The different Dutch housing types explained super simply

Fact: a large portion of the housing types on Funda are incorrect. Many real estate agents knowingly or unknowingly enter the wrong property type to make a home look more appealing. For example, we very often see homes listed as hoekwoning on Funda that are actually eindwoning.

The holy grail for determining housing types is the official Dutch housing photo guide. The only problem: it’s unreadable for normal humans. So in this article, we’ll explain the most common Dutch housing types in a super simple way.

We’ll explain the most common types one by one.

In a hurry?

Use this menu to jump straight to a specific housing type with one click:

Tussenwoning (Mid-terrace house)
2-onder-1-kapwoning (Semi-detached house)
Geschakelde 2-onder-1-kapwoning (Linked semi-detached house)
Eindwoning (End-of-terrace house)
Hoekwoning (Corner house)
Half vrijstaande woning (Semi-detached house, non-paired)
Portiekflat (Walk-up apartment with shared entrance)
Portiekwoning (Apartment with open shared entrance)
Bovenwoning (Upper-floor dwelling)
Benedenwoning (Ground-floor apartment)
Maisonnette (Duplex apartment)
Galerijflat (Gallery-access apartment)
Corridorflat (Internal-corridor apartment)

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Tussenwoning (Mid-terrace house)

A tussenwoning is a house where you have neighbours directly attached to both the left and the right side. The houses of both neighbours are literally connected to yours in one continuous row.

But there’s one important rule from the official housing guide:

A home that forms the corner of a closed building block (where two rows of houses connect around the corner) is still considered a tussenwoning.

Translated into plain English:
If the house is attached on both sides and the row continues around the corner, it officially belongs to one continuous building block — and therefore counts as a tussenwoning.

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2-onder-1-kapwoning (Semi-detached house)

A 2-onder-1-kapwoning is a house where two homes sit under one roof.

It doesn’t matter if the roof structure or roof covering differs.
The main rule is that the main buildings (the actual houses, not garages or sheds) are connected.

Important: it must truly be two homes sharing one roof.
If three homes share the same roof, it is not a 2-onder-1-kapwoning.

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Geschakelde 2-onder-1-kapwoning (Linked semi-detached house)

This is a 2-onder-1-kapwoning that has an extension on the side (often a garage) which is connected to the neighbour’s extension.

So the houses themselves are paired, but they are also linked through their side structures.

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Eindwoning (End-of-terrace house)

An eindwoning is a house at the very beginning or end of a row of houses.
Because of this, it is attached to neighbours on only one side. On the other side, the row stops.

An eindwoning is not the same as a hoekwoning.
The key difference is the space beside the house.

An eindwoning has no extra side land or side garden.
The house sits directly on the property boundary, just like the rest of the row.

In short:
An eindwoning is the last house in the row, but without extra side space.

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The difference with a tussenwoning at the corner of a building block

This is where confusion often arises.
Sometimes a house at the end of a street looks like an eindwoning, but officially it isn’t.

That happens when the row of houses continues around the corner and forms one continuous block.

In that case, the house is still attached on two sides. The row doesn’t actually stop — it only bends.
Therefore, the home is officially classified as a tussenwoning, even if it feels like a corner home.

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How to remember it easily

If the row truly ends at your house and you only have one direct neighbour → it’s an eindwoning.

If the row continues around the corner and you have neighbours on both sides → it’s a tussenwoning.

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Hoekwoning (Corner house)

Here it is: the famous hoekwoning — the type agents often incorrectly assign on Funda.

A hoekwoning sits on the corner of a row of houses and has extra land on the side belonging to the property.
This could be a side garden, driveway, or other side space.

The key rule:
The side wall of the house does not end directly on municipal land, unlike with an eindwoning.

The difference from a 2-onder-1-kapwoning is that a hoekwoning belongs to a row with more than two houses under one roof line — for example a row of 3 or even 10 houses.

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Half vrijstaande woning (Semi-detached but not paired)

A half vrijstaande woning is a house attached to only one neighbouring structure, but not to a comparable residential twin like in a 2-onder-1-kapwoning.

