Netherlands movers from the UK and back, with guides by subject, for 25 towns and cities and for two areas.
International Movers to and from the Netherlands
A move between the UK and the Netherlands involves Dutch customs, your municipality and, with a car, the vehicle authority. Pick a direction, a subject or a city below. We’re an introduction service, not a mover. Your removal company will tell you what it needs from you and when.
Which Netherlands guide comes first: from the UK or back to the UK?
Open the guide for the direction you are moving. A move from the UK runs through Dutch customs, your municipality and, with a car, the vehicle authority. A move out of the Netherlands starts with leaving the Dutch register, then an export declaration, and HMRC’s approval comes before you claim its relief. Each guide says what its sources leave unsaid.
UK to Netherlands
From the UK to the Netherlands
The UK to Netherlands removals guide walks through three stages: the UK paperwork, customs, and the Dutch deadlines that start on arrival. They range from visas and registering with the municipality to health insurance, driving on a UK licence, a car, a pet dog or cat and cash. For the paperwork you finish in the UK, see our UK customs documentation checklist.
Netherlands to UK
From the Netherlands back to the UK
The Netherlands to UK removals guide follows the exit: the emigration checklist of the Belastingdienst (the Dutch tax authority), the export declaration, HMRC’s relief and its ToR1 application form, a car, pets and cash. It flags where pages disagree, for example on who files the export declaration for a private household. It is written for Great Britain, and for the euro side of the cash step see our guide to exchanging pounds for euros.
Customs, car, zones
Which guide answers a question on customs, a car or a zone?
Three subjects have a guide of their own, because each can change the order of a move. Dutch customs decides on relief for household goods, the RDW (the Dutch vehicle authority) registers the car, and the zone and street rules come from the national programme and each municipality.
Customs relief for household goods
The customs and transfer of residence guide reads the Douane, the Dutch customs authority, and its handbook on relief from import duty and VAT for a move from outside the EU. It sets out who files the import declaration, the six and twelve month periods, the first year after import and the goods the relief excludes. Dutch customs decides, on your evidence, whether the relief applies.
A UK car in the Netherlands
The car guide puts the Dutch steps in a fixed order: Customs, an RDW inspection, a paper BPM car tax return, then plates. The tax office says a move from outside the EU owes no BPM when the belongings are declared tax-free, yet the return is still filed, on paper only. A resident may not drive on foreign plates. The RDW’s own pages were unreadable, so the guide states no RDW fee.
Zero-emission zones and street access
The zero-emission zones and street access guide reports that OpwegnaarZES, the national zones programme, lists 19 municipalities with a zone. The RDW charges €30.00 for each day-exemption request, and the 2026 fines are €130 for a van and €320 for a lorry. The pages do not say who requests an exemption for a move, the household or the removal company.
Which Dutch cities have a guide, and what does a move turn on?
Twenty-five Dutch towns and cities have a guide of their own: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Utrecht, The Hague, Maastricht and Breda, set out first, and eighteen more towns after them. Utrecht and The Hague publish a notice period, from ten working days to six, Breda a decision period of eight weeks for a longer exemption, and the others are known mainly for their vehicle zones and street rules. The points below come from those guides, read between 31 October and 3 November 2026.
Amsterdam
Zone: the zero-emission zone lies inside the S100 ring road, and the diesel zones bar older vans and lorries (Amsterdam guide).
Permit: a resident parking permit stays with its permit area when you move.
Unconfirmed: the city’s website refused our request, so its street rule for a removal vehicle is not stated.
Rotterdam
Zone: inside the ring of motorways, checked by number-plate cameras, with fines of €130 for a van and €320 for a lorry (Rotterdam guide).
Port: a Maasvlakte lorry zone, a lorry ban on one street and the ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland.
Unconfirmed: no page on parking a removal vehicle was found.
Eindhoven
Zone: the zero-emission zone inside the ring began on 1 January 2025, and a diesel car zone follows on 1 January 2027 (Eindhoven guide).
Permit: the public-space permit has an eight-week decision period, but its page does not mention moves.
Utrecht
Vehicle exemption: the city lists moves among the reasons for a temporary exemption, which lasts up to five days. Ask at least ten working days ahead. The 2026 fee is €120.35 a day (Utrecht guide).
Parking ban: send a letter to your district office, the wijkbureau. The city’s answer gives no lead time or fee.
Centre deliveries: the pedestrian area allows 6:00 to 11:30 on the city’s loading page and 6:00 to 11:00 from 1 January 2027 on its new-rules page, so ask which applies on your date.
The Hague
Retractable posts: posts close the pedestrian centre. For clusters A to J and several others the window is 5.00 to 11.30 on weekdays and 6.00 to 11.30 at weekends, for loading and unloading only (Hague guide).
