A good place to start
Check your institution’s housing support and prepare the documents that reflect your actual appointment. Then discuss a private-rental search that works for the location, budget and duration.
Nuffic’s IND-based data covers researcher permits, including PhD candidates and paid or grant-funded researchers. This is a resident permit-holder count, not annual arrivals.
Read the Nuffic sourceWhat your move needs
A specific place of work
Check the campus or research location rather than relying on a university’s main address.
Different forms of funding
Explain whether you have employment, a grant or another documented arrangement.
The full household picture
Account for partners, family, accessibility and the length of the appointment.
Researchers are not one standard tenant profile
Nuffic reports that 80% of the non-EEA researchers in its 2025 data worked at research universities. TU Delft had the largest number, followed by TU Eindhoven and the University of Groningen. The data covers several types of research appointment.
A salaried PhD position, a grant-funded stay and a visiting appointment may produce different documentation. Be specific about your arrangement. Do not assume a property’s application process treats all research roles alike.
Ask the institution what is already covered
Your international office or HR contact may have housing information or temporary-accommodation options. Ask what is available, for how long and for which household members. Confirm the terms directly before relying on them.
Once you know the gap, build the private search around the actual campus. Our Delft and other city guides can help you start exploring, but the right location is the one that fits your working week and household.
A local team for the parts that are hard to do remotely
We can discuss the brief, prepare your application, coordinate viewings and help put forward a rental proposal. Video viewings can support your decisions before arrival. We also explain the lease and assist with handover.
Our property network complements public listings. Tell us about the appointment’s duration and any move-in flexibility so these are part of the search from the beginning. Neither a university affiliation nor network access guarantees a rental.
Plan for the move as well as the appointment
If someone is joining you later, include them in the housing brief now. Consider furnishing, work-from-home space and what will need arranging before arrival. Keep registration, residence and research-contract matters coordinated with the appropriate institutional contact.
For a more complex household move, read our family and partner guide. If housing is the main gap, we can discuss how a focused search assignment would fit alongside the support your institution already provides.
Bring these to your consultation
A few concrete details help us make the first conversation useful.
- Institution and actual work location
- Appointment or grant documentation
- Start and intended end dates
- Existing institutional housing options
- Household, budget and furnishing needs
Common questions
Do you only help salaried researchers?
We can discuss different research situations at intake. The feasibility of a search depends on the actual documentation, budget and property requirements; grant funding is not automatically treated like salary.
Should I contact my university first?
Yes. Check its housing information and available support so you know what is covered and what additional help you need.
Which work address should I use for the housing search?
Confirm the campus, laboratory or research location where you will actually work. A university’s main address may not reflect your daily journey, so include any regular travel between sites in the brief.
What should I share about a grant-funded appointment?
Explain the funding arrangement and bring the documents that describe it, together with the appointment’s dates. We can discuss the search on that basis and check what each property requires for an application.
Can you help while I am still outside the Netherlands?
Yes. We can discuss the brief, prepare the application and coordinate viewings before arrival. Video viewings can help you assess opportunities, with your input needed before a rental proposal is made.
Can the search take a fixed research period into account?
Yes. Share the intended start and end dates and any flexibility in your arrival. The available property and its rental terms still need to fit the arrangement; an appointment’s duration does not guarantee a matching lease.
What if my partner joins me after my appointment starts?
Include your partner in the household brief from the beginning, even if they arrive later. Discuss space, furnishing and timing, and confirm the intended occupancy for any property you consider.
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.
- Nuffic: non-EEA researchers in 2025 (IND data)
- Your Expat Butler: housing search, viewings and aftercare
- Your Expat Butler: off-market expertise
