The demand for accommodation among new students has increased dramatically in recent days, along with the tightening of fire prevention and fighting regulations at boarding houses in Hanoi, causing a decrease in supply, pushing up rental prices.
Mr. Pham Van Cuong (Hai Hau, Nam Dinh) is eagerly looking for a room for his daughter who has just been admitted to a university in Hanoi. The criteria for Mr. Cuong's family to choose a room is that it must ensure security, fire prevention and fighting safety (PCCC), clean and airy space, have a water heater, air conditioner and a place to cook...
After carefully researching through social media groups and forums for renting rooms, Mr. Cuong and his daughter went to Hanoi to directly see the room and agree on the rental price. "Although the children will start school in early September, it is difficult to find a room now. Clean rooms, close to the university, and with guaranteed security have all been booked. Currently, the rental price is high, but the father and daughter still decided to rent and then find a roommate to share the room with later...", Mr. Cuong shared.
After spending a day in Hanoi, looking at 6 rental rooms, Mr. Cuong and his daughter finally found a satisfactory rental room. The rental room has an area of about 25 m2 located in lane 130 Xuan Thuy street, near Hanoi Pedagogical University, Academy of Journalism and Communication, Hanoi National University... with a rental price of 3.5 million VND/month, electricity 4,000 VND/kWh, water 120,000 VND/person/month, cleaning fee 30,000 VND/room/month, equipped with fire alarm, fire extinguisher, rope ladder on each floor...
The owner of this boarding house said that just 2 months ago, the above room was rented for 3 million VND/month, but then the boarding house had to equip additional fire protection equipment according to the government's request, so the rental price had to increase.
According to a survey by reporters, in the area of Tran Dai Nghia - Le Thanh Nghi street (Hai Ba Trung district) near Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi University of Construction, National Economics University... the common rental price for a room is from 3 - 4 million VND/month, not including electricity, water, wifi... Closed rooms, fully equipped with beds, wardrobes, air conditioners, hot and cold water, fire protection equipment have a rental price of about 5 million VND/month. Rooms priced under 3 million VND are often located in deep alleys, with an area of less than 20 m2...
NVA, a second-year student at Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, who is renting a room in Tu Do Alley, Hai Ba Trung District, said: "In early July, the landlord announced that the room rent would increase from 3 million VND to 3.3 million VND/month starting from the beginning of August, citing a shortage of rooms. This is an unreasonable reason, because the contract I signed with the landlord is valid until the end of October 2024, which clearly states the monthly rent is 3 million VND. The landlord arbitrarily increased the rent, but we had to accept it, because if we moved out, we would lose the deposit, equivalent to 1 month's rent."
According to your landlord NVA, Tu Do Alley is a central area, close to major universities, so the number of vacant rooms is low. This is the time when new students start school, so the prices of boarding houses in the area have increased by 300,000 - 500,000 VND/room/month compared to the beginning of June.
The case of NTL, a final year student at the Academy of Journalism and Communication, is somewhat more special. L's old boarding house on Trung Kinh Street was suspended because it did not ensure fire safety and did not have a second escape route, so L is currently having to move to his brother and sister's house in Tay Mo area, about 8 km from the school.
"The distance to school is quite far, there are often traffic jams, so I am trying to find a room to rent near the school. Since the beginning of August, I have visited about 20 rooms, but have not found a satisfactory room that fits my budget. The current room rental price is high, I plan to share a room with someone else to save money, preparing for the final school year," NTL shared.
Previously, in early July 2024, Hanoi City Police announced the results of the fire prevention and fighting inspection, accordingly, units under the City Police inspected 36,972 lodging establishments; penalized 3,134 cases; temporarily suspended 672 cases, 75 cases are being suspended; required 16,479 establishments to stop operations. Meanwhile, for mini apartments, the police agency inspected 193 establishments; temporarily suspended 14 cases, 4 cases are being suspended; required 22 establishments to stop operations.
According to rental brokers in Hanoi, the suspension of many rental properties and mini apartments due to failure to ensure fire safety has caused a decrease in the supply of rental rooms; in addition, August is the "rental season" every year, because at this time, tens of thousands of new students will return to Hanoi to enroll, causing rental prices to skyrocket.