Life in the Netherlands

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

I've lived in both countries, I'm a Brit, my wife is Dutch, my kids are dual nationals, and we all speak Dutch.  Our plan was to return to the Netherlands when we retired (it would have been last year) but our reason for going back (family) slowly diminished to the extent we no longer had a reason, so we opted to stay where our kids live, they have all chosen to return to the UK and we now all live in the Yorkshire Dales.

We still travel to and from the Netherlands to visit our friends, Brexit has not interfered with that one bit.  I'm not sure where you've got the bit about bigger houses for less, that was not our experience.  However, we always put it down to one word, that being "Gezellig",f you want one word to describe the Netherlands above all other nations it's that.

The bottom line is if you like being there, can speak the language and get a job, then why not, it's a great country, go and give it a try.

I hope this helps.

Cynic

Expat Team

@Cynic

Thank you for the reply.

With regards to property, I admittedly wonder whether my perspective is ever so slightly skewed. We live in the South East of England, where property is expensive, and is pretty crowded. Our family in the Netherlands is in Drenthe – not crowded, and built up of detached farm homes, often with a good amount of land (or gardens). And comparatively cheaper to that of the South East of England, and other sought after areas of the Netherlands.

We too visit the Netherlands to see family. And you’re correct – Brexit hasn’t impacted those visits one bit. But what Brexit has done is impose the 90-day rule, whereby you’re restricted to a 90-day visit. Post that period, you must spend 90 days in the UK.

We’re definitely up for giving it a go. But fear comes from the unknown, I suppose. We’re in secure jobs with a good enough salary right now, and I know the job market in the Netherlands is incredibly competitive. A lot of people are overqualified, so employers can afford to be picky.

It’s why I’m here on this forum. I’ve read many articles about the Netherlands, and a small handful of first hand accounts of life there (via family), but I’d like to hear other’s perspectives.

@Cynic
Thank you for the reply.

With regards to property, I admittedly wonder whether my perspective is ever so slightly skewed. We live in the South East of England, where property is expensive, and is pretty crowded. Our family in the Netherlands is in Drenthe – not crowded, and built up of detached farm homes, often with a good amount of land (or gardens). And comparatively cheaper to that of the South East of England, and other sought after areas of the Netherlands.

We too visit the Netherlands to see family. And you’re correct – Brexit hasn’t impacted those visits one bit. But what Brexit has done is impose the 90-day rule, whereby you’re restricted to a 90-day visit. Post that period, you must spend 90 days in the UK.

We’re definitely up for giving it a go. But fear comes from the unknown, I suppose. We’re in secure jobs with a good enough salary right now, and I know the job market in the Netherlands is incredibly competitive. A lot of people are overqualified, so employers can afford to be picky.

It’s why I’m here on this forum. I’ve read many articles about the Netherlands, and a small handful of first hand accounts of life there (via family), but I’d like to hear other’s perspectives.
-@paperclap

The 90 days rule has never affected us (it would only affect me, it doesn't apply to EU passport holders, which my family all have); my wife's an NHS nurse, and we've never been in the position of needing or wanting to spend more than a couple of weeks p/year in the Netherlands - we don't regard that as a holiday, more a quick hi to those who haven't made it to the UK in the past year and restock on all the Dutch things we can't live without (Hagelslag, Nederlands Jus, pindakaas etc).  If you want to stay longer than 90 days, then apply for a residency permit like every other 3rd country national has to, it's not hard to do; there's nothing untoward about Brexit, we just get treated like the rest of the world.

Housing - we come from Enschede; plenty of green fields around; housing is stupid at the moment.  Our daughter bought a new house in Almelo a few years ago and sold it after a couple of years to move back to the UK, she made enough to pay off her mortgage and pay a substantial deposit on a new build here in North Yorkshire;  I just checked, the house next door to where we used to live in Enschede (4 bedroom semi) 250k, which is similar to what you'd pay around here, so certainly not cheaper; I'd compare the South East of UK to places in and around Amsterdam and Den Haag, again, stupid prices.  If you want to rent, then it's just like the UK where the whole marketplace has gone stupid, that's if you can find something decent to rent.  The woningbouws (social housing) in the Netherlands aren't interested in helping unless you're an asielzoeker.

Politically, just check out the Dutch press, Mark Rutter and his coalition have gone with elections due this November, if it's anything like what happened last March, then there will be a whole new political landscape there.

@paperclap To begin with you are in a great place, having to choose between two great countries.  I am dutch but have not lived there for many years.  My sister sadly died in January of 2023 and her house is going on the market any day now.  She lived in Drente, in a small town near Assen.  She owned a small two bedroom house that she was just starting to renovate (so not done yet) and the "makelaar" wants to put it on the market for 299.000 Euro's.  Not sure how this compares with the UK?   Good luck making a decision!