Why expats prefer buying a house over renting accommodation

The conditions for buying a house here are good and expats generally earn a good income. Besides that, buying a house is a low-risk option. After all, the housing market in Utrecht, for example, is still overheated due to the shortage of houses, so expats who eventually leave the Netherlands will have their houses sold quickly.

Another important aspect to consider is the huge and consistent rent increase in the private rental sector; with a monthly rent of more than a thousand euros basically being the norm these days. Furthermore, expats often find themselves in a favourable position in the housing market as they have more to spend.

Expats have more to spend

Expats find that they are attractive bidders as their salaries are relatively high. After all, they are asked to come and work here because of their knowledge or skills. Most expats work in high-demand jobs - in the technology or IT sectors, for instance - which is reflected in their salaries. Expats, therefore, generally experience fewer difficulties in finding a home to buy.

Foreigners are often also used to putting money aside for buying a house at some point in their lives, so they already have private funds to invest in a house. If so, they can offer more than the asking price and, naturally, this increases their chance of securing the house they really want.

More and more expats decide to stay here permanently

Another reason why more expats choose to buy a house instead of renting accommodation is that the number of expats deciding to stay in the Netherlands permanently is on the rise. So after their trial period, they start looking for a property to buy.

There are various reasons why employees from abroad are charmed by the Netherlands and the Dutch way of life, and so they stay longer than the three or five years as agreed in their initial employment contract. The Dutch labour market is very attractive for highly trained staff. And let’s not forget that people who work here temporarily also benefit from the 30% ruling, which is another reason why they have more to spend.

This trend will continue for years

We also see a growing demand for finding expats a house to buy instead of rental accommodation. And because the COVID-19 pandemic has made remote working generally accepted, these expats also widen their search area beyond the boundaries of larger Dutch cities.

As the market for expat housing quickly recovered after the pandemic, there is no longer any reason to fear that this target group would not return.