Modular housing builders in the Netherlands: your own company as the Dutch contractor
The Dutch government and the housing sector agreed on 11 December 2024 to build 100,000 homes a year, and on 20 April 2026 the cabinet decided that at least half of all new homes must come out of a factory within four years. For modular and industrial builders from Turkey, Germany, Poland, Scandinavia and elsewhere, this creates a large and steady market for factory-built homes. Municipalities, non-profit social landlords (housing corporations) and developers sign with a Dutch contractor, and a Dutch private limited company (BV) of your own can be that contractor. It employs your crews and has the Dutch VAT number and the blocked bank account for payroll taxes (G-account) that Dutch clients ask for.
Ask about your situationThe target of 100,000 new homes a year comes with €7.5 billion in extra public money on top of €12.5 billion already reserved, and the cabinet wants factory-built homes to become the standard. Within four years at least half of all new homes are to come out of a factory, mostly a Dutch one, and fully certified homes will be exempt from the permit for the technical requirements. A foreign builder works under the Dutch building code (Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving, Bbl), with an independent quality assurer checking every new home, and under the EU Construction Products Regulation (EU) 2024/3110, which requires the EU conformity mark (CE marking) on modules and components. On site, Dutch rules require employers to report posted workers and to register for Dutch payroll tax, and because the Dutch tax office can collect the unpaid payroll taxes of a subcontractor from every company above it in the chain (chain liability), clients ask for the G-account.
Your own Dutch company can sign as the contractor with the municipality, the housing corporation or the developer. It employs or posts your crews, has the VAT number and the G-account that Dutch clients ask for, and acts as the EU importer or EU representative for the modules you ship from your factory abroad. We set it up and keep its books, while the address, the directors and the shares remain yours.
Tell us what you make or sell, where your company is and what you plan in Europe. Our team looks at it and replies with the steps and the dates that apply to you.
Who does what
We set up and manage the Dutch company. Specialist partners do the licence and product work. We are your only contact, with one file for all the work.
Your company
- Own the building system, the factory and the crews, and choose the Dutch clients and partners
- Decide whether you assemble from your factory abroad or from a hall in the Netherlands
- Build and assemble the homes and accept the liability for defects under the Dutch law on building quality assurance (Wkb) in your contracts
- Sign the power of attorney for the formation and the registrations
The Dutch company
- Set up the Dutch company (a BV), by power of attorney, with the notary
- Chamber of Commerce (KVK) number, tax number, VAT number, customs registration number (EORI), the Article 23 licence for import VAT, payroll tax registration and the G-account application
- Bank account, bookkeeping, VAT returns, annual accounts and corporate tax
- Payroll for posted and local crews, and the reports of posted workers
- One contact for the building code, quality assurance and CE marking partners
Building code, quality assurance and CE marking
- Check of your system against chapter 4 of the Bbl and the Dutch energy and environmental performance rules
- Quality assurer (kwaliteitsborger) for each project under the Wkb
- CE marking file and declaration of performance and conformity for your construction products
- Permit adviser for nitrogen, grid connection and water on the site
Step by step
From your first question to a Dutch company that hands over its first homes.
- Your question. You tell us what you build, which clients you aim for (municipalities, corporations, developers, Dutch main contractors) and whether you assemble from abroad or from a hall in the Netherlands, and we advise on the structure.
- The Dutch company. The notary sets up the BV by power of attorney, with your company as shareholder. You receive the KVK number, the tax number, the VAT number and the EORI number. We register the company for payroll tax, prepare the Article 23 licence and apply for the G-account.
- The rules. A Dutch engineer checks your system against the Bbl, the CE marking partner completes the declaration of performance and conformity for your products, and your company contracts a quality assurer for the first project.
- The people. Your Dutch company employs the local staff, assembly crews are posted or employed, and the payroll starts.
- The first project. Your company signs the building contract, imports the modules, assembles and invoices in its own name, and you receive a monthly overview from one contact person.
