For many weeks, Nguyen Thi Chinh - a 2nd-year student at a university in Hanoi, has been constantly looking for cheap boarding houses but has not yet found a place suitable for her affordability and living needs.
With a desired price of about 2.5 - 3 million VND/month, Chinh said it is very difficult to find a suitable room in the Cau Giay area (Hanoi). According to Chinh, rooms priced at about 2.5 million VND/month often share owners, are small in area, lack many amenities and are quite far from schools.
There are many rooms that are only about 15m2 wide but the rental price is up to 4 million VND/month, not including service fees. If you add electricity, water and other fees, the cost can be up to 5 million VND/month, far exceeding the affordability of students like me" - friend Chinh shared.
Similarly, Tran Minh Hai - a student in Hanoi believes that many people expect landlords to reduce prices and improve the quality of boarding rooms to suit students. However, in reality, finding boarding rooms at reasonable prices is not easy.
According to Hai, with income from part-time work of about 3 - 4 million VND/month, if renting a room with a price of over 3 million VND/month, after adding electricity, water and service fees, the total cost may exceed 4 million VND/month.
For many months, I had just finished receiving my salary and almost ran out of money because I had to pay the rent," Hai said.
A survey by Lao Dong Newspaper reporters shows that the price of rented rooms and mini-apartments around universities in Thanh Xuan, Cau Giay, 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 - 6 million VND/month.
At a 6-story house on Xuan Thuy street (Cau Giay ward, Hanoi), a room of more than 20m2 on the 5th floor, which must be moved by stairs, is being offered for rent at 3.5 million VND/month, excluding service fees.
Meanwhile, in another 20m2 apartment also in Cau Giay ward, the homeowner rents it out for 3.5 million VND/month but there are almost no amenities. The room is only equipped with a kitchen counter and a wooden plank used as a bed.
According to a landlord, from July to September every year, when students enroll and return to Hanoi, the demand for renting rooms increases, so cheap rented rooms will become even scarcer. In addition, many landlords have invested in upgrading facilities, so rents are unlikely to decrease.
Experts recommend that, at a time when the demand for finding accommodation is high, besides the price factor, parents and students when renting accommodation also need to pay attention to the convenience of travel, the security situation in the area and especially the conditions to ensure fire prevention and fighting safety.
