Rent vs. Buy
Compares the net cost of renting (with the down payment invested instead) against buying, over a chosen time horizon.
Private: everything is calculated in your browser. Nothing you enter here is sent to us or stored.
Inputs
RentingRenting
Buying
Open a step for the sum with your figures, what the step does, and what the Dutch terms mean.
Renting€ 181.378
What this step does: All the costs of each option over the same period, including what the money could have earned elsewhere, so the two are compared fairly.
The down payment is invested instead, and its Box 3 tax is paid each year.
Buying€ 2.447
What this step does: All the costs of each option over the same period, including what the money could have earned elsewhere, so the two are compared fairly.
Difference€ 178.930
What this step does: The results of each option put next to each other on the same basis, so the difference is only the choice itself.
- Renting invests the money buying would tie upThe down payment and buying costs you would spend up front to purchase a home stay invested instead. This calculator grows them at your chosen investment-return rate, subtracts the Box 3 wealth tax owed on that growing balance each year, and compares the after-tax result against total rent paid.
- Buying builds equity, but has carrying costsMortgage payments partly build ownership (equity) instead of disappearing like rent, and property can appreciate. But interest, maintenance, and VVE (owners' association) fees are real, ongoing costs of owning.
- Mortgage interest deduction lowers the net cost of buyingAs in the Mortgage calculator, interest above the eigenwoningforfait is deductible: worth at most the second-bracket rate (37.56% in 2026), and for middle incomes a little more through higher tax credits. This reduces buying's net cost year over year, and is included in "Total tax deduction benefit" above.
- It is a projection, not a guaranteeHouse prices, rents, and investment returns do not move in a straight line in real life. Treat the crossover point (whether buying or renting comes out cheaper) as directional, and stress-test it with more conservative appreciation/return assumptions.
Frequently asked questions
What is left out of this comparison?
One-off buying costs (kosten koper, notary, mortgage advice) and moving costs are still excluded. Including them would make buying relatively more expensive. Box 3 tax on the invested down payment is now included on the renting side.
Why might renting still make sense even if buying is "cheaper" here?
Flexibility to move, no maintenance responsibility, and not being exposed to a falling housing market are real trade-offs this purely financial comparison does not capture.
Sources: belastingdienst.nl (eigenwoningforfait, hypotheekrenteaftrek) | nibud.nl
A simplified comparison: ignores one-off buying costs (kosten koper, notary, advice), moving costs, and rent-controlled vs. free-sector rent rules. Box 3 tax on the invested down payment is now modeled (treating the whole balance as 'investments' for the notional-yield split, using this year's Box 3 rates held constant for the whole horizon), but the real forfaitair-rendement method can still diverge from an investor's actual returns. Treat this as directional, not a financial-advice-grade projection.