Guidelines covering how much people can borrow to finance buying a house will change next year so that people can borrow slightly more, housing minister Hugo de Jonge has announced.

Experts had feared that borrowing could be restricted because of soaring energy prices and mortgage interest rates. But given that wages are also rising and measures are being brought in to curb the impact of energy bills, there is room for people to borrow more, De Jonge said.

The change means that dual income households will be able to include 100% of the second income in calculating how much they can borrow, not 90% as at present from next year.

De Jonge also plans to bring in more changes in 2024. He then plans to formalize the inclusion of student loans in mortgage calculations – but only the actual size of the debt at that moment.

In addition, energy labels will have more of a role in determining how much can be borrowed. Houses which are very energy efficient have lower bills and that means households have more scope to borrow higher amounts, De Jonge said.

Mortgage advisor Henk Jansen of Expat Mortgages told Dutch News the changes are good news for home buyers.

‘We were expecting the borrowing capacity to be reduced but now it seems people can actually borrow more,’ he said. ‘If house prices really go down, as expected, that will also increase the possibilities for buyers. The only uncertainty now is the interest rate.’

The changes are based on recommendations made by family spending institute Nibud.