Expats: Accommodation in Bucharest

Source: EXPAT.COM

Bucharest, the capital of Romania, is the most dynamic city in the country, and also the most developed one. This modern city attracts lots of expats, whether they are looking for a long or a short stay. Due to the high economic and social life, you might expect to find more pricey accommodation than in other cities in Romania. But with patience, professional assistance or a lot of research, finding the best accommodation in Bucharest can be an easy task. In the right neighbourhoods, with vibrant markets, quiet parks or cobbled streets, expats can feel like home.

Here are the points they need to check first.

Types of accommodation in Bucharest | Click here for an overview of homes for rent

Expats have enough options to choose from. First of all, they need to know that the city has six districts and that they are stretching from the city centre to the suburbs.

Apartments are the most common types of housing in the city centre, but expats will find larger houses or villas in other neighbourhoods of the capital. 

While looking for the best place to live in, expats will find furnished or unfurnished apartments or houses. Some of them might have parking places, a yard, building security and other facilities.

In the city centre, the prices are higher, due to the position, not necessarily the facilities, but in the vicinity areas of Bucharest, the rents will be way cheaper. All in all, expect to find more expensive rents in the capital of Romania than in the rest of the country. Even so, Bucharest has cheaper accommodation than most of the European capitals.

Good to know:

When you see in an advertisement that there is a “three rooms apartment”, it means that the flat has 3 rooms in total and not 3 bedrooms. 

Which criteria are you interested in?

When searching for a place to rent in Bucharest and a neighbourhood that will suit you, it is important to keep some things in mind:

• Bear in mind the proximity to the place you work, study or why not, your children's school;
• A place that is easily accessible via the Bucharest public transport networks;
• Do you need a parking lot or a garage?
• Green area next to you;
• The price you want to pay: while the centre is interesting for the soviet-architecture, the prices will be very high, although the facilities are low.

The most important neighbourhoods in Bucharest

Almost all areas of Bucharest are good to live in. However, the most popular among expats are Iancu Nicolae, Pipera, Unirii, Floreasca, Dorobanti, Primaverii, Tineretului, Drumul Taberei, Lake Tei, or Aviatiei. Despite Ferentari, which is more an “underground” neighbourhood, all the districts of Bucharest are safe and pleasant. Of course, some are more “green” and more developed, some have metro stations, some are popular for their quietness. It all depends on what the foreigners are looking for.

Rent prices in Bucharest

The flats expats can find rent are in blocks with either 4 - 7 or even 10 floors buildings. Most of them will be in neighbourhoods in Bucharest that have Metro stations, and the blocks will be pretty old. If they want to live in more modern buildings, they should look for new-built neighbourhoods.

The studios known as “garsoniera” are around 20-40 square meters, while the two-rooms flat is around 40-60 square meters. A three-room apartment is somewhere between 60 and 80 meters, and the ones with four rooms are almost 100 square meters.

The average rent per month for one-bedroom is around 380 euros in the centre, while outside the town it is 250 euros. A 3-rooms flat in the centre can be 650 euros. The same apartment outside the centre will be 450 euros.

You can look for rent on the online renting portals, or you can ask a relocation agency or a real estate agency to help you out.

Lease conditions in Bucharest

There is no standard rental agreement contract in Romania. However, there is a contract the future tenant and the owner will both sign, as well as the description of the apartment that you will be renting. In this contract, the owner will specify the payment conditions, the duration of your stay as well as the cancellation clauses.

Warranty in Bucharest

When renting an apartment, the owner will foresee a warranty. It is usually worth one month of rent, although some will ask for even 2 or 3 months. Unfortunately, most of the times, owners will ask you to pay in cash the rent, in lei or euros.