Exemption: the city lists a move among the reasons. The card costs €23.50, and the city asks you to apply at least six working days ahead.
Loading bay: a street bay is free for set days and hours, but the city replies within two to three months and its page does not mention moves.
Maastricht
Parking: a vehicle over 6 metres long or 2.4 metres high with its load may not park on streets in the centre, and elsewhere a vehicle over 6 metres long is barred at weekends and from 18:00 to 08:00 on weekdays (Maastricht guide).
Wyck pilot: since 5 January 2026 lorries may load in the Wyck district only from 07:00 to 12:00.
Unconfirmed: no page on a permit for a removal vehicle was found.
Breda
Day exemption: the ordinance for the car-light centre names removals among the reasons. Ask at the latest on the day of entry; it runs for 30 hours (Breda guide).
Longer exemption: the council decides within eight weeks of a complete request and may add four.
Prinsenkade: a length limit of 10 metres applies from the Hoge Brug.
Eighteen more towns
Each town guide reads the council’s own page on exemptions, fees and notice, and says what that page leaves unsaid.
Arnhem: a €15.60 temporary exemption with a reply in five working days, and a separate large-vehicle exemption decided in eight weeks.
Haarlem: no exemption for a removal van but a traffic plan three weeks ahead, and a temporary parking permit by half day.
Zoetermeer: a €27.81 temporary exemption decided within eight weeks, and Stadshart loading from 7.00 to 11.00.
Alkmaar: a P1 exemption for a move to or from the closed centre, with loading windows and a cheese-market Friday rule.
Helmond: a short-term exemption that names a move, a €36.60 handling charge and two pedestrian areas with their own windows.
Purmerend: a €31.00 exemption for up to five days, asked ten working days or eight weeks ahead.
Hilversum: a plain statement that loading a removal van needs no parking permit, and a ban on large vehicles outside six named places.
Schiedam: an RVV exemption of €58.60 a day asked at the latest four weeks ahead, and the Hoogstraat windows.
Hoorn: an inner-city exemption at €14.30 that usually arrives within 24 hours.
Almelo: a €15.00 day exemption by email within minutes, and 13 named pedestrian streets.
Katwijk: a temporary exemption that the removal firm can ask for, answered in two working days, and notice periods for closing a street.
Pijnacker-Nootdorp: a €22.65 day exemption for the poller areas, asked two working days ahead.
Den Helder: a pedestrian-area exemption at €83.60 with a key deposit, and the Texel ferry port.
Woerden: four closed streets with times, and an €80.26 exemption asked four weeks ahead.
Weert: a promenade exemption written for movers at €80.50, with a limit of 11 metres and 15 tonnes.
Harderwijk: a temporary inner-city exemption at €15.50, asked two to three weeks ahead.
Gooise Meren: van limits of 7 metres in Naarden-Vesting and 9 metres in Muiden-Vesting, with no fee stated.
Delft: a free notice two working days ahead when a move blocks the road, and a day exemption for the car-light centre.
In Utrecht and The Hague a lorry bound for the centre meets a time window, so tell your removal company early if the address lies inside the pedestrian area. The zones and street access guide sets out what each city says about parking a removal vehicle outside the door.
Provinces and other cities
Which provinces and other places have no guide of their own?
Twelve provinces make up the European Netherlands. Twenty-five towns and cities have a guide, and two areas have one: the Zeeland guide for the Westerscheldetunnel closure from 11 January 2027, and the Wadden islands guide for island vehicle exemptions and the freight ferry. Every other place is named on the guide of its bigger neighbour, with its population and one rule where a council page states it, and a street rule is stated only where a guide gives one.
Of the 97 municipalities with 50,000 or more residents on 1 January 2026 (Statistics Netherlands, CBS), 25 have a guide of their own and 72 are named on a neighbour’s guide or below. For 14 of those 72 our request was refused or the council’s moving page could not be read, so they are named with their population only: Groningen (244,427), Enschede (162,683), Zwolle (134,147), Emmen (109,881), Nissewaard (89,112), Hengelo (84,045), Assen (70,769), Velsen (70,361), Leidschendam-Voorburg (78,916), Roermond (61,431), Kampen (56,835), West Betuwe (53,445), Goeree-Overflakkee (52,798) and Noordoostpolder (51,930).
Noord-Holland: see the Amsterdam, Haarlem, Alkmaar, Purmerend, Hilversum, Hoorn, Den Helder and Gooise Meren guides. Also named: Haarlemmermeer (166,978), Zaanstad (165,201), Amstelveen (95,840), Dijk en Waard (91,411) and Hollands Kroon (50,592).
