipality's environmental plan (omgevingsplan).
Read the full answer →Through the Omgevingsloket (the national online permit portal), with your own municipality. You submit a drawing, the siting on the plot and evidence of the need for care. We can take care of that application for you if you wish.
Read the full answer →That varies by municipality and depends on the size of your property and on the outbuildings already there. There is a maximum both for floor area and for the percentage of the property that may be built on.
Independent use is linked to the informal care relationship. If the care ends, the basis for that use usually lapses and the situation has to be restored, unless the municipality decides otherwise.
Read the full answer →Both. The Omgevingswet (Environment and Planning Act) and the Bbl form the national framework; the municipality fills this in through the environmental plan and may set additional requirements.
It can, but in addition to the municipal rules you also need permission from the landlord. The two are separate.
Read the full answer →