Rented apartments in the Czech Republic are selling like hot cakes
"Across the entire Czech Republic, including the regions, the average ad for an apartment for rent is fulfilled within a week. In the capital, it takes two to three days, which is confirmed by the response to each ad. In Prague, owners often receive dozens of responses to a single ad within just a few hours," describes the situation on the market František Brož, press secretary of the company Bezrealitky.cz, in an interview with Czech Radio.
As Radio Prague notes, the frenzy in the apartment rental segment is also confirmed by the company with the telling name Ulov domov, which can be translated as "Catch a Home." According to its employees, there are up to fifty potential clients per ad.
Executive Director of the company Martin Březina is confident that, as in previous years, the peak demand for rental housing will occur in the summer. "In the Czech Republic, demand for rental housing did not appear just in recent months, but we have long observed that demand exceeds supply. This is primarily due to the economic boom, thanks to which companies are creating many new jobs in large cities."
Another reason for the increase in demand for rental housing is the rise in real estate prices. According to the statistical agency Eurostat, apartments and houses in the Czech Republic rose in price by almost 10% last year. Thus, the Czech market ranked third in the European Union in terms of price growth rate (first and second place were taken by Slovenia and Latvia). Against the backdrop of tightening mortgage lending conditions, for many this closed the opportunity to acquire their own property, and they joined the ranks of those looking for rental housing.
Demand has spurred the development of new mobile applications, so now apartments and houses for rent are sought not only among the usual ads published on websites – you can rent a home directly via mobile phone. "The speed of concluding an agreement and signing a contract is increasing thanks to the ability to draft a contract literally 'with one click,' where you can enter information about yourself and the property," explains František Brož.
According to observations by the agency Flatio, in the last two years, demand for medium-term rental – renting an apartment for a period of one to twelve months – has been growing. From 2017 to 2018, this figure increased by 200%. The client finds an apartment on the Internet, views it virtually, and – done, they can move in. Such rental is in demand primarily among foreigners and managers.
"Our typical clients are representatives of the business environment, for example, managers who move from one company branch to another, or specialists who sign a contract for a fixed term. The cost of such rental is about 25% higher than long-term rental, but this price includes all utilities, electricity, and Internet. Such an apartment must be fully furnished and equipped with everything necessary," explains Ondřej Dufek, Marketing Director at Flatio.
That is, the tenant moves into such an apartment only with their personal belongings. Most often, Flatio clients look for one-room and two-room apartments in the center of Prague and adjacent districts, or on the outskirts but near a metro station.
Head of the Legal Department of the Consumer Support Center dTest, Lukáš Zelený, reminds that people should not lose vigilance – the rental agreement must be carefully read, as the number of problems and issues related to the phenomenon of subletting is growing.
"Subletting is not the same as renting. Subletting carries risks for both the tenant and the subtenant. The most serious pitfall lies in the fact that a person does not know how long they will be able to stay in the rented apartment. At the moment when the tenant agrees with the owner to end the rental, the subtenant automatically loses it."
Thus, those who agree to subletting are less protected than people renting directly from the owner, the specialist reminds.