Home owners and tenants both have to pay a little more in local council taxes this year, but the average rise is still marginal, according to research by the University of Groningen’s local government research centre Coelo.

Home owners will pay an average of €677 in local taxes in 2018, a rise of €4 on 2017. For tenants, the rise is just €1, taking their local tax bill to an average of €329.

While all residents pay taxes to have their rubbish collected and waste water processed, only home owners pay property tax (OZB) which funds other council services.

The Coelo research is based on the 38 biggest local authority areas in the Netherlands. Last year, some 40% of residents in the biggest towns and cities actually paid less in local taxes compared with 2016.

There are wide variations in payments. In The Hague, for example, home owners will pay an average of just €546 in property taxes, while Delft residents just a few kilometres away will pay €843.

Preliminary research by RTL at the end of last year put the average increase for home owners at 1.7% next year.

Experts said then the 2018 rise is likely to be tempered because elections for most of the country’s 380 local authorities take place in March this year.