Eva(35)

I worked as a freelance UX designer for a London agency — fully remote. In Haarlem I paid €1,500 rent for an apartment without a garden. After COVID I realized: I can live anywhere. A holiday in the Ardennes brought me to Namur, the capital of Wallonia. The Meuse river, the citadel, the affordability — I was in love.

Buying a house in Namur was surreal compared to Haarlem. I bought a renovated Mosan house with garden in the Jambes neighborhood for €185,000. In Haarlem this would cost at least €450,000. Registration duties in Wallonia are 12.5% (higher than the 3% in Flanders), but even with that extra cost the total picture was dramatically cheaper.

As a freelancer working remotely for a foreign company, I had to establish myself in Belgium as self-employed. That means: registration at a business counter (I chose UCM, a French-speaking office), applying for a KBO number and BTW number, and joining a caisse d'assurances sociales (social insurance fund). Quarterly contributions as self-employed start around €750.

Learning French was the biggest challenge. In Wallonia everything is in French: the municipality, the notary, the neighbors, the supermarket. I took an intensive course at the Institut des Langues Vivantes at the Université de Namur. After eight months I could manage well; after eighteen months I felt comfortable. My neighbors were patient and found my attempts charming.

Namur is an underrated city. It's small (110,000 inhabitants), but has everything: a university that provides liveliness, good restaurants, the Citadel for walks and a direct train connection to Brussels (65 minutes). The Walloon lifestyle is more relaxed than the Flemish — lunches last longer, shops sometimes close on Mondays, and nobody's in a hurry.

My tip for remote workers considering Wallonia: registration duties are higher than in Flanders (12.5% vs. 3%), but housing prices are so much lower that the total is still more favorable. Invest in French — it's not optional in Wallonia. And check your tax situation: as self-employed in Belgium you pay social contributions that are higher than in the Netherlands, but you build more rights with them.