1)      Apartment market in Hungary

a)      Rental fees a few years ago

b)      Rental fees nowadays

2)      People’s obstruction in progress

a)      Low salary, high costs in the apartment market

b)      Disproportion of the apartments’ size, price and condition

c)      Irrational requirements of the owner (no pets, no children, no friends invited to the apartment -> no life, what you can only do in the apartment is what is told by the owner)

d)     The owner’s irreverent attitude towards the potential tenant (arranged time for visiting the apartment à the time the person arrives, the apartment will have been rented by others

e)      Gathering information previously via telephone about the working place, salary, marital status and future plans of the potential tenant

Apartment market in Hungary

In Hungary, the prices of apartments and the conditions laid down to the tenants are quite different. These conditions are mostly defined by the place the apartment is situated. Huge differences can be observed between the inner parts of a bigger city and those of a smaller town, but even in the suburbs of the same city as well. Therefore, it would be necessary to create a system in the country affecting the prices of apartments compares to the wages.

Considering the past five years, in that time tenants got the value for their money, prices did not soar, the owners’ way of thinking was reasonable and they did not want to make money and become well-heeled by the tenant.

As for nowadays, the prices for apartments have increased a lot, in many cases owing to inflation. In contrast with the West, Hungarians are significantly behind: while there 25% of people’s salary is dedicated to renting an apartment, here in Hungary it can reach 50% of the payment. Moreover, generally here the condition and quality of apartments is far below those of the West. For instance, one can find apartments advertised which are not only very small, say 25 m2, but they are furnished obsoletely and they are in a terrible condition. For all this owners tend to ask 80 000 Fts/month or even more, or concerning single rooms, which are usually 8-10 m2, they can also cost 50 000 Fts monthly. So a reasonable solution should be introduced by the government.

Adding to this all, in many cases, owners have requirements by which they obstruct the normal way of life of the tenants, principally in the long term. Obstructive requirements are that many times owners prohibit organising parties with friends, smoking, which I think is almost the one and only reasonable one, having a pet, and what is the most important here is that in many of the apartments having children is a ground for exclusion. What happens to those who are yet unable to have a house on their own, owners do not care. They only consider their own point of view, their own interest.

Another factor that also makes people’s life difficult is when an owner wants to let his or her apartment by any means, so he or she does not hesitate to do so. Therefore, this can produce cases when the owner and the potential tenant arranged a time for visiting, and by the time the tenant arrives, the apartment will have been rented by others. This, in my opinion, is quite a disrespectful attitude towards a tenant who, in many cases, feels hopeless. Owners think that they can behave as they please. 

Last but not least, speaking of the conversations via telephone prior to visiting, owners like to ask for pieces of information about the tenant that are practically none of their business. They usually want to get to know where the potential future tenant works, how much he or she earns, whether he or she is married or has children and sometimes is curious about what his or her future plans are. This is a rather disrespectful attitude. Owners should realise that in spite of being in a good situation, it would be necessary to treat other people in a convenient way.

All in all, it can be claimed that the situation of apartment market in Hungary is rather distressing. Owners hope too much due to the position they are in, and are incapable of imagining themselves in the situation in which tenants are.