Expert: Students Left Without Dorm Spots Have to Pay Double on Rental Market
In Tallinn's rental market, there seems to be a selection available, but above all, it concerns larger and more expensive apartments, and classically suitable for students, well-maintained "separate" apartments in Tallinn are jokingly not found below 400 euros, confirms Helen Šank, a rental property broker at 1Partner Real Estate with more than a dozen years of experience.
"By now, private rooms costing 200-250 euros per month in Tallinn universities' dormitories are divided up – those who missed out have to reckon with up to double the price," explains Helen Šank, according to whom the lowest price class is somewhere around 300-350 euros, but for that money one can get a truly tiny apartment of 20-25 square meters, to which monthly utility payments are added," commented Šank, according to whom apartments in this price range move on the market relatively little.
If you raise your rental budget limit to 400 euros per month, then average condition 1-room apartments "on the hills" or in North Tallinn come into play, and with good luck also near the city center. "Somewhere around 500 euros per month is the price for which you can get either a well-renovated or even newly built 1-room apartment, or alternatively a 2-room apartment in average condition. If people's financial means allow at all, then they generally still prefer properly renovated apartments, which of course are then correspondingly at a higher price," described the 1Partner rental broker.
"With suitable roommates present, it is more financially advantageous to rent a large apartment as a group in some older panel building. For example, one can become a tenant of a well-maintained 4-room apartment for less than 1000 euros per month, which divided among three roommates comes to approximately 300 euros per person," described Šank and emphasized that when finding an apartment, one must also reach a separate agreement with the owner regarding such apartment sharing.
When renting an apartment, it is worthwhile to thoroughly analyze the associated utility costs as well, since these can be quite different for similarly sized apartments. "Although rental apartment prices are moving slowly upward, as a positive note one can point out that due to energy prices retreating from record levels, utility costs this autumn and winter are likely to be lower than last year," said Helen Šank.
