Dealing with major renovations? Getting divorced or waiting to move to a new home? There are all sorts of reasons why you might need short-stay accommodation in Amsterdam.

People often think of short-stay housing as something for expats, but in fact around 20% of our clients are Dutch, says James Evans, founder of City Retreat, which has been providing temporary accommodation in Amsterdam since 2012.

There are, after all, all sorts of reasons why you might need somewhere to live for a few months. Perhaps you are carrying out major renovations on your main home, or have sold your old place but have yet to find a new property and need somewhere to stay in the meantime.

You may be on a temporary work assignment and need a home for six months, or you may have been posted to the Netherlands and a short-term rental is part of the package while you find your feet.

Relocation to Amsterdam

“Of the people who are relocated to the Netherlands for work and need short-stay accommodation, over half are here for less than a year,” says James. “That means they usually prefer the flexibility of temporary housing because the duration of their stay is uncertain.”

Short-term accommodation typically refers to fully furnished rentals lasting from two to 12 months, unlike tourist rentals in Amsterdam which are heavily regulated and limited to 30 nights per year. You can either opt for a purpose-built apartment block or go for something a little more personal, where you will live among Amsterdammers from day one.

“There are so many reasons why someone might need a place to live for a few months,” says James. “The apartments are complete with kitchen utensils, linen, towels and cleaning equipment, so if all your own stuff is in storage or on its way to the Netherlands with a shipping company, there is no need to worry either.”

Amsterdam locals

In fact, a quarter of City Retreat’s clients already live in Amsterdam and need somewhere to live for a few months while dealing with other issues, such as emergency maintenance on their home, or even divorce – when one partner wants to leave but has nowhere to go.

If you are a newcomer, it is good to know that everyone renting a City Retreat apartment gets a permanent rental contract with a one-month notice period, so there is no pressure to leave quickly.

And this also means there is no problem about registering with the city authorities, something which everyone must do to be a legal resident and to get that all-important BSN number needed to open a bank account.

The fees also include all public utilities, property taxes and internet – so there is no need to deal with sorting out gas and electricity in a strange language.

“Moving is hard enough but moving to another country adds so many extra layers of stress,” says Christian Peart, who relocated to the Netherlands from the US. “I booked for six months at first but since I found my permanent housing after a few months I was able to leave before it was up with absolutely no hassle or pressure.”

Short stay rather than hotels

Companies too are aware how much easier it is to place staff in short-stay accommodation rather than a hotel – which tends to work out as more expensive. Nor are hotel rooms the most conducive space to working and living for more than a couple of days.

In fact, some 60% of job relocation placements with City Retreat are sorted out in advance by HR departments. City Retreat, for example, counts Heineken, PwC and Red Bull among its clients.

“Our staff rotate between airports and ports across Europe, often with little notice, so long-term leases simply don’t work for us,” said one City Retreat corporate client. This way “our team can focus on their security work at Schiphol rather than worrying about furniture, utilities and breaking lease agreements when reassignments come through.”