University students will begin the new school year in late August.  Now is the right time for them to hunt for rooms to rent. University students will begin the new school year in late August. Now is the right time for them to hunt for rooms to rent.

Late yesterday afternoon, when Quang Hai was sleeping, his mobile phone rang. A friend called to ask him to help look for a room to rent in Hanoi. Just several minutes later, Quang received another call with the same request.

“Within one evening, I received five requests from friends. My friends asked me to help them find a room for about one million dong a month. But it is very difficult to find rooms like that nowadays,” he said.

Hai noted that many of his friends on Yahoo Messenger use their status messages to seek rooms to rent. One example read: “I need a room for rent for 1.5 million. I will reward those who provide information.”

Nguyen Nhung in Co Nhue residential quarter said she began looking for rooms to rent in the Cau Giay area for her cousin who arrived in Hanoi to study one month ago, but she still cannot find any rooms. “I’ve only seen mini flats with a rent of 2-3 million dong a month. My cousin only needs a small room with a rent of about one million dong,” she said.

Hai Nam, the owner of rooms to rent in Khuong Trung area in Thanh Xuan District in Hanoi said his rooms have been fully booked. Since the beginning of the year, he has received 6-7 clients a day who come to ask about renting a room.

The demand for rooms to rent at this moment is very high, since students will begin the new school year in August. According to Nam, students prefer to rent rooms in rows with rent of around 1.2-1.5 million dong each, but these rooms are very rare.

Meanwhile, many tenants complain that the rent has increased due to higher demand. Tran Quoc, an officer of a media company, said that he is renting a room at Nghia Tan residential quarter, and the leasing contract will terminate in September. In order to stay, Quoc has to pay the rent upfront for the whole year, at 2.5 million dong a month. After September, if Quoc wants to continue staying here, he will have to pay one million dong a month more in rent.

Thu Loan, a student who has just passed the university entrance exam, complained that it took her two weeks to find a 10 square meter room to rent on Lang Road. However, the leasing contract needs to be signed again every three months. “The rent increases every three months. Everything is expensive in Hanoi,” she said.

Room owners, realizing the high demand during new school years, have begun raising rental rates. The rent depends on the area and location of the rooms. According to VnExpress newspaper, the rooms in the Khuong Trung area cost between 700,000 and 800,000 a month for a 10-12 square meter room. The rooms at Trung Hoa-Nhan Chinh residential quarter are more expensive, with a 9-15 square meter room rent at 800,000-1.5 million dong. The rooms at Phung Khoang residential quarter are being rented at one million dong. As for old apartments, the rent would be higher, at 2.5-3 million dong a month.

Le Xuan Truong, Director of BDS Real Estate Company, said most real estate developers only want to build houses to sell or build offices to lease at high rents. They are not interested in building low-cost houses or rooms to rent because of low profits. “That explains why the supply for rooms for rent is low and rent has been increasing,” he said.

Source: VnExpress