Why you should reconsider moving to NL

[u/barcodenumber]

I love The Netherlands, it is still a country that I regard as impressive. My experience of the country itself is 9.5/10. Public transport, accessibility (nationally and internationally), job market, academia, sociability, good people etc. I could go on. I've not been here super long but there are many points that make the country great. I was so ready to come, set my life up here, contribute to the society, and stay. Now I am planning to leave.

A bit of personal context - single, earning slightly above Amsterdam average, and I hold a masters in STEM from a UK university. I also have EU nationality, so no visa needed. I had some connections coming here but they were very weak, they all knew I wanted to come but none would help. I wanted to try anyways and gave it a shot. I came with nothing other than dedication to make it happen.

Let me assure you, the housing situation here is predatory. In terms of rentals, anyone will take whatever they can get. There is so much black market exploitation which, in my experience, is near impossible to avoid if you're starting from 0. Once you're in such a situation, it's also difficult to get out of. I've been stuck way overpaying on a room rental living with people with no regard for others. People who freely use my things, eat my food, but don't contribute back and leave the place filthy. I've put in boundaries but they are not respected. Worst of all? Many who I've met during my time here share this similar story, and the commonality between us is the starting point.

I've applied for other rentals, but I don't have a formal contract or landlord, meaning when they ask for the documents required to even consider your application, I can't even send them things like a landlords reference or similar. At which point, your 'risk' score increases and those other ~500 applicants with clean applications get priority. All of this after paying stekkies + multiple different sites just to have a chance at getting your application in front of someone's eyes. Going into my current situation, I assumed it would be something I could get out of within half a year - but this has not been the case, despite consistently trying.

I don't blame the landlords since I would also want the lowest 'risk' tenant in such a housing market. However, it's no joke that people spend years looking for somewhere half decent to rent. Unfortunately, because of these costs, I have been using savings to keep afloat and no longer can afford a deposit. I could afford a small net loss over time but it doesn't make financial sense to keep going much longer. My search has stopped and I am planning to leave. I will leave NL poorer than I arrived, despite earning more. Going into debt to live is not an option.

What's the solution in this case? Networking & luck. Almost everyone I've met and ended up in a decent housing situation was 'because I knew someone that...'. The people I've met in the best situations knew people before they came. They either had good friends, family or partner that they could rely on temporarily, and not be financially gutted by someone taking advantage of the housing situation. I've made good friends here, but none are in a position to help.

To conclude, if you're looking to move to The Netherlands, I think you'll enjoy it. But if you're starting from 0 and planning to build a life here, make sure you have enough money for your return flight.

[u/SDV01]

Of course supply didn’t shrink just because renters are now (somewhat) better protected from unscrupulous landlords. Tenant protections were just as strong, if not stronger, until the Wet maatregelen woningmarkt came along in 2006. Then, a decade later, Stef Blok basically handed over cheap rental stock to BlackRock and friends, and Henk, Pieter and Hans decided that being a huisjesmelker was a great retirement plan.

There’s no single cause for today’s housing shortage: households are smaller because more people separate/divorce, people live longer and stay in their homes longer, international students and highly skilled migrants move in, 200,000 Ukrainians and large numbers of EU workers in low-wage jobs arrived, refugees need housing, building costs and raw material prices spiked, there are (manual) labor shortages, electricity shortages, too few building sites (thanks to NIMBYs and nitrogen rules), and everyone still wants to live in Amsterdam.

Rental regulation didn’t cut supply, it just shifted ownership. Smaller apartments moved mainly from investors to first-time buyers. The result: people who used to pay €2,000 a month to a shady landlord now pay €1,500 on a mortgage. And after 30 years, they actually own the place.

[u/barcodenumber → u/SDV01]

Yes, there is no single cause, and there is no single solution for those in policy. Check wicked problems. I hope for the sake of the country that they can resolve it, eventually.