Moving house in the Netherlands: the 30 things nobody warns you about

The Dutch system for moving is efficient on paper and unforgiving in practice. One online form tells the tax office, the pension funds and the health insurers where someone now lives. The same form tells the energy company, the water company and the waste collector nothing. The 30 items below sort what the state handles from what it leaves to the person carrying the boxes. Rules vary by municipality and by contract, so each item points to its source and should be checked locally.

Who needs to know	Told by	When	Source
Municipality	The mover, online with DigiD, free	4 weeks before to 5 days after the move	Government.nl gateway
Tax Administration, SVB, pension funds, health insurers	The municipality	Automatically	Municipality of The Hague
Allowances office (new rent)	The mover, in Mijn toeslagen	Once the new address shows	Belastingdienst
Energy supplier	The mover	3 months to 2 weeks before	Keuze.nl
Drinking water company	The mover	Before the move	Municipality of Ouder-Amstel
IND	The mover, only if the municipal report was late	After the move	Government.nl

Registration and government

1. The reporting window is narrow. People living on a residence permit must notify the municipality no earlier than 4 weeks before and no later than 5 days after the move. The same window applies to everyone else.
2. A late report changes the legal date. In The Hague, reporting more than five days after the move means the day the municipality receives the form counts as the moving date. Foreign nationals who report late must also inform the IND themselves.
3. Only the new municipality is told. The Dutch government’s guidance says the new municipality registers the mover and that no deregistration from the old one is needed.
4. DigiD is the gatekeeper. Maastricht, for example, takes reports online with a DigiD login, but some addresses (coded ones) cannot be reported that way and need documents sent separately. Anyone aged 16 or older can report their own move, and reporting is free.
5. Processing takes longer than the form suggests. The Hague says a new address can take up to two weeks to appear in the system, and Maastricht quotes up to four weeks. Anything that depends on the new address, including DigiD letters, waits for that.
6. The state shares the new address widely. The Hague’s page lists the Tax Administration, pension funds, the SVB and health insurers as organizations that receive the change from the municipality. A separate call to the tax office is unnecessary.
7. Allowances are the exception. The Belastingdienst says the new address does not need to be reported to it, but anyone receiving rent allowance who moves to another rental home must report the new rent through Mijn toeslagen. That becomes possible one to five working days after the municipality processes the move. Changes are expected within four weeks.
8. Buying ends rent allowance, and the mover must say so. Anyone moving to a purchased home loses entitlement to rent allowance and must stop it in Mijn toeslagen. Nothing stops it automatically.

Utilities, taxes and post

9. An energy contract follows the person, not the house. A contract is personal rather than tied to an address, so the supplier has to be told about the move.
10. The notification window opens early. Suppliers can be told from three months to two weeks before the move. Telling them late can mean a temporary cut-off or continued charges for the old home.
11. Meter readings settle the argument later. Comparison sites advise noting electricity and gas readings in both homes on moving day, and their stated deadlines for passing them on range from 5 days to 15 days. The final bill is worth checking against the readings taken at key handover.
12. Switching suppliers during a move does not cancel the old contract. Moving and switching leaves the old contract for the mover to end, and fixed-term contracts usually carry a cancellation fee. Open-ended variable contracts can be left without charge.
13. Drinking water is a separate account. In the Amsterdam region, Ouder-Amstel’s guidance says residents must notify Waternet themselves, while water board tax is passed on by the municipality. Other regions have their own companies and rules.
14. Local taxes apply to tenants as well. Pararius notes that residents of a Dutch municipality owe certain local taxes whether they rent or own.
15. Energy bills run on advances. Pararius describes energy contracts built on a fixed monthly advance settled annually, and warns that a poor energy label raises the risk of a large settlement bill.
16. Forwarding mail has limits. PostNL’s service starts at €1.50 a week. It works by surname, so it cannot forward if someone with the same surname stays at the old address. It also skips registered post, mail from other carriers and unaddressed items.

