To sell or rent my house in the Netherlands?

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

My daughter has just done the exact thing you are contemplating, she'll be back here in the UK in 3 weeks time.  They decided to sell their house; it was a new build 2 years ago and the price they were offered was just insane, they've more than doubled what they put in.  They both have well-paid jobs in the UK to come back to; I don't think they would have contemplated doing this if they hadn't.  The consensus they reached with their makelaar was there was no guarantee that the marketplace could sustain the current crazy prices and as the UK prices where she's heading were cheaper, it was right for them, so they sold and the house went in 48 hours.  The only reason they are still in Holland is they had to sort out a work visa for her husband which he picks up tomorrow.

If you do think to rent (and there is a massive rental market in the Netherlands where rental properties are always in demand), then you need to check, assuming you have a Dutch mortgage, is whether you will still qualify for the tax breaks you will have been getting on your repayments, they depend on you having a job and paying taxes in Holland, so your mortgage payments will go up.

One last point, her circumstances are slightly different to yours.  She and her son are dual nationals (UK/NL), her husband is Dutch.  I don't think it mattered in her decision-making process in as much as it doesn't sound very Dutch to have different rules for non-citizens.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thank you for sharing that, that's useful and very reassuring to hear! It is a crazy housing market right now and I understand that there are risks to renting too.

Thank you!

Hi Cynic,
Wondered if you could share a bit more info.  We are thinking of upping sticks in NL to move back to the UK too.  I am trying to find out more info about capital gains tax on house sale profit.  Due to dual taxation did your daughter only need to pay it in one country?  From my reading, i understood it might not be payable in NL, but in the UK it would be. 

I should be able to figure this out with more reading, and do intend to enlist a tax professional at some point, but any guidance or links to articles would be helpful.

Cheers,

ToInfinity

Hi and welcome.

I haven't asked her directly and won't see her for another week, so what follows is my understanding; the agreement can be downloaded from this link.  If you read it, you'll see it does include Capital gains tax, so if taxed in one contracting state, it shouldn't be in the other.

It was their first house, so I think under UK law, they are outside the scope for CGT anyhow.  The keyword in tax assessment is "assess"; so if it has been assessed by either member state, then the other should not include it in any calculations they may make to raise charges.

To repeat - I'm not a tax or financial adviser, so if it's important, then please speak to a professional.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team