Buying, renting, or leasing land
What is it?
The municipality owns parcels of land within its jurisdiction. In some cases, you can purchase, rent, or lease a parcel of land from the municipality. Examples include building lots, farmland, or green spaces.
By signing a purchase agreement, you become the owner of the land. If you lease or rent the land, you are permitted to use it. You can only lease land if you intend to use it for agricultural purposes.
How does it work?
- You can buy land. The municipality decides how to sell the land. For example, by placing you on a waiting list, through a lottery, or by inviting you to submit an offer.
- You can rent land. In that case, the rules of general lease law apply.
- You can lease land. This land, or part of it, is designated for agricultural use.
Building on land
You can’t just start building on the land. There are certain Requirements:
- The environmental plan states that construction is permitted on the land.
- You have an environmental permit to build.
- You either own the land or hold a surface rights or leasehold interest in the land.
If you do not own the land and do not have a building lease or ground lease, you must ask the owner for permission to build on the land. The landowner will then also become the owner of the structure.
Rivierenland Environmental Agency
The Omgevingsdienst Rivierenland (ODR) performs construction and environmental tasks for the municipality of West Maas en Waal. For questions about an environmental permit, you can contact them.
What should I do?
You should determine whether the piece of land you wish to buy, rent, or lease is suitable for your purposes:
- Check the designated use of the land. You can do this via Ruimtelijkeplannen.nl. There
you can view the plans that were submitted for review under the Spatial Planning Act (Wro) before January 1, 2024. Plans submitted after January 1, 2024, can be found under the “Regulations” section on the Map of the new Environmental Permit Portal. - Check what you are and are not allowed to do with the land. This information is included in a property abstract. You can request this document from the Land Registry.
After that, contact the municipality regarding the plot of land.
Additional information
Land that is leased may only be used for agricultural purposes. In many cases, a lease agreement must be approved by the Land Chamber. A rental agreement does not. A lease agreement is valid for a specific period of time. A rental agreement may also be valid for an indefinite period.
Soil contamination
Before purchasing the land, you need to know whether the soil is contaminated. The seller is required to inform you of this. A soil survey will determine whether the soil is contaminated. Therefore, always have a soil survey conducted first.