Dutch supermarket giant Albert Heijn will stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products six months before a national ban comes into effect.
From July 2024, tobacco products can only be purchased from gas stations and tobacco shops. As of 2030, that will be further limited to just tobacco shops. With these steps, the government wants to discourage smoking as much as possible.
However, Albert Heijn has made the decision to implement the ban half a year early — and also extend it to vape products. The chain already stopped selling the products online in July 2023.
According to the supermarket, they want to encourage shoppers to live a healthier lifestyle. That’s a nice step — but can they quit with the plastic packaging too?
A good start
If you see cigarettes in your local store still on January 1, don’t stress. Some Albert Heijns are independently owned as part of a franchise. The owners can choose whether to stop selling in January or wait until July.
Surprisingly, this is not the first supermarket in the Netherlands to take the steps. German-owned Lidl also stopped selling cigarettes in Dutch stores in 2021.
Do you support limiting the sale of cigarettes? Tell us your opinion in the comments below!
It looks like 2024 is bringing a whole lot of changes — and the best part? More beneficial mortgage laws for first-time house hunters have finally arrived! 🏡✨
Buying a house in the Netherlands is definitely no easy feat, especially with a rampant housing crisis and skyrocketing prices.
However, for first-time buyers, there’s a small glimmer of light: Dutch mortgage laws are set to be overhauled in 2024.
Let’s run through these changes and find out what they mean for you — and your wallet! 👇
1. More borrowing power for sustainable energy labels
First things first, err… what’s an energy label? Simply put, the EU classifies homes on an A-to-G scale of how energy efficient they are, with houses rated A and above being the most energy-efficient.
New Dutch mortgage laws for 2024 will allow prospective homeowners to borrow more money if their energy label is sufficiently high.
And just how much “more money” are we talking about? Well, homes rated A++++ can borrow a whopping €50,000 — and that’s ten times as much as those with an energy label C or D.
2. Increased borrowing power for singles
There’s yet another change chugging down the tracks that’ll affect how much money you can borrow in 2024 — but this one’s for singles only. 🙅🏻♀️
Hoera to more financial independence in 2024! Image: Depositphotos
From next year, singles earning at least €28,000 will be able to borrow an additional €16,000, according to RTL Nieuws.
3. No transfer tax for those younger than 35
When transferring ownership of an existing property from one owner to another, the buyer is generally required to pay a transfer tax.
Come 2024, however, this transfer tax will be scrapped for all purchase prices under €510,000 — provided that the buyer is younger than 35.
This is a €70,000 increase from the previous transfer exemption limit of €440,000 in 2023.
4. Increased National Mortgage Guarantee limit
If you’re on the hunt for a Dutch home, it’s advised that you register with the National Mortgage Guarantee or Nationale Hypotheek Garantie (NHG).
This guarantee will afford you protection if you’re unable to pay your mortgage (due to involuntary unemployment or divorce) or if you’re being forced to sell your house for less than your mortgage balance.
The NHG keeps new homeowners safe whilst paying off their mortgage. Image: Depositphotos
As of 2024, the NHG’s limit on house prices will rise an additional €30,000 — to €435,000.
5. No more tax-free donations to family mortgages
In the Netherlands, relatives used to be able to make tax-free donations (dubbed ‘Jubelton’) to their relatives, in order to help finance their home.
Whilst parents will still be able to make a one-off tax-free donation to their children, they will no longer be able to donate tax-free sums to their grandchildren, cousins, or other relatives.
One bright spark, however? For parent-to-children transactions, the limit had been raised to €31,813.
What do you think of the new mortgage rules heading our way in 2024? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
While you won’t be able to light your own fireworks on New Year’s Eve, many of these cities will have a municipality-regulated fireworks show or other events planned in place of fireworks.
Some cities have also implemented firework-free zones, so make sure to double-check your municipality’s website to see where you can legally set off fireworks.
Will you be lighting fireworks this year? Tell us in the comments!
