A tale as old as time: the new expat attempting to find affordable housing in the Netherlands. If you’ve already begun to scroll through housing agencies or social media groups, you may have noticed that a reasonably priced apartment in Amsterdam sells like a frikandel with a 35% kohorting.
So many beautiful houses, but so few available for rent
Why is it hard to find housing in the Netherlands as an international?
The Netherlands is infamously overpopulated with 17.4 million people living within a 16 square kilometre area. Clearly everyone wants to live in a country where you can experience four seasons in 24 hours, because the Netherlands is the 16th most densely populated country in the world - This makes it difficult for Dutchies to find affordable housing, never mind expats.
What advice would you give to someone looking for affordable housing in the Netherlands?
Whatever you do - start looking for housing early. This is especially true if you want to live in the Randstad (the four largest cities and their surrounding area). If you are considering moving in July – start looking now! For some context, I live in a beautiful canal apartment, but it took me 6 months of crawling through housing pages and sleeping in an overpriced cupboard room for 3 months to find my current accommodation. So please, start looking early!
A very happy me - only took 6 months!
Where can I find housing?
There are loads of ways to look for housing. Personally, I used Facebook groups – you can check these out yourself by typing zoek kamer (search room) and the city you’re moving to. In addition to Facebook, you can check out kamernet - a dedicated room searching site, or simply search for housing agencies in your new town.
But be careful of scammers!
There is nothing worse than handing over a large deposit for a dreamy looking apartment online and then finding out that someone already lives there, and that they’ve never heard of a landlord called Jan. Don’t be that person… always view the apartment and speak to the landlord via facetime, or in person before sending any money.
I want to move to Amsterdam, but I’m struggling to find affordable housing
As mentioned in an earlier article, living in Amsterdam is more expensive than owning a diesel car – with the average rent placed at €1,586.80. Lucky for you, there is help at hand through Overseasy. Overseasy has partnered with real estate experts and we help expats move and settle into the city. If you’re looking for further information or assistance in finding a home in the Netherland’s city of lights – contact Overseasy.
This blog post was written by Overseasy intern Lizzy Patterson
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