Buying in Amsterdam vs the UK: costs and taxes

Amsterdam is cheap to buy into on tax and generous on borrowing, but you'll fight for the flat. Back home, the bidding is calmer, but living abroad and owning a Dutch home can multiply your stamp duty.

The short version

Dutch transfer tax is 2% on a home you'll live in, 0% for most first-time buyers under 35 on homes up to EUR 555,000, and 8% on homes you won't live in [7][8].
Dutch lenders can lend up to 100% of the home's value, but the buying costs come from your savings [9].
In England, a Brit living in Amsterdam usually pays a 2% non-resident surcharge on stamp duty, and owning a Dutch home brings the 5% higher rates too [1][2].
The Netherlands has no foreign-buyer rules. Nor does the UK.
Sell a UK home from Amsterdam and HMRC wants a 60-day report, even with no tax to pay [3].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.20).

What a Brit can buy in Amsterdam, compared

The Dutch don't care about your passport when you buy. There's no approval, quota or surcharge for foreigners, so a Brit can bid on a flat in De Pijp or a family home in Amsterdam-Noord on the same terms as a local.

What you get is different, though. Most flats are owned as a flat right (appartementsrecht) in a building run by an owners' association (VvE), which collects a monthly contribution for maintenance. And much of the city stands on land owned by the municipality under ground lease (erfpacht), so you may own the building but pay the City for the land. Check the erfpacht terms before you bid. Amsterdam can also stop new owners letting out some homes for their first years, which matters if a posting elsewhere is likely.

Back home, anyone can buy, wherever they live. In England and Wales, houses are usually freehold and flats usually leasehold, with ground rent and service charges. Erfpacht can feel familiar to anyone who's owned an English leasehold flat.

The process feels different too. In Amsterdam, asking prices are a starting gun and bidding over them is normal; in England, offers usually start below asking. Our guide to buying a home in Amsterdam has the bidding tactics and the steps from koopakte to notary.

Upfront costs side by side

Here's a EUR 500,000 Amsterdam flat against a £300,000 house in England, bought by a Brit living in Amsterdam.

	Amsterdam: EUR 500,000 flat (about £416,600)	England: £300,000 house
Foreign-buyer surcharge	None	None for foreigners, but 2% if you're not UK resident [1]
Your main home	2%: EUR 10,000 (about £8,300) [7]	SDLT £5,000, UK resident [1]
First-time buyer	0% if aged 18 to 34, first use, home worth up to EUR 555,000 [7][8]	0% up to £300,000, UK resident [1]
Non-resident buyer	No change	£11,000, or £6,000 with first-time buyer relief [1]
Not your main home	8%: EUR 40,000 (about £33,300) [7]	£20,000 at the higher rates, UK resident [1][2]
Non-resident and another home	No change	£26,000 [1][2]
Borrowing	Up to 100% of value; costs from savings [9]	Deposit set by the lender

The Dutch government has proposed cutting the 8% rate to 7% from 1 January 2027, but parliament hasn't approved it yet [8].

On top of the tax, budget for the notary, the Kadaster (land registry), a valuation, a mortgage adviser and, if you use one, a buying agent. These are fees you agree, so get quotes.

The UK trap. HMRC's higher rates apply if you'll own residential property worth £40,000 or more anywhere in the world [2]. Keep your Amsterdam flat and buy in Brighton, and you pay the higher rates, plus 2% while you're non-resident. The 2% can be reclaimed if you then spend 183 days in the UK within a year of buying; our guide to buying UK property from abroad explains how.

Scotland and Wales have no non-resident surcharge, but Scotland adds a flat Additional Dwelling Supplement to LBTT for second homes and Wales has higher rates of Land Transaction Tax. Revenue Scotland and the Welsh Revenue Authority publish the current figures.

Financing: Dutch bank or UK lender?

In the Netherlands, you can borrow up to 100% of the home's value as set by a valuer, and how much you can borrow against your income is fixed by law each year, taking in student debt and other loans [9]. That's generous by UK standards, but it means your savings must cover the transfer tax and fees, plus any overbid above the valuation. Lenders want a residence permit or Withdrawal Agreement document, a BSN and Dutch income; a short contract can narrow your options. Mortgage interest on your main home is tax-deductible if the loan is repaid over 30 years on an annuity or linear basis, and you add a small notional rental value to your income in return.

Back in the UK, borrowing while living in Amsterdam narrows the field. Many high-street lenders won't lend to people abroad or count euro income, and those that do want bigger deposits. See UK mortgages for Brits living abroad for the foreign-currency rules.

Owning it: property tax and running costs

In Amsterdam, owners pay onroerendezaakbelasting (OZB), the municipal property tax, on the home's official WOZ value. For 2026 the owner's rate for homes is 0.0527% of the WOZ value [10], so a home valued at EUR 500,000 pays about EUR 264 (about £220) a year. Add the water board charges, the VvE contribution and any ground rent. Your own home sits in Box 1 for income tax; a second home sits in Box 3 with your savings and investments.

In the UK, council tax is the yearly bill. If the house sits furnished and empty while you're in Amsterdam, English councils can charge a second-home premium of up to 100% since April 2025, if they choose to [5].

Let it out and the tenant normally pays council tax, while you join the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme. Your letting agent, or a tenant paying more than £100 a week, takes basic rate tax off the rent unless HMRC has approved you to be paid gross [4]. You apply on form NRL1, then file a Self Assessment return each year. Budget 2026 lists a property basic rate of 24% from 2027/28 [1]. As a Dutch resident, the UK house also counts in your Box 3, with relief under the treaty; see our guide to Box 3 and renting out your UK home.

Tax when you sell

The Dutch side

The Netherlands doesn't tax the gain when you sell your own home. A second home or a let flat isn't taxed on sale either; instead it's taxed every year in Box 3, which is being reformed, so check the current rules before you buy one. The bigger Dutch costs come at the start: transfer tax and the cash you need above the valuation.

The UK side

Selling your UK home while you live in Amsterdam. Report the sale to HMRC within 60 days of completion and pay any tax in the same window, even if nothing is due [3]. Gains on residential property are taxed at 18% or 24% in 2026/27, with a £3,000 annual exempt amount [1]. Under the 2008 UK–Netherlands convention, the UK may tax gains on UK property, and the Netherlands relieves them by reducing its own tax [6]. Private residence relief can still cover years you lived there; our guide to selling UK property as a non-resident explains the 90-day test.

Selling your Amsterdam flat after moving back. Here's the twist. Once you're UK resident again, the UK taxes your worldwide gains, measured in pounds at the exchange rates when you bought and sold, and there's no Dutch tax on the sale to credit against it. Private residence relief may cover a flat that was your main home, but that's general information, and the days you lived there matter. A tax adviser who knows both countries can check your case before you sell.

Which makes sense for whom

Settled in Amsterdam, under 35. The starter exemption and a 100% mortgage make buying unusually accessible, if you can win the bidding.
On a two- or three-year contract. Letting restrictions, overbids and fees you won't recover make renting the safer bet.
Keeping a UK house. Fine, but it lands in Box 3, the NRL scheme applies if you let it, and the 60-day return awaits when you sell.
Planning to go home and sell up later. A gain on a Dutch flat sold after you're back in the UK is taxed by HMRC, not the Dutch, so think about timing.

Swap bidding war stories in our community group for Brits in the Netherlands.

Buying in Amsterdam vs back home: 100% mortgages, a 2% tax and the UK surcharges