addyonline

Dear All,

I have been offered a job in Netherland as IT guy. My work place is in Eindhoven.

Salary offered is 42k euro along with 13th month and 30% tax benefit. Company is providing relocation allowance etc and pension.

I have gone thru the forums and got some idea but all info were dated in 2007

I would appreciate if anyone can advise me the current status as of 2008.

I know Eindhoven is expensive

Please advise me whether 42K is good ? Areas where I can stay which is near Eindhoven ?

I do not have lavish style so I will be looking affordable rental place and with two bedroom minimum.

Please help

Rumpole

Official inflation is about 3% Philips who are Eindhoven's largest employer agreed a 3.5% payrise this year with a further 3.5% next and I would imagine other employers will have a similar indexation. 42k (especially with the 30% tax break) seems reasonable but this obviously will depend on your age, experience etc. If you can manage the Dutch monsterboard have a salary calculator on their website:

http://www.monsterboard.nl/loonwijzer/salariescheck.asp

Regarding Eindhoven it isn't the cheapest place to live in the Netherlands but will be cheaper than the randstad. I would think you should be able to get a 2 bed appartment for maybe 700 euro/month (more if it is furnished). Have you asked your future employer whether they are able to help you sort out accomodation?

I don't think there are any areas I would really avoid. It really depends on whether you would prefer to live close to the city centre or further out. However Eindhoven is really quite compact. We live on the edge of the city and are still only a 15min bike ride to the centre.

Hope this helps

Rumpole

addyonline

Dear Rumpole,

Many thanks for the prompt reply. Its just me and my wife. No kids yet. You mentioned that you live on the edge of the city. How is that area ? How much is the rent ?

The website that you sent to me was in Dutch. Is there any English translation ?

As per my calculation I will be getting 3000 Euro per month at the end of the month (after all the deduction etc).

Can you recommend me any place outside Eindhoven but closer ?

Thank you.

Rumpole

We live on the south side of the city in our own house (we bought in 1986 a few weeks after arriving in the Netherlands). Most rented accomodation suitable for singles is likely to be nearly the city centre.

If you want to live outside Eindhoven there are a number of nice villages within a short distance e.g. Waalre, Eersel, Lieshout, Nuenen, Geldrop, Son.

Most of the Dutch websites relating to jobs, careers, housing etc are in Dutch only! You could try translating it using Google or Babelfish.

addyonline

Many thanks, sir, I will see the housing in these area.

So basically you think that what I have been offered is good and i can live a good life. Because yesterday, I was seeing the rents - 1500 Euro per month in Eindhoven. That means I am left with just 1500 euro to spend of food and fuel. Thats too much. No saving that is.

Can you advise me on food cost and other ? Like electricity. Internet. Telephone.

On average how much is your expenses

As per my recruiter 3000 euro is too good. I am not convinced after i saw the rents in Eindhoven.

Please advise

addyonline

Hi,

Is it true that the rents is mostly above 1000 Euro. I have checked few places like Waalre, Geldrop.... the rents are high.. 1000 PLUS.

Am I right

Rumpole

1000 euro+ per month seems too high! Have you looked for rentals via e.g. www.funda.nl (search under huurwoning). As far as I can see a ~70m2 appartment in Eindhoven rents out at around 700 euro/month. Note however that although renting is very common in Holland this is usually done via a housing association rather than privately. In many cases there will be a waiting list. Have you asked your (future) employer whether they can help you sort something out?

For other costs please see the thread below which discusses this.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=548610

My impression is that your salary is reasonably in line with what a Dutch university graduate with several years experience might expect (using the Philips salary levels as a guide). Obviously I can't say how it works out in your case as I don't know your age, experience etc.

You should also bear in mind that the 30% rule means that you are taxed only on 70% of your income. Since the 30% this would be taxed at the 42% rate this is a saving of about 440 euro/month.

Rumpole

JezInNL

I'm just moving to Nijmegen myself.
I would certainly make sure your employer will at least offer some sort of assistance for the first few months - In my experience estate agents are difficult to get hold of.....
If you're working for a company that does this sort of thing even occasionally their contacts will be better than yours
And you'll certainly need their help with the 30% tax thing and probably the Sofi Number etc...
I like the Funda website - it seems easy to use even for non Dutch speakers - you can guess some of the search words i think.
Also I use the afore mentioned google: http://www.google.com/translate_t?sl=nl&tl=en - it's not perfect but often very helpful, will even let you navigate on to other pages and translate them if you use the "translate webpage" option...
Advice I've been given:
You can try www.directwonen.nl
If you want to buy a house, you have to choose the option “Koopwoningen”
If you look something to rent, the words you have to look for are: verhuur, woning huren, etc.
Here you also an overview of all real estates companies, assort by region: www.makelaars.overzicht.nl
If you rent at the moment in the UK then overall it seems things don't change that much (I lived in Reading, UK) after you include local tax, bills and stuff. But I'm considering buying as it doesn't seem to be significantly different in price..... [thoughts welcome here folks ] after 6 months in a flat on the company i think I'm gonna be around long enough to give things a proper go over here.
In my experience though Dutch isn't essential I'm looking forward to having a go at it starting in September, I think it'll help the integration a lot.
Hmm - that turned into a bit of a ramble - sorry

Dutchie

Hi,

42K with your tax benefit's seems reasonable to me. If you're willing to commute a bit (train connections are excellent) , cities like Helmond and Deurne aren't to bad to live in. (I would prefer Deurne though, Helmond is a bit sleazy). € 700 + gas, water, electric and council tax charges seems a realistic price level to me.

Dutchie