The standard rule for an informal care dwelling is that the temporary structure must be removed or adapted once the care relationship ends. However, this principle becomes problematic in cases where the care need arises at a young age and continues for many years. In such situations, it is crucial to choose a future-proof legal route in advance.
The challenge of ‘temporariness’
Under the Omgevingswet, an informal care dwelling is treated as an associated structure with a temporarily permitted residential function, valid only as long as the informal care situation can be demonstrated 1. This leads to a conflict in situations involving long-term or chronic care for younger individuals:
- Conflict: The care need is permanent, but the legal status of the dwelling remains ‘temporary’.
- Consequence: When the caregiver (for example, a parent) passes away or moves, the dwelling must legally be modified or removed. This is both risky and undesirable from a financial and legal perspective.
You can minimise this risk by focusing your application on sustainable solutions and by using the possibilities offered within the municipal environmental plan.
Regulation through the environmental plan
If it is clear that the dwelling will be required for several decades, the most robust legal route is requesting an environmental deviation permit (previously the “kruimelgevallenregeling”) or a change to the environmental plan.
- Plan modification: You may request that the municipality amend the environmental plan, allowing a second (permanent) dwelling specifically for the care relationship.
- Advantage: The dwelling may obtain a permanent status, allowing the care recipient to continue living there after the informal care ends (as long as this fits within the new plan rules).
- Disadvantage: The process is lengthy, costly, and conflicts with the principle that a plot typically contains only one main residence. Municipalities are therefore cautious.
The sustainable informal care dwelling
Another approach is designing the dwelling so that it can be easily converted back into an outbuilding once the informal care relationship ends, while the care recipient (preferably) moves into or remains in the main dwelling.
- Property value: Although the dwelling is legally temporary, it is advisable to build it as a durable, high-quality structure, preserving its long-term value as an outbuilding.
- Permanent adaptations: Structural adjustments (such as wider doors or ramps) remain useful even after the care situation ends, for example when used as a studio or guest accommodation.
Important fiscal and financial considerations
Long-term residence raises several complex fiscal questions:
- Parent–child ownership: If parents own the land and the dwelling, the resident (the care-dependent child) is formally considered a tenant or user. This may affect housing benefits and the fiscal classification of the structure 2.
- Mortgage and financing: Lenders assess the ‘temporary’ status critically. The absence of a permanent residential designation makes financing more difficult.
For these long-term situations, specialised fiscal and legal advice is strongly recommended 3 to prevent future complications.