Zuid-Holland: see the Rotterdam, Hague, Zoetermeer, Delft, Schiedam, Katwijk and Pijnacker-Nootdorp guides. Also named: Leiden (130,328), Dordrecht (122,991), Westland (118,874), Alphen aan den Rijn (117,284), Hoeksche Waard (91,445), Gouda (77,818), Vlaardingen (77,480), Voorne aan Zee (75,012), Capelle aan den IJssel (69,698), Lansingerland (66,633), Rijswijk (61,857), Krimpenerwaard (57,898).
Utrecht: see the Utrecht and Woerden guides. Also named: Amersfoort (163,764), Veenendaal (70,779), Nieuwegein (68,257), Zeist (66,648), Stichtse Vecht (66,196), Vijfheerenlanden (63,246), Utrechtse Heuvelrug (51,107) and Houten (50,952).
Noord-Brabant: see the Eindhoven, Breda and Helmond guides. Also named: Tilburg (230,746), ’s-Hertogenbosch (162,295), Oss (95,549), Land van Cuijk (93,645), Meierijstad (85,236), Roosendaal (78,165), Bergen op Zoom (70,692), Maashorst (60,059), Altena (58,946), Oosterhout (58,726) and Waalwijk (51,635).
Gelderland: see the Arnhem and Harderwijk guides. Also named: Nijmegen (189,871), Apeldoorn (169,212), Ede (125,331), Barneveld (63,926) and Doetinchem (60,466).
Overijssel: see the Almelo guide. Also named: Deventer (105,111), Hardenberg (64,116).
Limburg: see the Maastricht and Weert guides. Also named: Venlo (104,195), Sittard-Geleen (92,461) and Heerlen (87,764).
Friesland: nothing was read for the province, apart from the Wadden islands guide. Named: Leeuwarden (130,162), Súdwest-Fryslân (90,521), Smallingerland (57,188), De Fryske Marren (52,248) and Heerenveen (51,955).
Groningen: the province was not read. Named: Westerkwartier (65,067) and Midden-Groningen (61,346), with the unreadable city above.
Drenthe: Hoogeveen (56,781) is named, with Assen and Emmen above.
Flevoland: Almere (232,619) and Lelystad (85,781), with Noordoostpolder above.
Zeeland: see the Zeeland guide, which names Middelburg (50,439) and Terneuzen (55,955) with their move permits.
The Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba) are outside these guides and outside the CBS municipality table we used, and we read nothing for them. The zone dates come from the programme’s list of 19 zero-emission municipalities, as set out in the zones and street access guide, which also links every town guide.
If your town is not named here, give the exact address and ask your removal company which municipality decides. For a move from the Netherlands to Germany, see our guide to removals from the Netherlands to Germany.
All guides
All Netherlands guides: direction, subject or city
Every guide lists the official pages behind it. If your town is absent, name it on the enquiry together with the nearest city, or see the provinces section above.
Begin with the guide for your direction, then read the customs guide if goods arrive from outside the EU.
The zones guide fits once you know the Dutch town, since the dates and street rules vary by municipality.
How much notice does Utrecht need for a temporary vehicle exemption?
At least ten working days ahead, says the city’s exemption page, and the 2026 fee is €120.35 a day for up to five days.
The page does not say whether the household or the removal company applies.
How early do I ask The Hague for an exemption for a move?
The city asks you to apply at least six working days ahead, and the card costs €23.50.
Its pages do not say whether a removal vehicle needs the exemption inside the morning window.
Does a UK car need Customs before the RDW?
Yes. The Dutch foreign ministry lists the import declaration to Customs as step one for a car from outside the EU, and the RDW inspection as step two.
The tax office says the BPM return is still filed, on paper only.
Which Dutch towns and cities have a guide?
Twenty-five: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Eindhoven, Maastricht and Breda, and eighteen towns from Arnhem to Weert.
Zeeland and the Wadden islands have area guides, and the zones guide records what the national programme says about the zones of every city on its list.
Is there a pet guide for the Netherlands?
Not yet. The UK to Netherlands guide has a section on a pet dog or cat.
GOV.UK says a pet travelling from Great Britain to an EU country needs an animal health certificate from an official vet, valid for 10 days for entry, and a rabies vaccination at least 21 full days before travel. A guide of its own waits until the Dutch pet entry rules have been read.
Which Dutch places of 50,000 or more have no guide?
72 municipalities, such as Nijmegen, Tilburg and Groningen, are named by province in the provinces section with their CBS populations.
For 14 of them our request was refused or the moving page could not be read, so they carry a population only. Neighbours with a guide are named on it.
Tell us about your Netherlands move
Give both addresses with the Dutch town, the dates you have in mind and a rough list of what is going. Mention a car or a pet if one is travelling, and whether the Dutch address lies in a city centre.
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