Over the past two years, gas and electricity prices in the Netherlands have skyrocketed. Now, on January 1, 2024, the Dutch price ceiling on energy is expiring. So, how can you still save money in 2024?
If your New Year’s resolution is to take control of your bills and your consumption, you’ve come to the right place. RTL Nieuws has put together 7 tips to help you keep that energy bill down. 👇
1. Get insight into your energy consumption
Naturally, the best way to reduce your energy costs is to find out where your energy (and therefore your money) is going.
You can take a look at how much energy your devices and appliances are using. This can be done with an app, a smart meter (if you have one), or by asking your energy provider.
Once you know where the energy goes, you can start making little changes that can save some big moolah.
2. Get a radiator fan
… A what?! As the name suggests, a radiator fan is a handy dandy device that can be attached to the bottom of your heater to spread the heat around the room.
This allows your radiator to release up to 20% more heat in less time — and it can considerably lower your gas consumption. 📉
3. Keep your thermostat in check
Rick Bruins of Remeha tells RTL Nieuws that about half of our energy consumption is used for heating.
To heat your home economically, you should try to keep the thermostat set below 19 degrees Celsius whenever you can. Natuurlijk, you should also lower the heating at night and turn it off in rooms that you’re not using.
Sick of forgetting to turn your thermostat down when you leave the house? A smart thermostat may be just what you need!
This tool allows you to easily control the heating in your home remotely with just a tap on your smartphone. All you need to install a smart thermostat is a WiFi connection.
Tip: Wondering how you can get the best deals for your energy in the Netherlands? We recommend PartnerPete, who can help you get the best deals for your Dutch utilities in English.
5. Get a heat pump
Installing a heat pump for your home is an excellent way to consistently save some cash on your energy bill.
A heat pump does not use any gas, only electricity. It works almost like an air conditioner in reverse by extracting heat from the outside air or the ground and using it to heat up your home.
Not only is this method sustainable, but the government will even help you out by providing subsidies for making the switch. Win-win!
6. Invest in your insulation
Though old Dutch homes are very charming, many of them are poorly insulated, meaning you burn a lot of extra energy to heat them up.
Insulating your home properly may take some effort at first, but it can save you lots of money in the long run.
Of course, you can make the biggest impact by insulating your roofs, walls, and floors, but even things such as draft strips along your windows can make a big difference!
7. Lower the temperature of your CV boiler
If you have a central heating boiler, Bruins tells RTL Nieuws, it’s worth playing with the temperature a little.
“Usually, for example, the temperature of the hot water is at 65 degrees Celsius, while this is not necessary. You can easily lower the temperature of the heating to about 50 or 60 degrees and the hot water to 60 degrees on the gas boiler.”
Since people usually shower at around 45 degrees Celsius, and your dishwasher and washing machine aren’t very dependent on hot water, this is a change you won’t notice (except on your bills 😉).
Note: You should not set the temperature of your water below 60 degrees Celsius due to the risk of Legionella (a disease-causing bacteria).
Do you have any more energy-saving hacks for 2024? Share them in the comments!
Goodbye, tangled cables! Starting December 28, 2024, every mobile phone sold and bought in the Dutch market must have a USB-C charger.
And the best part? This change will also apply to other chargeable electrical devices like tablets, headphones, video game consoles, cameras, computer mice, and e-readers, says the Dutch government in a recent press release.
From April 2026 onwards, laptops must also follow this rule.
Universal chargers
The small plug fits a USB-C port in any rotational direction and is more durable than larger USB plugs. That means you won’t have to buy a new charger every time you purchase a new electronic device, and they’ll last longer than the usual USB plugs.
As part of the decision, products will have information about the charger so customers can make sure they use a charger with the right voltage.
Everybody say dank je to Sinterklaas for this late present! 🙌
With January 1 comes change. In 2024, a set of new rules and regulations come into force in the Netherlands — and some of them will have an effect your wallet.
