has anyone lived and worked in Amsterdam?

I have been offered a job over there and will probably take it

Does anyone know of any rental property sites (in english) that cover Amsterdam?

Whats the cost of living like?

Cheers

J

 

Only ever lived there on a business expenses account and it's similarly priced to most other Euro capitals, a little cheaper than London for going out etc although no doubt the move from Guilders to the Euro has driven prices up like everywhere else.

Most flats are pretty small if you want to live in the centre. I lived on Nieuwezijdsvoorburgwal- right in the center and rent on a small 1 bed flat was approx £800pcm. It's a great place to live, just don't take your car- I did and it cost me £300 month in parking fees.

 

ISTR Suresh and one of the Ians here are/were in NL.

 

Groetjes!

Don't live in Amsterdam though (a little too old for that), so I can't really help with property rentals. Your new employer should be able to give you some contact details for a knowledgable makelaar (broker).

I am on a local contract, paying local taxes. Have bought property here and a locally-sourced scoob of course.

If you're coming in on a Dutch contract, make sure the 30% rule applies. Under this tax rule a 'certain percentage' of your earnings are tax-free for 10 years, rather than attacting the ceiling 52% rate... Quite useful really. Requirement is that you have special skills for the role which are not available locally.

Mortgage interest relief means you only pay about half of the interest on property purchases.

Cost of living is reasonable, though petrol is actually pricier than the uk owing to the weakness of the pound. New cars are also dearer for locals owing to "BPM" an extra government car tax of 25% or so, which is levied on top of 19% VAT (BTW). Overall though, I can't really compare it to the uk as I last lived in Britain in 1993.

Have a good book at home about living and working here. Will dig it out and post the details of the title tonight.

Carpe diem.

Suresh

 

My mate moved out a few months ago. Been out to stay with him, lives just in front of the vondelpark on Overtoom. Pays about 800 euros for a 1 bed flat there.

IIRC he said you have to be resident there for at least 6 months before buying property. He is also fine to have his car there for 6 months as a foreign vehicle (uk plate, gb sticker etc). Says he will sell after that.

The tax thing is the biggy as the others said. You really need to get the tax relief to make it feasible to live there. Doesnt sound like most peeps have a problem getting this.

Simon.