New home! Housing is a real nightmare in the Netherlands!
I am so excited for our new home in the Netherlands but I still couldn’t believe that I am still living in the Netherlands. When I first moved here with my husband, we underwent some culture shock, mainly because finding housing turned out to be a real nightmare. I used to tell my friends to reconsider moving to the Netherlands unless if they can find a place to rent or buy upfront.
Me and my husband were able to find a place to rent almost immediately after arriving in the Netherlands but this rarely happens to a lot of people without any help from your new employer, friends or family members. Also, even though we found the place to move in pretty quick, we were really stressed out during our first 1~2 weeks in the Netherlands.
Plus, the stress didn’t really go away after finding our own place to rent and it ruined my first impression of the Netherlands. But now the Netherlands became my favorite country in Europe. Sometimes my husband randomly asks me if I can choose a different European country to live in and where would that be; then I always choose the Netherlands.
When I think back about the past couple of years in the Netherlands, I wasn’t 100% satisfied with my life here solely because of the housing situation. A lot of good things happened in the Netherlands over the past couple of years but I couldn’t really enjoy or appreciate any of them because I was always kinda somewhat unsatisfied with the housing situation such as, high rent, old amenities, etc. So I just kept comparing my rent experience in North America to my current experience in Europe. I just went on and on about other things, too.
I couldn’t stop doing this Europe vs America comparison in my head. At some point, we were almost thinking about moving to the US every day but we have been so lucky in the Netherlands so we were kinda delaying our decision and agreed to move to the US when our luck runs out.
However, ever since we bought a house in the Netherlands, I began to feel a lot more secure and stable since I didn’t have to worry about the housing situation including, rent, privacy issue, house rules, and dealing with landlords anymore. Our landlords were relatively more generous and less picky than the others but I was just overwhelmed with the new rent experience in Europe in general.
It is a real thing that the housing situation in Amsterdam is really bad. It is extremely hard to find a decent place and nice landlord even with double incomes. Also, It is not that easy to find a different place to move in from your current place just simply because that you don’t like your current place. It doesn’t guarantee that you will find a better place with a better landlord.
Most houses here were built before the 1900s and apartments were usually built around mid-1900s, especially in old and traditional cities like Amsterdam—so you won't find many modern interior amenities; unless the interior is rennovated. Also, there are not many new buildings or new apartments in Amsterdam. Renting and housing are way different from Canada or the US because of the high level of social housing, old buildings and pickier landlords. I honestly think that buying a home in the Netherlands is a lot easier and way less stressful, if you have that option.
I heard that housing problems are more miserable amongst students in the Netherlands. I saw some online postings about international students moving back to their home country because they couldn’t find a place to live in. But, the Netherlands is a pretty nice country to live once you are finished with the housing problem.
