Dutch home owners will have to spend an average of €702 this year on local authority taxes to cover waste collection and other services, and the sharpest rise – over 11% – is in Amsterdam.

The research, carried out by the Coelo institute at Groningen University, is based on information from the 37 biggest local authority areas in the Netherlands.

The nationwide average of €702 is a rise of 4.3% on 2018. Tenants, who are not liable for property tax, will pay an average of €347 in local authority taxes, a rise of 5.4%.

The increase is largely due to a major hike in waste collection fees, which has been passed on to households by councils following a rise in national government charges.

The government hopes that by increasing the national taxes on waste, councils will be encouraged to do more to recycle rubbish.

Variations

There are, however, wide variations in local taxes. Tenants in Nijmegen, for example, pay an average of just €40 while in Zaanstad the average bill hits €571. Home owners’ average taxes vary from €563 in The Hague to €856 in Enschede.

The biggest increase facing tenants this year is in Haarlem, where average local council bills have gone up over 18%, followed by Amsterdam with a rise of 17.6%.

Amsterdam also tops the list of local authorities where home owners’ bills have gone up most, with a rise of 11.3%. Nevertheless, with average council tax bills of €654, Amsterdam home owners are still paying well below the national average of €702.