Eindhoven City Guide
14/07/2023
With the Netherlands sharing borders with Germany and Belgium, it offers great opportunities to visit other European cities. With Antwerp, Cologne and Dusseldorf all within an hour’s travelling time, Eindhoven is a very international city and, in recent years, has grown into one of the world’s leading high-tech manufacturing hubs. With a large Irish community, much of the population speaks English, which will make a move to Eindhoven easier than moving to other areas of the Netherlands.
Housing in Eindhoven
Eindhoven City Centre is hugely popular among single ex-pats and couples because of café and restaurant-lined streets, but for more suburban living, Woensel, to the North, boasts a wide selection of houses or apartments to suit any budget.
Gestel, on the South side of Eindhoven and has a really good International Primary School in the area, making it popular for ex-pats with young families, and not far away, Tongelreep International Swimming Complex offers water fun for the whole family with its waterslides, exercise classes, outdoor pool and 50m indoor pool.
Renting a one-bedroom 45m2 apartment in Eindhoven will cost you between €913 and €1128 per month. Upscaling to a 85m2 house will set you back between €1286 and €1485.
If you’re keen to buy a house in Eindhoven, you’ll need to be willing to part with around €329,000 on average, but property prices have been rising in recent years, and are likely to continue to rise.
The good news is that banks in Holland have been known to offer generous 100% mortgages to help you on your way to home ownership.
Visa requirements
If you’re a British citizen, you’re likely to need a work permit to live and work in Eindhoven. Although, if you’ve already landed yourself a job in the Dutch city, you may find you’re automatically eligible for a work permit. For more detail, visit the Netherlands Immigration and Naturalization Service website.
It’s worth mentioning that the visa system for tech employees is very welcoming, with ex-pats being granted a 30% tax free allowance on their gross salary making working in the Netherlands very attractive.
There’s no need to worry about future job opportunities either, as there’s a big focus on encouraging new tech companies to Eindhoven, with a start-up visa available for those wanting to flex their entrepreneurial muscles and start a business in the city.
The cost of living
The cost of living in Eindhoven is around 8.39% less expensive than in London (ignoring rental costs) but rent in Eindhoven is almost half the cost of renting in London.
For a family of four, you can expect monthly living costs in Eindhoven of around £2,610.41[i].
You should expect to budget around €170 a month for utilities such as electricity, heating, cooling, water and rubbish disposal, and a further €42 each month for internet of around 60Mbps or more. Full-time childcare for children below school age will be around €1815, but international school fees come in at around €5,510 a month.
Dining out for two can cost around €30, but if you have slightly more expensive tastes, you can expect to spend around €60. For a cheap and cheerful treat though, a McDonalds can be picked up for around €8. A beer will cost around €5 or you can enjoy a mid-range bottle of red for around €6.
Dining at home is also less expensive than in London, with a loaf of bread priced at €1.50 and a litre of milk priced at just over €1.
Salaries in Eindhoven
The average salary in Eindhoven is around €60,300 a year, but the pay for different roles can vary dramatically. An ABAP Developer is likely to command a salary of €4,500 a month, whereas an Assistant IT Manager could attract a role paying €5,800 a month, and a Chief Information Security Officer, €7,230.
Commuting and Public Transport
There is no tram or underground system in Eindhoven. The city relies solely on an efficient bus network that makes it easy to get around.
You can choose to take a taxi, but taxis in Eindhoven are free to set their price, so you need to be willing to negotiate a fare before travelling.
Lots of people choose to cycle around Eindhoven, and with a first-class network of cycle lanes and plenty of bike hire shops available, it’s probably the easiest, most cost-effective and environmentally friendly option available.
Education system
In the Netherlands, children can start school at the age of 4, but school is only mandatory for children over the age of 5. The Dutch school day runs from 08.30-15:30 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with an earlier finishing time of noon on a Wednesday.[ii]
There are both public schools that are open to everyone, and special education schools that are usually aligned to any one religion. Some schools have waiting lists, so it’s worth making enquiries early on if you have your heart set on a particular school.
Like the UK Secondary school system, Secondary education in Eindhoven starts at the age of 12 and continues ‘til 18, becoming optional beyond the age of 16.
In the South of Eindhoven, there’s an exceptional English language-based international school with excellent facilities, which currently attracts students from over 30 different nationalities.
Eindhoven is also home to The Eindhoven University of Technology, one of Europe’s leading research universities in engineering and computer science.
Global technology companies
Eindhoven has been dubbed one of the most inventive cities in the world. Well known as the birthplace of Philips electronics, Eindhoven has registered 22.6 patents per 100,000 residents. High Tech Campus, in the South of Eindhoven, is an entrepreneurial space with a high-tech atmosphere, perfect for innovation and development. Lovingly referred to as the ‘smartest square kilometre in Europe’, it boasts more than 160 companies and 11,000 researchers, developers and entrepreneurs. TomTom opened offices there and famous tech start-ups in the area include BitSensor, Studyportals, GameHouse and SendCloud. MedTech is also a growing industry with a presence at Eindhoven’s High-Tech Campus.
Things to do in Eindhoven in your spare time
As the fifth-largest city in the Netherlands, there’s always plenty to do. The city became the Dutch capital of industrial design in the wake of WW2 destruction, and now offers residents all of the benefits of a thriving city combined with a history steeped in culture.
Eindhoven is the home of the Van Abbemuseum, one of the finest museums of modern and contemporary art in Europe, and the Eindhoven Museum, where you can take a trip through the centuries gone by. The Evoluon building, originally created by Philips, is now a dynamic and futuristic conference centre with an incredible interior which, alone, makes it worth a visit.
But if getting back to nature is more your thing, the Genneper Park offers beautiful landscapes and scenic walks around hidden ponds, pretty wooden bridges and stunning architecture.
Or you can visit Nuenen, the home of Vincent Van Gogh, just 10km away, and soak up some of the inspiration that shaped much of Van Gogh’s work.
Excited about the prospect of a new life in a vibrant European city? Email me Vicky.fellows@ic-resources.com to discuss these fantastic opportunities in Eindhoven.
Additional sources
15 Best Things to Do in Eindhoven (the Netherlands) - The Crazy Tourist
