The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) and De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) published their annual monitor on mortgage lending standards and financial stability, concluding that easing borrowing limits for homebuyers is undesirable. They warn that looser standards could fuel higher bids and house prices and leave buyers, particularly first-time buyers, with higher debt and greater risks, with spillovers to financial institutions. The monitor also argues that lowering the Loan-to-Value (LTV) cap is not advisable at present, even though the Netherlands has a high LTV limit relative to other countries, because it would make homeownership even harder for first-time buyers. It reiterates that Dutch borrowers generally may not borrow more than 100% of a home’s value (LTV limit) and are also constrained by a Loan-to-Income (LTI) standard based on income and interest rates. While homeowners have become less vulnerable to shocks since 2013 as house values rose and fewer mortgages are underwater, risks remain given high mortgage debt and the recent rise in LTVs and LTIs for new lending. Supporting data include house prices rising 21% since mid-2023 versus 14% income growth, overbidding in nearly 75% of 2025 transactions, mortgage debt just under 80% of GDP, and more than half of first-time buyers taking out mortgages with an LTV above 90%. The monitor was prepared at the request of the Minister of Finance to inform the setting of lending standards by making financial-stability risks more explicit. A separate monitor by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) was published alongside it, examining the relationship between lending standards and access to the owner-occupied housing market.

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