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Quick answer
For an under-sink water filter in an apartment you usually don’t need permission from the VvE (the owners’ association). The filter is connected to the angle stop valve in your own kitchen, so behind the water meter and within your private area. The VvE only comes into play if you were to change something on a shared pipe, riser or shaft, and that doesn’t happen with this type of filter. If you rent the apartment, your landlord is your point of contact.
Will it fit under your kitchen unit?
Check the dimensions and the connection of the filter before you arrange anything.
View PureFilter Mineral+Table of contents
1. Private or shared: where is the line?
Definition
In an apartment complex, part of the building is shared and part is private. What exactly falls under which is set out in the deed of division and the accompanying regulations of your complex. You request those from your VvE or its board.
The rule of thumb most complexes follow: everything that serves the building as a whole is shared, and everything that serves only your home is private. For water that usually means that the main supply and the risers through the building are shared, and the pipes from your own water meter to your own taps are not.
Note the word “usually”. Complexes differ, and especially for pipes that run in a shared floor or shaft it is not always clear-cut. If you are in doubt, read your own deed of division or put the question to your board. This article explains how things stand technically for this type of filter, but it is not legal advice for your complex.
2. Where exactly the filter sits
This is the point where most worries evaporate. An under-sink filter doesn’t go in the wall, the floor or a shaft. It hangs or stands in the cupboard under your sink and is placed with a hose between the angle stop valve of the cold water, exactly where the supply hose of your tap is now.
That means, concretely:
- Behind the water meter: you are in the part of the installation that serves only your home.
- No change to the pipework: you disconnect an existing hose and put the filter in between. Nothing is cut through, soldered or built in.
- Reversible: if you remove the filter, you reconnect the original hose and nothing has changed.
- No plumber needed: for the installation you use one water pump plier, and it takes 5 to 10 minutes.
That reversibility is exactly why this rarely becomes a VvE matter: nothing about the building has changed. The full procedure is in the guide to installing a water filter, and what it costs you is covered in what a water filter costs per household.
3. When you do need to involve the VvE
There are situations where the answer is different. They all have in common that you would then be touching something that isn’t only yours:
- A filter on the main supply of the building: a central system that treats the water for all homes by definition affects the shared installation. That is a decision for the meeting, not for an individual resident.
- Drilling or feeding through in a shared wall or floor: with an under-sink filter that isn’t needed, but with a filter that has its own extra little tap in the worktop it sometimes is. That hole is usually in your own worktop, but check it if your worktop counts as part of the shared areas.
- Anything on the riser or shaft: as soon as you want to move the shut-off valve in the shaft or branch something off there, it is shared.
- A complex with stricter rules: some deeds are more specific than the standard. Reading takes ten minutes and prevents hassle afterwards.
In practice: at PureFilter we see that apartment residents almost always simply connect it themselves, because the filter stays inside their own kitchen cupboard. The questions that do come in are almost never about permission, but about space under the sink.
4. Do you rent the apartment?
Then your point of contact changes. As a tenant you have nothing to do with the VvE; that is the relationship between the owner and the association. You make arrangements with your landlord.
The main rule for renting is that small changes you can reverse without significant cost don’t need permission. The Rijksoverheid (the Dutch national government) describes it the same way: for renovation or home improvement you always need permission, but for small modifications that you undo when you leave you don’t. A filter that hangs between two existing connections and is gone again in a few minutes falls, by its nature, in that second category.
Even so, it is sensible to mention it, if only so your landlord knows there is something hanging under the sink. What else matters when renting is covered in what is allowed with a water filter in a rented home.
5. Practical points in an apartment
Space under the sink
Apartment kitchens are more often compact, and under the sink there is already a trap and sometimes a waste bin. Measure how much free height and width there is before you order. In practice this is the only real limitation. Whether you are better off putting the filter on or under the worktop is covered in a water filter system on or under the sink.
Water pressure on higher floors
The filter works on the pressure that is already in your pipe. In most complexes that is not an issue, but on high floors the pressure can be somewhat lower. If your cold tap currently gives a normal flow, you are fine.
The angle stop valve
You need a working angle stop valve on the cold water line, so you can shut off the water. In older complexes it is there, but sometimes it turns stiffly because it hasn’t been used for years. Try it briefly before you start, to be sure. A 3/8 connection is supplied as standard.
Moving with it
Because the filter hangs between two connections, you simply take it with you when you move. You put the original hose back and in the new kitchen you do the same trick.
6. Which filter type fits in an apartment?
| Type | Work on the installation | VvE permission | Space needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under-sink filter | Between two existing connections, reversible | Usually not | Cupboard under the sink |
| Tap filter | On the tap outlet, no pipework | No | None |
| Filter jug | None | No | Space in the fridge |
| Gravity filter | None | No | Counter space, quite large |
| Central filter on the main supply | On the shared installation | Yes, decision of the meeting | Technical room |
If you want something with no work at all, a tap filter on the faucet is the lightest option. It filters less than a fixed filter, but you simply unscrew it again.
7. The PureFilter Mineral+ in an apartment
The Mineral+ is an under-sink filter and so falls in the top row of that table: it hangs in your own kitchen cupboard, between two existing connections. The filter was tested by Equinox Labs, an independent laboratory (2026), and removes all 40 chemical substances tested, from 75% to 99.97%, including PFAS, microplastics and heavy metals. In the final filter step, Swedish Mineral Rock™ adds calcium, magnesium and potassium.
For apartments, two things are especially practical: installation takes 5 to 10 minutes and needs no plumber, and you later change the cartridge with the key that is supplied, which is handy in a cramped cupboard. Which options there are if you are undecided, you can see at which water filters work without work on the pipe and in the filters that fit under a kitchen unit. On water filter under the sink you will find the dimensions and the connection.
Fits in most apartment kitchens
Connected in 5 to 10 minutes, with no change to the building’s installation.
View the Mineral+ View the dimensions8. Frequently asked questions
Do I need VvE permission for a water filter?
For an under-sink filter, usually not. It sits behind your own water meter, in your own kitchen, and nothing about the building’s installation is changed. If you are in doubt about your complex, read the deed of division or ask your board.
Can the VvE arrange a water filter for the whole complex?
A central filter on the main supply affects the shared installation, so it is a decision for the meeting and not for an individual resident. In practice, residents almost always choose their own filter in the kitchen, because it only filters the water you actually drink.
I rent an apartment. Do I ask the VvE or my landlord?
Your landlord. As a tenant you have no relationship with the VvE; that is the owner. Because a filter can be removed without significant cost, it generally falls under the small modifications that don’t require permission.
Does an under-sink filter work on a high floor?
Yes, as long as your tap gives a normal flow. The filter works on the water pressure that is already in your pipe and adds nothing to it itself.
Can I take the filter with me when I move?
Yes. You reconnect the original hose and take the filter with you. Nothing is left behind in the home and nothing about the building has changed.
9. Conclusion
A water filter in a VvE or apartment is almost always a matter of space under your sink, not of permission. The filter sits behind your own water meter, hangs between two existing connections and is gone again in a few minutes. That way you touch nothing that belongs to the building.
The exceptions are easy to define: a central filter on the main supply, or work on a shaft or shared wall. If you rent, it goes through your landlord and not through the association. And if you want to take it on together with more residents, read how to order a water filter together with your neighbours.
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