The rules and agreements, the dates and what the builder needs
| Rule or agreement | Date | What the builder needs |
|---|---|---|
| Woontop agreements (the national housing summit) between the national government, provinces, municipalities, water boards, housing corporations (Aedes), developers and builders. 100,000 homes a year, two-thirds affordable. €7.5 billion extra, of which €5 billion for homes and €2.5 billion for the roads and transport to reach them, on top of €12.5 billion already reserved, with 50% co-financing by municipalities. Named areas: Groot Merwede-Rijnenburg (about 63,000 homes), Lisserbroek and Nieuw-Vennep West (at least 6,500), Bleizo (5,000). 30,000 social rental homes a year from 2029. Uniform requirements for new homes that follow the EU rules; a government programme removes conflicting and redundant rules (STOER). | 11 December 2024 | A Dutch contracting party for municipalities, corporations and developers, and a product that meets the uniform Dutch requirements once. |
| Cabinet acceleration measures. At least half of all new homes factory-built within four years, mostly in Dutch factories. Industrial building is the default for projects with the national government. Fully certified homes get an exemption from the permit for the technical requirements, through a change of the Bbl. Design and permit time from 8 to 4 years (€90 million), €156 million for permit capacity at provinces and municipalities, 30 large-scale housing areas with priority, a €287 million taskforce. The action plan follows after the summer of 2026. | 20 April 2026 | A certified building system and, for the Dutch-factory preference, assembly or production capacity in the Netherlands, in your own company. |
| Building code: Besluit bouwwerken leefomgeving (Bbl). Under the Dutch Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet), a building project has two parts. The technical building activity is tested against the technical rules of chapter 4 of the Bbl for new construction. The spatial activity is tested against the municipal environment plan (omgevingsplan) on height, appearance and use. Complex buildings need a permit for the technical part. Homes in the lowest risk category (consequence class 1) work with a building notification. | In force | A Dutch design that meets chapter 4 of the Bbl on structural safety, fire safety, energy performance and environmental performance. A Dutch engineer checks your system against it once. |
| Quality assurance: Wet kwaliteitsborging voor het bouwen (Wkb). Under this law on building quality assurance, independent quality assurers check during design and on site that new homes in the lowest risk category meet the technical rules. The municipality has stopped its prior plan review. Contractors are responsible for the defects they cause, also for defects found later, and clients can keep 5% of the price at the notary until the defects are fixed. Other buildings and renovations follow after 2028. | Since 1 January 2024 | A contract with a Dutch quality assurer for each project and a Dutch contract with the Wkb liability in it. |
| CE marking: Construction Products Regulation (EU) 2024/3110. Adopted 27 November 2024, published 18 December 2024, in force 7 January 2025, applies from 8 January 2026. The 2011 regulation is repealed in 2039, and each product family comes under the new rules when the EU cites its new harmonised standard. The new regulation adds a digital product passport with the declaration of performance and conformity, environmental characteristics based on life cycle assessment, and a harmonised zone (Article 11) in which the EU specifications are the complete list for the member states. An authorised representative is a person established in the EU with a written mandate from the manufacturer. | Applies from 8 January 2026 | CE marking and a declaration of performance and conformity for the construction products in your modules. A factory outside the EU needs an importer or an authorised representative established in the EU, and your Dutch company can be either. |
| Nitrogen, grid and water. The Woontop agreement names nitrogen, grid congestion, green space in and around the city and the Water Framework Directive as uncertainties that can raise the cost of a project. | 11 December 2024 | A Dutch permit adviser on each project; the municipality or developer leads the permits for the site. |
| Staff on site. The employer reports posted workers in the Dutch online portal before the work starts and registers for Dutch payroll tax. In construction the Dutch tax office (Belastingdienst) can make every company in the chain pay the unpaid payroll taxes of a subcontractor, so clients ask for a G-account and a statement of payment conduct from the tax office. From 1 January 2027 companies that lend staff need an admission under the law on the admission of staffing agencies (Wtta), with enforcement from 1 January 2028. | In force; Wtta from 1 January 2027 | A Dutch payroll, a G-account and a statement of payment conduct in your own company. |
Dutch homes are bought by many different clients. Municipalities tender building plots and projects under the public procurement rules and publish notices above the EU thresholds on the Dutch government tender portal TenderNed, while housing corporations and developers choose their builders through their own selections and framework agreements. German, Polish and Scandinavian builders bid as companies from the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA). Turkey, by contrast, is only an observer at the World Trade Organization’s agreement on public purchasing, the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), so since the Kolin ruling of the Court of Justice of 22 October 2024 the public buyer decides whether and how a Turkish bidder takes part. A Dutch BV owned by a Turkish parent, however, is an EU company. See public tenders in the Netherlands for non-EU contractors.
Who buys the homes and how you reach them
Municipalities own or zone the building sites, grant the permits and either tender projects or sell building plots with conditions attached. They signed the Woontop agreements and committed to issuing enough permits, and your Dutch company can bid itself or join a developer who bids.
Housing corporations are to build the 30,000 social rental homes a year that the parties agreed on from 2029, and their sector body, Aedes, signed the Woontop. Because corporations buy standardised homes in series, a factory builder with a certified system has an advantage with them.
