Moving to holland

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

The Numbeo website provides lots of information related to your question; this link will take you there.  In addition to providing information related to cost of living, you can also do comparisons and it provides other useful social information.

I'm assuming you both have jobs to go to and have learnt to speak Dutch, so as you haven't asked, I shall say no more about it.  A word of warning about working online from home at your UK jobs - you won't be able to do it in Holland without a great deal of fuss in setting up contracts in Holland, but it can be done - just expensive.

If you have any further specific questions, please come back to us.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thanks for your reply, no we don't speak Dutch but of course we will be learning as time goes by, my husband has the job and it's English speaking. We are looking at budgeting around 950 euros rent, but was just a little curious about the bills on top rough guide, utility, council tax ect

I understand we will both need health insurance approx 120 euros each also. Also car insurance ,

Regards

Stacey

Hi again.

Tax in the Netherlands is a bit different to the UK; there is an online tax calculator you can use (link); it's a bit more complicated in as much that the Dutch have, in addition to income taxes, what they call social taxes; tax is a big issue for Expats who aren't used to it.  Also, be careful when you move as you will be assessed for the current whole Dutch tax year (Jan > Dec) for social taxes.

You've got medical insurance about right, but, again, it's a bit more complicated than the UK in as much as on top of the insurance, you are liable for the first 800 (ish) euro p/person for any prescriptions, after that, the insurance picks it up.  Also, you can't choose your medicine, you will get the cheapest that will treat your ailment.

Council tax (Gemeentebelasting) depends on where you live, but it covers things like sewerage and household waste; some towns add additional charges for special wastes.

Practically every house in Holland is connected to cable internet/TV; you can shop around for the deal that suits you; most packages include the BBC UK channels and others like Discovery, History channel etc.

When you look for somewhere to live, rental accommodation is in very short supply (watch out for scammers; if it's too good to be true, it almost certainly is a scammer); so rental is expensive; my advice would be to start off in something like an AirBnB place until you find what you want.  The nearer to Amsterdam you live, the more expensive.

Cars aren't cheap in Holland; diesel cars are cheap in terms of fuel cost, but the tax is horrific; the only people who drive a diesel are those with company cars who do a lot of miles.  The vast majority of people either use the bus/train or a bike; public transport in Holland is excellent.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team