So the house is partly detached, but still attached somewhere.

It may be connected to:

• a shop
• commercial building
• garage
• shed
• or a very different-looking house

The key idea: it doesn’t form a deliberate pair and doesn’t belong to a row.

You can think of it as a house that stands mostly free, but happens to touch another structure on one side.

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Difference from a 2-onder-1-kapwoning

A 2-onder-1-kapwoning always consists of two houses intentionally built together.
They look similar, share one roofline, and form a clear twin.

A half vrijstaande woning is attached somewhere, but not to an identical twin house.

In short:
A 2-onder-1-kapwoning is a matching pair under one roof.
A half vrijstaande woning is attached on one side but does not form a pair.

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Portiekflat (Walk-up apartment with shared entrance hall)

A portiekflat is one of the most common apartment types.

It starts with a lockable main entrance to an apartment building.
Once inside, you enter a shared hall (the portiek). From there, you access the individual apartment doors.

Because the apartment door opens into this shared entrance hall, the apartment is called a portiekflat.

If there is a small building with one entrance and a staircase leading to just 3 or 4 apartments, this is usually not called a portiekflat, but a bovenwoning. The staircase alone doesn’t count as a portiek.

If the apartment itself has multiple internal floors with its own staircase, it becomes a maisonnette instead.

A portiekflat can resemble a corridorflat, but the difference is scale:
portiekflats are typically smaller buildings, while corridorflats are large complexes with many apartments.

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Portiekwoning (Apartment with open shared entrance)

A portiekwoning looks very similar to a portiekflat.

It’s also an apartment in a relatively small complex where the front door is accessed through a shared entrance space.

The key difference:
the portiek is open, not closed.
Anyone can walk directly from the street to your apartment door.

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Bovenwoning (Upper-floor dwelling)

A bovenwoning is a home located on an upper floor, accessed via stairs from the street.

The staircase may be behind a private front door, or sometimes behind a shared entrance with up to roughly four other homes.

Think of typical small pre-war apartment buildings in major Dutch cities: one shared entrance with a staircase leading to a few upper apartments.

Those apartments are called bovenwoning.

Important:
A bovenwoning is usually part of a relatively small building, such as a split townhouse.
It is not a large apartment block with lifts, galleries, or long corridors.
Once many homes share one central entrance, the building is generally classified as a flat (for example a corridorflat).

In short:
A bovenwoning feels more like a house upstairs than like an apartment in a large building.

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Benedenwoning (Ground-floor apartment)

A benedenwoning is exactly what the name suggests: an apartment located on the ground floor.

The home has a front door opening directly onto the street.
It may also include additional floors besides the ground level, such as a basement or even an upper floor.

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Maisonnette (Duplex apartment)

A maisonnette is a home consisting of two or more floors, but still part of an apartment complex.

So you live in a flat building, but inside your own home you have an internal staircase to another living level.

The entrance door may be on a gallery, corridor, entrance hall, or stairwell.
The difference from a standard apartment is not its location in the building, but the layout inside.

In short:
A maisonnette is an apartment with multiple internal living floors — a kind of “house inside a building”.

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Galerijflat (Gallery-access apartment)

A galerijflat is simple:

It’s an apartment in a (usually large) building where the entrances are reached via open exterior walkways along the outside of the building — the galleries.

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Corridorflat (Internal-corridor apartment)

A corridorflat is an apartment in a building where the front door opens onto an indoor hallway.

On each floor there is a central corridor or hall connecting multiple apartments.

Unlike a galerijflat, this hallway is inside the building rather than along the exterior facade.

From the main entrance you usually take the stairs or lift to your floor, then walk through the corridor to your apartment.

In short:
A corridorflat is an apartment accessed via an indoor corridor.

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Also useful to watch

In this YouTube video, our real estate agent takes you along to see several Dutch housing types in real life:

This video is spoken in Dutch and has ENGLISH subs. If you don’t see the subs automatically, click on the settings button in the bottom right corner of the video and activate the English subs there.