A good place to start
Start with the household’s daily life and arrival plan. A well-defined search can keep the right homes in focus while leaving room to consider locations you may not have known about.
CBS reports this specific family-migration category. It counts people, not households, and does not include all family migration.
Read the CBS sourceWhat your move needs
More than one daily routine
Balance work journeys, school or childcare plans and time at home.
Room for the actual household
Agree bedrooms, workspace, accessibility and pet requirements early.
Arrival dates that fit together
Plan for simultaneous or staggered arrivals and temporary accommodation.
Moving with family is a real part of work migration
CBS separately records family members joining labour migrants. This helps explain why housing support needs to consider more than the person with the job offer. The statistic does not tell us household income, the number of children or school preferences.
Some partners arrive together; others follow once housing is arranged. Decide who needs to be involved in evaluating a property and how you will make a decision when you are in different places.
Agree the trade-offs before the viewings
Write down the needs you cannot compromise on and the preferences you can discuss. A shorter commute, another bedroom and a different neighbourhood can point in different directions. A shared brief makes the choice less stressful when a suitable property appears.
If schools or childcare are part of the move, check availability directly with the relevant institutions before treating a location as settled. A home-search service does not guarantee a school place. Include accessibility and pet needs at the outset so they are part of the search rather than late discoveries.
Personal support for a shared decision
Our housing service helps coordinate the search, documents, viewings and proposal. We can arrange video viewings when you are abroad, then explain the lease and support key handover.
Alongside public opportunities, our network of agents, landlords and investors can bring suitable homes to our attention before they are advertised. Availability still depends on the household’s requirements and the market.
Think beyond the day you get the keys
Check which furniture and appliances are included and what needs arranging before everyone arrives. Utilities, furnishing and other settling-in support can be discussed as additional services. Agree the scope and separate supplier costs in advance.
If you need a wider package, our Expat Help and Jimble comparisons explain when broader relocation providers may be relevant. If housing is the missing piece, we can focus the conversation there.
Bring these to your consultation
A few concrete details help us make the first conversation useful.
- Everyone who will live in the home
- Bedrooms, workspace, accessibility and pets
- Work and school locations to investigate
- Joint or staggered arrival dates
- Which furnishings and utilities need arranging
Common questions
Can one partner arrive before the other?
Yes, tell us the intended dates and who will be available for viewings and handover. Any occupancy and contract arrangements need to be confirmed for the property.
Do you guarantee a family-sized home near a chosen school?
No. We can use those requirements in the search, but housing availability and school places must be checked separately.
Can you help when we are already in the Netherlands?
Yes. Our rental service also supports expats who already live here and need a new home.
How can we balance two different commutes?
Share both work locations and how often each person needs to travel. Agree acceptable journeys and household essentials together before viewings, so we can discuss areas that fit your shared routine.
Should we mention pets or accessibility requirements at intake?
Yes. Include pets, accessibility, bedroom needs and workspace in the initial brief. We can use those requirements when considering properties and clarify the relevant details before you apply.
Can both partners be involved when we are in different countries?
Tell us who needs to review each property and how you want to make decisions together. Video viewings can be arranged, and agreeing who will respond to opportunities helps keep the search coordinated.
Can you help us prepare the home before the rest of the family arrives?
We can discuss furnishing, utilities and other settling-in support as additional services. First confirm what the property already includes, then agree the work and any separate supplier costs before arrangements are made.
Sources & approach
These guides use published migration and education data to identify real audience groups. They describe situations we can discuss, not individual client stories. National arrival counts, student populations and permit-holder counts are different measures and should not be added together.
YEB’s figure of 1,400 expats helped is company-reported as of September 2026. Service details and statistics were reviewed on 15 September 2026; source years are stated where relevant.
- CBS, 30 June 2026: migration in 2025, with EU work and family data for 2024
- Your Expat Butler: housing search, viewings and aftercare
- Your Expat Butler: off-market expertise
