Real estate is causing a lot of pressure on the notary's office

Last month, notaries executed more deeds again, according to figures from the Central Digital Repertory (CDR) of the Royal Dutch Association of Civil-Law Notaries (KNB). Mortgage transfers and property transfers, in particular, are causing a lot of work for notaries.

In total, they executed nearly 155,000 deeds in September, almost half of which were in real estate. This means the number of deeds in September is over 15 percent higher than in the same month last year and almost 14 percent higher than in August.

BVs and cohabitation contracts
The quarterly overviews reveal particularly striking figures regarding the establishment of private limited companies (BVs), living wills, and cohabitation agreements. For example, the number of newly established BVs increased by almost 14 percent this quarter compared to the third quarter of 2019. Compared to the previous quarter, this number decreased by almost 9 percent. Last year, however, this decrease was almost 23 percent during the same period. The number of cohabitation agreements even rose by almost 17 percent in the past quarter compared to the third quarter of 2019 and by over 4 percent compared to the second quarter of 2020.

Decline in living wills
The number of living wills has again shown a slight decrease (1.3 percent) compared to the third quarter of last year. In the second quarter, the decrease was 3 percent compared to 2019. This is striking, as the number of living wills has been on an upward trend for years. For example, the number of living wills in the first quarter of 2020 increased by more than 16 percent compared to the first quarter of the previous year. Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, this growth has stalled.