Will you be saving geld or losing it? The AD has listed the most important changes. Let’s check them out. 👇
💼 Changes coming to the work place in 2024
1. The minimum hourly wage will go up
As of January 1, 2024, the Dutch minimum wage will increase from €11.51 to 13.27 (based on a 40-hour work week).
With a working week of 40 hours, you could therefore receive €266.75 more per month than in 2023. 💸
2. Salaries will increase
Due to increases in labour credit (arbeidskorting) and general tax credit (heffingskorting), the average net salary in the Netherlands is also going up.
On average, people will see a nice €79.19 extra on their monthly pay slip.
3. You can claim more travel and work from home allowance
Commuting to work? Starting 2024, you can claim a travel allowance (reiskostenvergoeding) of €0.23 per kilometre. That’s an increase of 2 cents per kilometre from 2023.
You might even be able to claim this allowance if you bike to work. Image: Depositphotos
The “working from home” allowance (thuiswerk vergoeding) is also going up by 20 cents. This brings it to a total of €2.35, which can be claimed by an employee per WFH day.
🏥 Healthcare changes in the Netherlands in 2024
4. Your healthcare allowance will go down
While childcare allowance, housing allowance and child benefits go up in 2024, the healthcare allowance is decreasing.
For a single person, next year’s maximum zorgtoeslag is limited to €123 per month, as opposed to €154 per month in 2023.
5. … but your healthcare premium will go up
Overall, healthcare premiums will go up in the Netherlands in 2024 — the exact amount just depends on your insurer and the type of insurance you have.
If you’re buying a home with an A++++ energy label, you could get up to €50,000 more in loans. For C and D labels this amount is €5,000, and for E, F and G it is €0.
The better your energy label, the more mortgage you can get. Image: Freepik
Homeowners with low energy labels may also borrow extra money to make their home more energy efficient.
8. Energy prices are going up again
The Dutch energy price ceiling is expiring on January 1. On top of that, we can expect to pay more due to higher taxes and rising network management costs. Yikes.
You can also expect to pay an extra 13 cents per bottle of wine.
10. Non-alcoholic drinks will also cost you more
As the AD writes, the so-called consumption tax for sodas will rise from 9 cents to 26 cents per litre next year. This does not apply to water.
✈️ Changes that will affect you when travelling in 2024
10. Flight tax is increasing
Planning to travel by plane in 2024? Expect to pay slightly more than in previous years.
The reason for that is an increase in flight tax. The tax per departing passenger will rise from €26.43 to €29.05in 2024.
11. Higher fines for all traffic infractions
All traffic fines in the Netherlands will go up by a whopping 10% in 2024.
Texting and driving with will soon set you back €420 euros, while driving on the wrong side of the road will cost you €270.
Driving 20 km/h too fast in a residential area? That’ll be €240. Ouchie. 😳
📈 Changes coming to your savings and investments in 2024
12. Tax rates on assets will go up
If your assets exceed the tax-free limit in the Netherlands, you will soon pay 36% tax on the return of your savings and investments above that limit (as opposed to 32% in 2023.)
The tax-free limit currently sits at €57,000 for a single person and €114,000 for tax partners.
How will your wallet be affected by these changes? Let us know in the comments!
Forget a white Christmas, the Netherlands has had a very wet Christmas, with flooding in many areas across the country — and we haven’t seen the worst of it yet.
The current holiday season in the Netherlands has not seen snow but instead copious amounts of rain.
Combine this with the fact that the Alps are unusually warm for this time of year, and the Netherlands’ rivers and dikes are not coping well.
This is not only putting a damper on holiday spirits, it’s also causing flooding in areas such as Overijssel, Gelderland, Drenthe, Brabant, and Limburg, the NOS reports.
Meteorologist Leander de Wit of Buienradar explains to RTL Nieuws that:
“It is quite warm in the Alps. This causes a lot of melting snow. As a result, the water level in the Rhine will rise in the coming days, and is expected to peak on December 28.”
