Due diligence is where you find out what you are really buying. A Dutch purchase agreement usually gives the buyer a limited window to investigate and, if needed, walk away. Use it well. This is the checklist we work through for warehouse buyers, together with their lawyer, surveyor and tax adviser.
Since 1 January 2024, zoning falls under the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet), with each municipality’s rules set out in its omgevingsplan. Check that your use, whether storage, distribution, light production or hazardous goods, is permitted at the location, that the existing building and any extensions were properly permitted, and whether there is room to expand. If you will store hazardous substances, the PGS 15 guideline sets requirements for the building and its layout.
With grid congestion (netcongestie) across much of the country, the capacity of the existing connection is part of the building’s value. Check the contracted capacity, whether it transfers to you, and what the grid operator says about expanding it. If your plans depend on more power, for electric trucks, automation or cooling, this is a go/no-go item.
Due diligence only protects you if you act on it. A material finding should lead to a lower price, a seller’s warranty, remediation before transfer, or walking away under your condition. Keep the timetable realistic too: reports take weeks, and a condition deadline that expires before they arrive protects nothing. For the full purchase process see how to buy a warehouse in the Netherlands, and for what to budget alongside the checks, the cost of buying a warehouse.
Found a building?Buy a warehouse in the Netherlands, buyer-side onlyWe coordinate the checks with your advisers and turn the findings into price and terms, on your side only.Typically a few weeks, depending on which reports are needed and how quickly the seller provides documents. Set the due-diligence condition in the purchase agreement so the reports can realistically arrive before it expires.
The buyer, as a rule. Surveys, soil and asbestos reports, and legal and tax reviews are commissioned and paid for by the buyer, which is why they belong in the acquisition budget from the start.
Soil contamination, asbestos in buildings from before the 1993 ban, and insufficient grid capacity. Any one of them can cost more than the margin you negotiated on the price.
The step-by-step process for a foreign company buying a warehouse in the Netherlands: ownership structure, search, offer, purchase agreement, due diligence, notary and financing.
What it really costs to buy a warehouse in the Netherlands in 2026: 10.4% transfer tax, VAT on new buildings, notary, due diligence, financing and the ongoing costs of owning.