Cooperative bank Rabobank, market leader in the Dutch mortgage market with around 40%, is planning to charge sharply lower tariffs than its competitors for handing out mortgage advice from next year.

New rules from January 1 will stop mortgage providers charging customers ‘hidden’ costs and commission. Instead, they will have to charge a ‘transparent’ fee for their advice.
Rabobank says it will charge €1,750 to advise clients about mortgages, under-cutting the €2,100 fee offered by ABN Amro and ING. SNS Bank has opted for €2,950 while independent mortgage agents’ fees so far vary between €2,500 and €3,000, the Financieele Dagblad says.
If customers are well-prepared and can carry out some of the administrative procedures themselves, the Rabobank fee will be as low as €850 for first-time buyers, the FD reported. Other banks have not yet introduced discounted rates.
A spokesman for the independent advisors’ association Adfziz told the FD Rabobank’s move is ‘surprising’. ‘This says a lot about the value Rabobank attaches to its advice,’ the spokesman said. The Rabobank fee will be charged on a ‘no-cure-no-pay’ basis, which has also angered Adfziz.
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