This won’t be helped by even more rain, which is forecast for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Aangenaam weer: hoge water in de IJssel trekt veel bekijks vandaag in de Hoenwaard bij Hattem. pic.twitter.com/P0JzAyeJUG
The Netherlands invited a top UN official to investigate the Dutch housing crisis. His findings? The crisis is a result of poor housing policy, not immigrants.
Last month, a shockingly large proportion of Dutch people voted for the far-right, anti-immigration PVV party leader Geert Wilders in the Dutch national elections.
Wilders’ policy is largely anti-immigration, and he likes to justify this by blaming immigrants for the country’s problems — including the current housing crisis.
However, UN special rapporteur Balakrishnan Rajagopal has laid this myth to rest.
A failure in policy
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Rajagopal explained, “This housing crisis is not due to migration and refugees but due to the failure to recognise and protect housing as a human right.”
According to his findings, the Dutch housing crisis is a result of poor housing policy that has been left to fester for years:
“This crisis has been building over a couple of decades through an active policy of encouraging the market to replace the government in the provision of housing,” Rajagopal said.
*Flashback to when the Dutch housing minster told a woman to get a boyfriend to afford a house.*
Immigrants are not to blame
A popular narrative in the Netherlands right now is the claim that over-immigration is to blame for the current housing shortage, Rajagopal disputes this.
Many like to point to overcrowded asylum centres and make the claim that the Netherlands is falling victim to insurmountable waves of refugees and immigrants.
The claim popularised by Wilders is that these people are then taking homes from the Dutch.
However, Rajagopal has found that the overcrowded centres are “not due to hordes of new arrivals in the country” but instead come down to a backlog at Dutch immigration services, which leaves people stuck in the centres.
On top of this, he explains that the housing crisis is “as much a crisis of unaffordability of housing” as it is a crisis in the number of homes available.
Rajagopal will present his full report along with recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council in March.
If you’re currently making your 2024 travel plans, we have a delicious slice of good news for you: there’ll now be even more flights available to book to and from Schiphol Airport. 🛫🏖️
That’s right! Amsterdam Airport Schiphol has just announced that it’s adding a whopping 13,000 more flights to its 2024 summer schedule, reports the NOS.
Great for holidaymakers, bad for those living near Schiphol
Although the airport is legally allowed to carry up to 500,000 flights, the previous Dutch cabinet had set a maximum limit of 460,000 flights due to noise pollution.
However, this limit was later scrapped after cracking under joint pressure from the European Union and the US — despite Schiphol only operating 433,000 flights this year.
Oh, and has the thought of Schiphol’s endless queues already struck dread in your soul?
You can rest easy knowing that the airport is currently looking into how they can reorganise their schedule to reduce the number of flights at peak times.
What do you think of the addition of more flights, despite noise pollution concerns? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Fun fact: One of Europe’s most beautiful train journeys may very well be part of your morning commute!
If you happen to travel between Lelystad and Zwolle, it’s time to take your nose out of your phone screen and enjoy what The Guardian has deemed one of the most beautiful train journeys in the Netherlands.
Rich in wildlife
Specifically, the route along the Hanzelijn is the real beauty, according to The Guardian writer Nicky Gardner.
You may be wondering what qualifications a non-Dutchie has to determine which Dutch train line is the prettiest, but Gardner is actually the co-author of ‘Europe by Rail: the Definitive Guide’ — so listen up!
Why is this route getting so much love? Well, for one, you can enjoy “wistfully beautiful water meadows” and “a real dash of wilderness.”
Such wilderness includes “sea eagles, heck cattle (which look strangely like bison), wild konik ponies, foxes and red deer.”
A whole new world — and a pretty train route
Gardner is also impressed by the fact that this view would have once been underwater:
“Is it not a wondrous thing that so much of this railway crosses land that a century ago was below the waves?”
According to her, this relative newness adds to the beauty of the region “for some of these lands newly claimed from the sea are not yet entirely tamed.”
Day trip to Zwolle, anyone? 👀
Do you agree? Is this the most beautiful train route in the Netherlands? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
