Rent demand is high but it is difficult to find a satisfactory apartment
Recently, the boarding house rental market in Hanoi has become bustling as a large number of students come to the Capital to find rooms to rent.
Faced with the increasing demand for renting rooms at the beginning of the new school year, according to Lao Dong's records, many homeowners take advantage of available areas to arrange more rooms for rent with many different shapes and prices.
In a rented room on Nguyen Ngoc Vu street (Hanoi), the area originally designed as a kitchen and common living area on the 1st floor is utilized by the homeowner, arranging 2 wooden palettes as beds and renting them out for 3.5 million VND/month.
In addition to rent, tenants must pay an additional 80,000 VND/month for general service fees, 130,000 VND/person/month for water and 3,800 VND/kWh for electricity.
In another rented room on Tran Quoc Vuong street (Cau Giay ward, Hanoi), due to limited area, the homeowner self-renovated and used the attic space for rent.
According to observations, the room is only about 5m2 wide, about 1.4m high. With this height, tenants when entering the room are forced to bend over, and daily activities cannot take place normally.
The homeowner said that the room is being rented for 1.4 million VND/month. Electricity bill is 4,000 VND/kWh, water bill is 100,000 VND/person/month and other service fees are 200,000 VND/person/month.
It is known that many other rooms in this house have also been renovated by the homeowner in the style of attic and then rented out. Due to the cramped area in the room, the homeowner said that tenants can use the common living space on the 1st floor of the house.
Tran Minh Ngoc - a student in Hanoi - said that for more than a week now, she has been looking for many boarding rooms online. Many boarding rooms advertised online have a large area, priced under 3 million VND/month, but when going to see them, they are usually very small. The room is only enough to have a bed, lacks basic amenities, and the surrounding conditions are also not good.
Meanwhile, boarding rooms and apartments with full amenities such as air conditioning, washing machine, elevator are usually priced above 4 million VND/month. For students living with one person, this is a fairly large cost, exceeding their ability to pay.
At this time of renting a room, I find it very difficult to find a satisfactory room. I am considering the option of finding a roommate and finding rooms far from school to have a more suitable price" - Minh Ngoc said.
Cost reduction options
Through Lao Dong's survey, the price of rented rooms and mini-apartments around universities in Thanh Xuan, Cau Giay and Dong Da areas is still maintained at a high level. Rooms with air conditioning and basic furniture are being rented at prices from 3.5 - 9 million VND/month.
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Anh - Deputy General Director of Batdongsan. com. vn - said that tenants in Hanoi are tending to choose rooms with less furniture and smaller areas to reduce costs. In addition, renting a place with fewer amenities or living together is also considered options.
According to Mr. Quoc Anh, in addition to the rental price, parents and students need to pay attention to the convenience of travel and security of the area around the rented room.
In particular, fire prevention and fighting safety issues need to be noted. Tenants should check whether the rented room has a fire escape, is equipped with fire prevention and fighting equipment or not. At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to the distance with electronic stores or establishments producing and trading in flammable and explosive goods to limit the risk of incidents.
