Expat The Netherlands News

5 Dec at 6 PM 2018

New expat arrivals urged to beware of Amsterdam property rental scams

Expatriates in the Netherlands are being warned about property scams after the arrest for fraud of an estate agent dealing in rental properties. Owner of the Fam Makelaardij and Accurakey rental housing agents Farhan Malik was arrested last month for defrauding a number of expat workers out of their deposits and advance rents paid to secure rental homes. Legal action against the fraudster is now being taken by the Amsterdam-based housing advice foundation Stiching Woon in order to help the recovery of house-hunting expats’ deposits...

4 Dec at 6 PM 2018

Portugal housing bubble bad news for expat retirees

According to a major ratings agency, house prices in Portugal will keep on rising. Portugal is still considered to be a cheap destination for expat retirees as well as for start-ups and digital nomads, but its ever-rising cost of accommodation may take the shine off its formerly well-deserved fame. For several decades, Portugal’s Algarve region has been the refuge of choice for British expats looking for a warm, inexpensive haven far away from the UK’s cold winters. Sadly, a report by Moody’s ratings agency indicates the haven...

22 Nov at 6 PM 2018

Dog ownership for lonely expats in the Netherlands

If you’ve arrived in the Netherlands and are feeling lonely and isolated, getting a dog is the perfect answer. It’s normal for expats in the Netherlands to decide to share their new lives with a furry friend, and most landlords don’t have a problem with allowing a dog in their rentals. Points to consider include the cost of keeping a canine companion, especially during the first year should you fall head in heels in love with a puppy. Vets aren’t cheap anywhere, with the Netherlands no exception, and initial check-ups,...

21 Nov at 6 PM 2018

Costa del Sol gang wars continue as foreign man shot dead

Gangland-style murders, bombings and violent attacks are continuing along the Costa del Sol. Marbella’s upmarket Nagueles residential district became the scene of yet another gangland-style murder when a man described as ‘foreign’ was shot and killed by an assassin on a motorcycle.The area is known for its luxury gated communities popular with wealthy British expatriates, with the victim reported to have been living in a large, detached corner house close by a cut-through from a nearby motorway. He was murdered as he approached...

31 Oct at 6 PM 2018

Yet another mafia-related expat murder in Spain

Last Saturday evening, an expat dining with his girlfriend at a Torremolinos restaurant was gunned down and killed by an assassin. Hamza Ziani was shot four times in the chest and head, dying a few hours later in Malaga’s regional hospital. His killer was masked, and escaped with an accomplice in a stolen vehicle after a police chase on the motorway. Ziani, a Dutch citizen originally from Northwest Africa, was recognised immediately by police as an international drug dealer who’d been arrested in Marbella a month previously for...

26 Oct at 6 PM 2018

UK state pension amount wins no prizes in survey

If you’ve ever wondered whether the UK’s state pension is more or less than in other world countries, here’s the answer. Whether you’re drawing your UK state pension as an expat retiree living overseas or are considering emigrating in a bid to make ends meet in a cheaper country, the results of a recent pensions survey won’t exactly come as a surprise. The UK’s benefits system is reckoned to be one of the world’s best, but the UK state pension lets the side down hugely. Mercers’ 2018 global pension index states...

23 Oct at 6 PM 2018

French anti-Brexit lawyer founds new pan-European movement

French lawyer Julien Fouchet has launched another pro-Europe group. French barrister Julien Fouchet has founded a pan-European movement aimed at encouraging EU citizens as well as expatriate Britons to support the ending of the Brexit threat to European unity. His Pan European Citizens Solidarity movement is calling on all EU citizens to protect all British expats who support remaining in the union. Europe, he says, is a peaceful, democratic force in today’s troubled world, and must be protected. Fouchet told reporters the...

19 Oct at 6 PM 2018

Dutch expat tax reprieve causes more confusion

Rather than being a solution to the Dutch government’s sudden changes to the 30 per cent expat tax relieve scheme, the recent changes are causing yet more confusion. Expat professionals attracted to the Netherlands by the government’s 30 per cent of salary tax free deal for eight years were horrified when lawmakers suddenly shortened the tax break’s timescale to five years without ‘grandfathering’ those already in the scheme. The move devastated the financial plans of thousands of expats, with those who’d taken on...

16 Oct at 6 PM 2018

Dutch government backtracks on 30% expat tax relief ruling

As the Dutch government delays implementation of the widely unpopular 30% rule changes, lawyers for the expats affected declare the rule violates Dutch law. Faced with lobbying by major international Netherlands-based companies as well as expat professionals' grassroots protest groups, the Dutch government has announced the inception of the hated law will be delayed until January 2021. Whilst the delay gives those affected time to reorganise their finances or find new jobs overseas, it still means expats who arrived in 2015 would...

11 Oct at 6 PM 2018

Costa del Sol Brit expat community warned as gang war escalates

Expats and tourists along the Costa del Sol have been warned to be alert after two bomb blasts shook a gated Benahavis estate and an industrial area. Expatriates and visitors awoke in horror as two explosions shook the popular resort town in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The first bomb went off outside a villa in a popular gated estate, with the second exploding outside a car wash owned by the householder whose home was targeted. According to local police, the two incidents are almost certainly linked to the discovery last...