High rent, high incurred costs
These days, Nguyen Huu Phu - a student in Hanoi - is looking to rent a room but has many difficulties in finding cheap rooms. Many homeowners announce that rooms are out of stock, while rooms that are still vacant have quite high rental prices.
Phu said that he has a need to rent a mini-apartment alone, without a common owner, at a price of under 4 million VND/month. However, in the Cau Giay area, the number of rooms meeting this price is not large. Many rooms with small areas and lack of basic amenities are still rented at prices above 4.2 million VND/month. Not to mention, tenants also have to pay fees such as electricity bills of 4,000 VND/kWh, water bills of 35,000 VND/m3 and service fees of 300,000 VND/room/month. These fees include internet, public area cleaning, elevators, hallway electricity, parking electricity and motorbike parking.
Through Lao Dong's survey, the price of rented rooms and mini-apartments around universities in Thanh Xuan, Yen Hoa and Dong Da areas is maintained at a high level. Rooms with air conditioning and basic furniture are being rented at prices from 3.5 - 9 million VND/month. For example, a studio in Trung Kinh (Yen Hoa ward, Hanoi) is equipped with beds, sofas, air conditioning, refrigerators, microwaves, washing machines, balconies and private toilets. The initial rental price was offered at 9 million VND/month.
The apartment manager said that the room rental price through brokerage is currently about 9 million VND/month, excluding service fees. If customers work directly, without brokerage, the rental price can be reduced to 8.8 million VND/month for two people to stay. If paying 3 months/time and depositing 1 month, the rental price is reduced by another 100,000 VND, down to 8.7 million VND/month.
Reporters continued to survey a small room in alley 100 Tran Duy Hung. The listed price here is 5.4 million VND/month, which can be reduced to 5.3 million VND if customers finalize the rental and make a contract early.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Cuong - a landlord in Hanoi, from August to September every year, when students enroll and return to Hanoi, room rental demand increases sharply, making cheap rented rooms even scarcer.
Many ways to increase prices, tenants need to be vigilant
Along with the increase in rent, many landlords also have many ways to raise room rates. For example, a mini apartment of about 30m2 in an alley on Cau Giay street is being rented for 6.2 million VND/month. Although advertised as an apartment with one bedroom and one living room, when you come to see it in reality, the middle of the room is only divided by an iron wall, dividing the bedroom area and kitchen. The homeowner still introduces this as an "1 sleep, 1 guest" apartment and rents it out at a high price.
On Nguyen Ngoc Vu street, a room that used to be the kitchen area and common living space of the building, without partitioned doors, is now arranged by the homeowner with an additional bed for rent. The rental price of this room is 3.5 million VND/month, excluding service fees.
In Yen Hoa ward area, a room of only about 8m2, without basic amenities, is being offered for rent at 2 million VND/month. Real-world observation shows that the room area is quite cramped, even not enough to fit a bed. In addition to rent, tenants must pay an additional 200,000 VND fixed service fee per 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 safety issues need to be noted. Tenants should check whether the rented room has escape routes and is equipped with fire prevention and fighting equipment...
