Everything That Changes in the Netherlands from 1 July
A new batch of laws, benefit changes and price rises takes effect on 1 July, as it does every half-year. Here is a round-up of the main changes to watch for.
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A new batch of laws, benefit changes and price rises takes effect in the Netherlands on 1 July, as it does every half-year. Some bring more money into people’s pockets; others will cost them. Here is a round-up of the main changes.
Minimum wage and benefits
The legal minimum wage rises from €14.71 to €14.99 gross an hour for everyone aged 21 and over, an increase of 1.9 percent. Because Dutch benefits are tied to the minimum wage, they climb alongside it. The state pension (AOW) for people living alone rises from €1,558.15 to €1,581.55 net a month, and other benefits, including social assistance (bijstand), disability insurance (WIA) and youth disability support (Wajong), also go up. Child benefit increases in line with consumer prices.
Rents
Social housing rents can rise by up to 4.1 percent this year, down from last year’s 5 percent ceiling. Rooms in shared housing face the same limit. On average, housing associations expect their rents to go up by 3.6 percent, bringing the typical social rent to around €666 a month. The maximum rent for a social home is now €932.93.
People on higher incomes living in social housing can be charged more. Landlords may add €50 a month for a higher middle income and €100 for a higher income.
For mid-market and private rentals, the rent increases for 2026 already took effect in January. The maximum increase for mid-market homes was 6.1 percent; for private-sector homes it was 4.4 percent.
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Non-EU parcels
Ordering from webshops outside the EU, such as the Chinese platforms Temu and Shein, is about to become more expensive. From 1 July, a €3 import charge applies per type of product. The previous exemption for low-value parcels worth under €150 disappears.
The fee is charged per distinct product type, not per parcel. Order two identical T-shirts and you pay €3 once; order a T-shirt and a USB cable and you pay €6. A parcel containing ten different items could carry €30 in fees.
The EU agreed to the measure last year as a way to curb the flood of cheap parcels entering the bloc and to level the playing field for European retailers. In 2025, imports of small parcels into the EU surpassed 5.88 billion items. Additional processing fees are expected from November 2026 to help fund enhanced customs controls, and a more permanent framework is due to replace the €3 charge by 2028.
Cold calling
From 1 July, companies can no longer phone you to sell something unless you have given explicit permission, even if you are or were a customer. The so-called “soft opt-in,” which allowed businesses to call existing customers, is scrapped for telemarketing calls.
Calls from a withheld number are also no longer allowed. The change is part of an amendment to the Telecommunications Act, which was prompted by thousands of complaints about pressure selling and unwanted calls.
Charities, lotteries that give to good causes, and newspaper and magazine publishers are exempt. The rules do not prevent upselling during an inbound service call that the customer initiates.
Power grid waiting lists
Households applying for a new or heavier electricity connection, for example to fit a heat pump or car charger, can now be placed on a waiting list if the local grid is full. Until now, only businesses faced such queues.
In Noord-Brabant and much of Utrecht, new connections and upgrades are already on hold. Grid operator Liander has placed roughly 7,300 households on a waiting list, with some facing waits of up to three years. A new priority framework from regulator ACM puts facilities such as healthcare and drinking water first, followed by housing, with businesses last.
The root of the problem is netcongestie, or grid congestion, where demand from electric cars, heat pumps and solar panels has outpaced the capacity of the network. Around 14,000 businesses are already waiting for a grid connection or upgrade.
Tobacco sellers
Shops selling cigarettes, vapes and other tobacco products must register with the food and product safety authority NVWA. The government wants to reduce the number of tobacco sales points and improve oversight of where products are sold. Supermarkets are already banned from selling tobacco.
Cameras in new cars
From 7 July, every new car sold in the EU must have a driver monitoring system. The technology, called Advanced Driver Distraction Warning (ADDW), uses a camera to detect whether the driver is paying attention to the road. If the driver’s gaze drifts away for too long, the system triggers a warning, which may be a sound, a visual alert on the dashboard, or both.
The measure is part of the EU’s General Safety Regulation, which aims to cut road deaths by half by 2030. Estimates suggest driver distraction accounts for 10 to 30 percent of all road accidents.
Bank transfers
Banks can now be ordered to hold a payment for up to five days if the government’s Financial Intelligence Unit suspects it is linked to money laundering or terrorist financing. The delay gives investigators time to act.
Lorry charge
Lorry owners start paying a per-kilometre toll on almost all motorways and some provincial roads. The amount depends on the weight and emissions of the vehicle; cleaner, lighter trucks pay less. A 40-tonne Euro VI truck will pay around €0.16 per kilometre, or roughly €8,000 a year for a truck driving 50,000 kilometres in the Netherlands.
The new charge replaces the Eurovignette, which ends on 1 July. Road tax for lorries is scrapped until the end of 2026 because of high fuel prices, and the tax on vans is halved for the same period. Every truck must have a working on-board unit (OBU) to pay the toll; vehicles without one may be fined.
Other changes
Tachographs become compulsory for vans of 2,500 to 3,500 kilograms used for international transport. These devices record driving time, rest periods, speed and distance.
New childminders must complete a teaching module before starting.
Employment agencies must be told when a temporary worker has a workplace accident and report it to the labour inspectorate.
Environmental rules on building materials are tightened for offices and introduced for the first time for schools, shops and factories.