Is a Structural Survey Required for Your Mortgage?

When does the bank require a structural survey?

As a buyer, you have a duty to investigate. You're responsible for assessing the condition of the home yourself, even when no bank is involved. As soon as you apply for a mortgage, a second layer comes in: the appraiser.

If the appraiser finds that overdue maintenance amounts to 10 percent or more of the market value, a structural survey becomes a hard condition for the financing. A property-age clause in the purchase agreement is also reason for almost every lender to demand a report. The strictest standards apply to a mortgage with NHG: as soon as the appraiser can't get a clear enough picture of the condition of the roof, foundation or installations, the requirement follows automatically.

Separate from what the bank requires, every purchase agreement has included a structural survey contingency as standard since 1 February 2018. It lets you withdraw from the purchase if the survey reveals serious defects, or if the repair costs come out above an amount agreed in advance. If the seller doesn't want the contingency, or you feel you don't need it, it has to be deliberately struck out. Without that step, you automatically have a way out if the survey brings bad news.

What does a structural survey cost?

Expect to pay between €275 and €500, depending on the type and size of the home. An apartment starts at around €200, while a detached house is closer to €500. If the report has to meet NHG requirements, you'll pay an extra €25 to €50 because the report needs to be more detailed.

Under certain conditions, the cost of the survey is tax-deductible as purchase costs, provided you actually buy the home and live in it yourself. For an NHG application, the deduction only applies if the survey was made mandatory.

What happens if the survey finds defects?

If the surveyor finds defects, you have three options: renegotiate the price with the seller, have the repair costs included in a construction deposit as part of your mortgage, or withdraw from the purchase if the contingency allows it. Which route suits you best depends on the type of defect and on how your mortgage is structured. We always discuss this before you make an offer, not once the report has come in.

Foundations: what buyers in Tilburg should look out for

The foundation deserves separate attention, apart from the rest of the structural survey. Homes built before 1970 often stand on wooden piles or rest directly on the ground, a shallow foundation known in Dutch as fundering op staal. After 1970, concrete became the standard, with considerably less risk of subsidence.

The risk of foundation damage is closely tied to the soil. In peat and clay areas, such as large parts of the western and northern Netherlands, the risk is highest. Tilburg sits on sandy soil and, according to national foundation research, counts as a relatively low-risk area, along with cities such as Eindhoven and Den Bosch. That doesn't mean foundations are never a concern here: in neighbourhoods with many 1930s homes, such as parts of Korvel and Broekhoven, wooden pile foundations can certainly have become vulnerable after ninety years, especially where the groundwater level has dropped.

Signs that can point to foundation problems:

• Cracks in the facade, often diagonal and wider at the top
• Doors and windows that stick without any other obvious cause
• Sloping floors or a sunken pavement in front of the home
• Rising damp in the outer walls

If you spot one or more of these signs in a home you're considering, a targeted foundation inspection alongside the standard structural survey is worth thinking about. The extra cost almost always outweighs the risk of an unpleasant surprise afterwards.

When you book a structural survey, check that the foundation is actually included. That's not a given in every standard package, and with a 1930s home in particular, this part is too important to overlook.

Since 1 April 2026 the foundation counts in every appraisal

Buying a house this year? There is a step in the process that most buyers have not caught up with yet. Since 1 April 2026, appraisers work to a new model in which the foundation is no longer a footnote but a required part of every appraisal report. Every property gets a foundation risk class, A through E. At class D or E, the appraiser cannot sign off the report without a further foundation survey.

That sounds like paperwork, but it lands squarely on your purchase. Here is what changed, and what we do to stop it slowing you down.

What changed

Until this year the foundation was a minor entry in an appraisal report. Appraisers looked at it, but there was no fixed way of grading the risk. That has gone.

Every property now gets a foundation risk class from A to E. The appraiser sets it from what is visible, such as cracks, damp and tilting, and from data held by the KCAF, the Dutch knowledge centre for foundation problems, partly through Fundermaps.

• Class A, B or C: nothing to worry about. The appraisal runs as you would expect.
• Class D or E: more investigation needed. The appraiser will call for an additional foundation survey, known as a phase 0 quick scan, before the report, and with it your mortgage, can be signed off.

Older properties feel this most: homes built before 1970 on timber piles, in areas with soft ground such as parts of South Holland, North Holland, Groningen and Friesland. An estimated 500,000 homes in the Netherlands are thought to carry a raised risk.

Why this matters to you as a buyer

It is the timing that bites. The appraisal report is usually only drawn up once you have signed the purchase agreement. If the foundation comes back at class D or E after that, you can be committed to a house while the financing turns uncertain. At worst the application drags, or the mortgage does not come through as planned.

Foundation repair is also among the most expensive things a house can need. Costs run to somewhere between €40,000 and €70,000 without much difficulty. Not a discovery you want to make afterwards.

How we head this off

This is exactly why the foundation is now a standard part of our purchase guidance, before you put in an offer.

• We check the foundation status up front. Using the KCAF and Fundermaps data, we work out whether a property carries a raised risk before you bid.
• We call for a phase 0 survey in good time. Where there is doubt, or a higher risk class, we make sure you go first rather than waiting for the appraiser to raise it. That usually runs to a few hundred euros and takes a few working days.
• We make the financing contingency hold. Now that the appraisal is less predictable, the wording of your financing contingency, in Dutch the financieringsvoorbehoud, matters more than it used to. We draft it around your situation.
• We leave you room to negotiate. If a raised risk does surface, you know before the offer instead of after. That gives you something to work with: the price, or a demand for further investigation, rather than a nasty surprise later.

Where a structural survey goes further

Beyond the foundation, a structural survey covers the rest of the house: the roof and roof structure, the window frames, damp, the installations and the general state of repair. We work with independent, certified inspectors who carry it out for you, with or without a foundation survey alongside it.

Unsure about the foundation of a property?

We are glad to look at it with you before there is an offer on the table. Book a no-obligation consultation and we will work out what your situation calls for.