Englishman in Belgium

I don’t drink coffee I take tea my dear… You know how the song goes. Well I am not an Englishman in New York, I am in fact an Englishman in Antwerp, Belgium.

After being in Belguim for almost 2 years now, I thought it would be useful to fellow country men and women who also are thinking of moving over and are looking for a cheat sheet of life here. These are some rough notes but important points which I think are very useful if you know little to nothing about Belgium, specifically Flanders.

Food

After living in the Netherlands for some time, I can tell you that Belgian food is much better than their neighbours. Even though it is not the Netherlands, the Dutch supermarkets have been slowly invaiding Belgium, with many Albert Heijns popping up over the country. Of course there are other supermarkets here, below is a helpful table to (roughly) map them to a UK equivalent.

Now there are others of course, but these are the main ones. Delhaize is by far the most expensive but does have (most often) the nicest selection of food - their Cheddar Cheese is quite good, but you can also get Cathedral City Cheddar Cheese at Carrefour.

One key thing to notice in Belgium is that for breakfast and sometimes lunch, it is common for people to put chocolate sprinkles on bread (with butter). If you see people doing this, do not look alarmed, this is perfectly normal. Many of the supermarkets sell this stuff and is called hagelslag. It is also eaten a lot in the Netherlands. I refrain from participating in such monstrous activities but people tell me it is nice.

Marmite is hard to come by and is a bit expensive but you can find it in Delhaize. It is frowed upon to eat this in public.

Blackcurrant squash, or any type of squash, doesn’t exist here, they have syrups but they are horrible and nothing in comparision to Robinsons.

For everything you crave and cannot find in the supermarkets listed above, there are two UK supermarkets (although not well stocked since Brexit) which are both located near Brussels, one in Everberg, and I forget the location of the other. See here for more details (https://www.stonemanor.uk.com/). It is pricey but well worth the drive and money if you need some stuffing, cereal, cheese or marmite.

Supermarkets close early here: it is impossible to find a supermarket open past 20:00 and most are closed on Sunday too. If you need something past 8 in the evening, then night shops (nacht winkels) are your only option.

Drink

It is not common to drink fresh milk in Belgium, it can be found but is uncommon and pricey. Normally long life milk is used.

Of course Belgium has some of the finest beers in the world and remember they are much stronger than back home. For normal (pills) beer, I recommend Stella or Jupiler, and if you want a good heavy drink, try a Duvel!

There is also a wonderous drink called Jenever or Genièvre, which is otherwise known as Dutch Gin. It is great and comes in a plethora of different flavours. It is typically drunk around Christmas time. Just be careful not to drink too many in public!

Driving & Roads

Because everyone in Belgium has a company car, and most households have at least 2 cars, you can expect a lot of traffic. Trust me, traffic is bad here. Plus the traffic lights are optimized against you, in most places you can expect a 3 minute wait at traffic lights for a 10 second pass. And people are not quick to respond to a green light.

The traffic is frustrating, so choose a bike when possible.

In Antwerp always avoid the ring at any time between 7-9 and 16-19 in the week, and generally at weekends too (after 10ish).

One important point to make, which is significantly different from the UK, is that you must give way to traffic on the right at junctions (unless white teeth marks on road). This is an implicit rule you need to know. Some drivers will confidently force themselves onto the road because they are from the right, and they are normally right (as in correct)!

This rule does not apply to roundabouts (give way to left) but look out for bikes from both sides!

Cycling

As discussed above, bike is king here. Belgium is a great cycling country and good infrastructure for bikes. Most roads have cycle paths but still it is advisable to always wait and look (even if green for bikes) since some cars will not notice (or even attempt to look) for you. Roundabouts are one such place to look out for drivers on their phones.

Tax

This is the biggest shock for any Brit crossing the pond. Tax is insane here! The top tax bracket is 52% (last time I checked) and it starts very low. It can mean if you earn 6000 EUR per month gross (called bruto in Belgium) can equate to just over 3000 EUR net per month! If you earn a 13th or 14th month this is taxed at even higher rate (for complicated reasons I will not explain here). So if you are offered a job beware of the tax - negotiate the net not the gross. Also, salaries are advertised per month not per annum in Belgium, unlike the UK.

In the UK I could calculate my income tax to the penny (see https://accountingtom.com) but that is simply not possible in Belgium. My payslip is impossible to work out, even if I understood Dutch! Many things can alter your income tax: childcare, mortgage, holiday, sickness, … and more. I recommend getting an accountant for the first year or two of living in Belgium.

There is no captial gains tax in Belgium (if you’re a resident) but other taxes are applied and very complex again. One thing to know, if you are an investor/trader, you must pay TOB (tax on stock transaction) and this must be declared within 2 months of a buy or sell trade. This is not well known and many people have rackeed up huge tax bills and fines for not paying TOB. Reddit is great here (see this insanely good post for more details: https://www.reddit.com/r/BEFire/comments/kkj1lx/stock_exchange_tax_declaration_in_belgium_a/) and here (https://finance.belgium.be/en/experts-partners/investors/tax-stock-exchange-transactions) for more official documentation on TOB.

There is much more on tax to cover but since I am not an accountant I will not go any further.

Rent

Rent in comparision to England is cheap and normally to a better standard but there are of course exceptions here. Rental contracts normally last for 3 years and are renewed annual thereafter but landlords/landladys can give you 6 months notice to vacate at any point.

You do not pay property tax (cadastral income) if you rent, but you do if you buy.

Other

Childcare is very cheap here compared to the UK and to a much better standard. It is subsidised by the government better than England. Instead of £1200 a week (full time) you can expect to pay between 200 to 500 EUR a week. It can vary of course, and some nurseries charge you based on your income. So if you earn less you pay much less.

Childcare is also considered a more respectable profession here and carers are well trained.

Summmary

I am sure there are many more points I have forgotten (I will add them over time here when it comes to mind) but this can be a useful primer to anyone making the move to the center of the EU. Belgium is a nice country but small and complicated. It has benefits over England in some cases, but other times England is best. Especially if you want marmite on toast with a nice glass of Robinsons blackcurrant squash.

I am an Englishman, and will always be one, but for now I am an Englishman in Belgium.

Written by Thomas Stainer who likes to develop software for applications mainly in maths and physics, but also to solve everyday problems. Check out my GitHub page here.