Renting

17. Unfurnished can mean bare. This is usually very strange for some: the floor may come and go with the tenant. DutchReview says a kaal listing may have no floors, curtains, lights or furniture. Sources define the middle category, gestoffeerd, differently, and Pararius counts basic kitchen appliances as part of it. The contract is the only reliable definition.
18. Taking over a predecessor’s floors can become a liability. The Holland Expat Centre advises asking whether the tenant is renting the floors or taking them over from the previous tenant, which makes them the new tenant’s responsibility on leaving.
19. Agency fees are restricted. The same guide reports that the Authority for Consumers and Markets ruled that agencies may charge only the party they represent. A tenant paying a mediation fee to an agency working for the landlord is worth questioning.
20. The deposit has two caps and two deadlines. Since 1 July 2023 it may be at most two months’ base rent, returned within 14 days of the end of the tenancy. If the landlord deducts anything, the remainder is due within 30 days with a written explanation.
21. Leaving a rental usually takes a month’s notice. Tenants can end a tenancy with about one month’s notice without giving a reason, though the contract sets the exact term.
22. The handover inspection decides the deposit. Landlord and tenant normally hold a final inspection when the keys are returned. The same guide says a defects list should exist from the start, and asks tenants to request one if the landlord has not provided it.
23. Most contracts are now permanent, and rent rises only once a year. Inburgering.org’s guide says a new tenant almost certainly has a permanent contract and that rent can normally be raised once every 12 months, up to a national annual maximum.
24. The landlord must supply the energy label. Owners are required to make an energy label available to a buyer or tenant. For regulated rentals, a better label also earns more points in the rent valuation system, which affects the maximum rent.

Buying

25. Buyers get three days to change their mind. After signing the purchase agreement, buyers have a three-day cooling-off period to cancel without giving a reason. Sellers have no equivalent. The notary then informs the Kadaster of the transfer.
26. Closing costs sit outside the mortgage. The City of Amsterdam’s expat guide warns that additional closing fees are not covered by the mortgage, and that the buyer arranges and pays for the valuation.
27. Transfer tax depends on age and circumstances. The standard rate for a home the buyer will live in is 2 percent. First-time buyers aged 18 up to 35 can qualify for an exemption if they have never used it before, subject to a price ceiling the government adjusts yearly.

Moving day and after

28. Van parking rules differ by city. In The Hague a mover’s van can stand without paying during the move, but space cannot be reserved in advance. A furniture lift needs no permit there, though the road manager should be informed. A sponsored guide on IamExpat says other cities often require a paid permit requested around 14 days ahead.
29. Waste pass and bulky items belong to the address. In Waardlanden, the previous occupant is expected to leave the environmental pass in the house, and a missing pass is replaced within five working days. Municipalities such as Waalwijk charge on a pay-per-use basis and only service containers once the resident is registered. Bulky waste usually needs an appointment and kerbside placement by early morning.
30. A new GP is the item most likely to take months. Independer’s survey, reported by Skipr, found that more than half of practices accept new patients only under strict conditions, with Overijssel, Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland worst affected. Omroep Brabant reported that about 85 percent of Tilburg’s practices were closed to new patients, and the reporter needed two months to register. Health insurers can step in, and the advice from Univé is to deregister from the old GP only once a new one has accepted.

The tasks with the longest lead times are the GP search, the energy notification and, in a busy city, the van parking. Everything else fits into the weeks around the municipal form.

Sources

• Registration: Government.nl on reporting a change of address, Government.nl gateway pages for Zwolle, Maastricht and Oisterwijk, Municipality of The Hague, Municipality of Ouder-Amstel
• Allowances: Belastingdienst, moving, Belastingdienst, rent allowance, Belastingdienst, reporting changes
• Energy and post: Keuze.nl, Gaslicht.com, Zonneplan, Energievergelijk.nl, PostNL
• Renting: Inburgering.org, Woon!info, DutchReview, Holland Expat Center, Pararius, Rijksoverheid on energy labels, Government consultation on energy labels
• Buying: I amsterdam, steps to buying a house, Law & More
• Moving day and after: Municipality of The Hague on parking, IamExpat, Waardlanden, Waalwijk waste guide, Avalex, Skipr, Omroep Brabant, Univé