WOZ is the abbreviation of Wet waardering onroerende zaken, the Dutch law on the valuation of immovable property. The WOZ value is the amount your municipality assigns to your home each year for tax purposes, with a reference date of 1 January of the previous year. The market value is what that same home would fetch on the open market today, and in Almere it is almost always higher.
Barely a week goes by without someone putting those two figures side by side and asking us which one is correct. They both are. The WOZ value exists for taxation and the market value for trade, and that difference in purpose explains nearly all the distance between the two numbers.
Where the abbreviation comes from
The Wet waardering onroerende zaken makes sure there is one value per property that everyone who levies tax on it works with. The municipality establishes it, and the municipality, the water authority and the tax office all use it. Without that law you would get three different values for the same home.
Your municipality has to send you that value within the first eight weeks of the calendar year. That is the WOZ decision, usually printed on the same form as the assessment for local taxes.
Why the two figures drift apart
The first reason is the date. Your 2026 decision states the value as at 1 January 2025. Put that next to a sale price in the autumn of 2026 and you are comparing two moments almost two years apart. In a rising market the WOZ value is therefore behind by definition.
The second reason is the method. The municipality does not send an appraiser to every house. A model compares sale prices around the reference date with the characteristics held in the municipal records: floor area, year of construction, property type, plot size. What has happened behind your front door is invisible to that model. A bathroom fitted last year, an extended kitchen, the view over the water and the state of the paintwork are not in there, while a buyer does bid on them.
That gap is visible in our own listings. A terraced house of 88 square metres on the Irispad was on the market at € 385,000 and sold in July 2026 for € 420,000. An end-terrace house of 107 square metres on the Bromeliastraat asked € 450,000 and fetched € 485,000. The average sale price in Almere in the first quarter of 2026 was around € 461,000. Those are all 2026 figures, while the decision that landed on the owners' doormats this year covers January 2025.
What the WOZ value is used for
The WOZ value is a tax figure. You come across it in:
- the property tax levied by the municipality;
- the notional rental value in your income tax return;
- the water system levy the water authority charges owners;
- inheritance tax and gift tax when a home is involved.
For those four you need no appraiser. The figure is fixed on your decision letter and the bodies that levy the tax work with it.
When you need the market value
The moment money has to be borrowed or divided, nobody looks at the WOZ value any more. Then it is about today's value, established by an appraiser who is independent of the transaction.
That applies when setting an asking price, when applying for a mortgage, for which the national mortgage guarantee and virtually every lender require a validated appraisal report, and in a divorce or an inheritance where someone is bought out.
The same holds for lowering your interest surcharge. If your home has gained value you may drop into a lower risk bracket and pay less interest. People often try to prove that with their WOZ decision, simply because it is already in the drawer. The mortgage advisers at Vynanzie find that virtually every lender still wants an appraisal report for this.
We carry out a market appraisal free of charge and without obligation, so you hear what your home would fetch now. A validated appraisal report costs € 850 including VAT and validation fees and reaches you within five working days of the inspection.
When an objection is worth filing
You can object up to six weeks after the date on the decision. Ask the municipality for the valuation report first. It states which homes were used for comparison and which characteristics your home is recorded with. If the floor area is wrong, if an extension has been counted that does not exist, or if homes were used that look nothing like yours, you have a case.
An objection is only worth filing if something is actually wrong. You are asking the municipality for a value that matches your home, not for the lowest possible figure. If your objection is upheld, that correction saves you money on the local taxes and on the notional rental value in your tax return.
You file that objection with the municipality yourself. We do not handle the procedure for you, nor do we substantiate it.
Frequently asked questions
What does WOZ stand for?
For Wet waardering onroerende zaken. That law makes sure there is one value per home that the municipality, the water authority and the tax office all use.
Can I use the WOZ value as my asking price?
Better not. The WOZ value covers 1 January of the previous year and takes no account of the condition of your home. Anyone who takes it as an asking price sets themselves too low in a rising market and too high in a falling one.
Why is my neighbour's WOZ value different from mine?
The model looks at floor area, year of construction, type and plot. Two homes that look identical from the street can differ on those points. You can look up the WOZ value of other homes in the national WOZ value portal.
Will the bank accept a WOZ decision instead of an appraisal?
Not for a mortgage application. That requires an appraisal report validated by the NWWI and drawn up by an NRVT-registered appraiser. For lowering your interest surcharge, virtually every lender asks for such a report as well.
Want to know what your home is worth now?
Drop by our office in the centre of Almere or give us a call. Tell us what you need the value for and you will know straight away whether a market appraisal is enough or whether a report is needed. Request your appraisal or let us look at your home without obligation first.
Further reading: Estate agent or appraiser: what is the difference? and What is the added value of a swimming pool in your garden?.