Developers and Dutch builders sell homes on the open market and hire factory builders as subcontractors or system suppliers. The Turkish group Rönesans bought the Dutch contractor Ballast Nedam in 2015, although most foreign entrants start smaller, with a Dutch company that supplies modules to a Dutch main contractor and later grows into a contractor itself. See the project company for a Dutch construction consortium.
Tell us what you make or sell, where your company is and what you plan in Europe. Our team looks at it and replies with the steps and the dates that apply to you.
What your Dutch company does
Dutch clients sign with companies that have a registration number at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK), a Dutch VAT number and a Dutch bank account. Your Dutch company signs the building contract, invoices the instalments and takes on the liability for defects under the Wkb in a Dutch contract.
For modules, bathroom pods, facade elements and installations shipped from a factory outside the EU, your Dutch company acts as importer under its own EORI number, and customs clears the goods once, in Rotterdam. A permit from the Dutch tax office lets it report the import VAT in its own VAT return (the Article 23 licence), so the goods clear customs sooner. Under the Construction Products Regulation the same company serves as the importer or the authorised representative established in the EU for your products. See machinery and electronics for the EU market.
Assembly crews are either on the Dutch payroll or work as posted workers, reported in the Dutch portal, and crews from outside the EU and the European Economic Area need a work permit. The company registers for payroll tax, applies to the tax office for the G-account, has its bank set up the account and asks the tax office for a statement of payment conduct, because main contractors and developers ask for both. See Dutch payroll for foreign companies.
The cabinet wants most factory-built homes to come from Dutch factories, so an assembly hall in the Netherlands, rented or bought by your own company and staffed by its employees, makes your system part of that group and shortens transport.
One Dutch company, many roles
The contractor, the importer with its EORI number and Article 23 licence, the authorised representative for your construction products, the employer, the holder of the G-account and the owner of the Dutch references can all be the same company, with its bookkeeping, VAT returns, payroll and annual accounts kept in a single administration. Its profit is taxed at 19% on the first €200,000 and 25.8% above that.
The company is yours, so you choose the location, appoint the directors and own the shares. We handle the formation, the registrations and the administration, while partners from our network check your system against the Bbl and take care of the quality assurance, the CE marking file and the permits at their own price, which you see first.
Your Dutch company (BV) costs from €2,950 excl. VAT, and a holding with an operating company from €4,950 excl. VAT. See company formation in the Netherlands and setting up a subsidiary in Europe.
Sources
- Government of the Netherlands, Woontop: concrete afspraken voor 100.000 nieuwe woningen per jaar (11 December 2024).
- Government of the Netherlands, Kabinet versnelt woningbouw op alle fronten (20 April 2026).
- Informatiepunt Leefomgeving (IPLO), De knip: scheiden van technisch en ruimtelijk bouwen and Omgevingsvergunning bij de technische bouwactiviteit (updated 7 September 2026).
- Government of the Netherlands, Meer toezicht in de bouw via de Wet kwaliteitsborging voor het bouwen (Wkb) (2026).
- Regulation (EU) 2024/3110 laying down harmonised rules for the marketing of construction products, EUR-Lex (27 November 2024, OJ L of 18 December 2024); European Commission, CPR 2024 revision (2026), with dates and transition.
- Business.gov.nl, Posting employees to the Netherlands (2026); KVK, Ketenaansprakelijkheid en een G-rekening (2026); Government of the Netherlands, Wtta (2026).
- World Trade Organization, Agreement on Government Procurement: parties and observers (2026); Court of Justice of the EU, case C-652/22 (Kolin) (22 October 2024).
Last reviewed: 27 October 2026. Based on the official sources listed, as they apply in October 2026. Building code checks, quality assurance and CE marking files are done by specialised partners; we coordinate.
What we arrange beyond the company
Once your Dutch company is set up, we can help you with more. When you win a Dutch defence order, the government asks you to place part of the work with Dutch companies, and we find those companies for you. We prepare subsidy applications for your company, such as the Dutch subsidy for renewable energy and climate projects (SDE++) and the tax credit for research and development (WBSO). We help you buy a Dutch contractor or supplier, and we arrange export credit insurance and project finance with the banks.
We agree every fee with you first and link it to the result. For a project that deserves it, we join as co-founder and take a share of 5 to 10% in the project company.
Common questions
Ask about your own situation
Tell us what you build, which Dutch clients you aim for and whether you assemble from abroad or from a hall in the Netherlands, and you receive advice on the structure that suits your company.
Related guides
More guides about selling in Europe.