How to get a better deal on renting an apartment in Prague

If you’re searching for your next place in the city (or maybe even your first), we have some tips that could help you lower your rental costs.

Furnishing an apartment yourself can be very cheap, especially if you’re willing to buy second-hand furniture. There are plenty of Buy/Sell/Trade groups on Facebook where you can find furniture, small appliances, and literally anything else you might need to equip your apartment for very little money. Plus, you can then resell these items on the same groups once you’re ready to move out.

In a high-demand city like Prague, where apartments get snatched within hours of being posted online, this tactic is still very effective. Why? Because landlords don’t want an empty apartment or having to pay a realtor to find him a new tenant in a rush.

Technically speaking, this doesn’t lower your actual rent, but it does lower the total amount (rent + utilities) that you have to give a potential landlord every month.

If the utilities are in your name, you can negotiate the amount of your monthly deposit directly with the companies, which means no chance of being overcharged and no additional headaches.

Maybe the balcony is non-negotiable, but do you really need underground parking? Getting a one-year parking permit from the city would be much cheaper. Too much stuff? Sell, donate or trash the extras and you won’t need the storage room. Space is often negotiable as well. You might love the idea of a second bedroom to use as an office, but downsizing to a smaller place and putting a desk in the corner instead will save you a good amount of money.

There could be a few exceptions, according to Petrásek. For example, if the tenant is willing to sign a 2+ years’ contract with a high deposit or can somehow provide very good references from an employer or a co-signer.   

Another option is if the apartment is rented by your employer rather than yourself. “A particularly good deal (for the landlord) would be to have a contract with the person’s employer, who will guarantee that they will occupy the property with their employees continuously,” says Petrásek. “This way the landlord has the security that there will be no vacant weeks/months and he doesn’t have to worry about finding a replacement – so he might accept a lower price for the sake of 100% occupancy during the year.”

So before you venture out to search for your own apartment, talk to your employer to see if they offer that option.

Prague’s rental market is hot and showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon – so it’s no wonder landlords want to take advantage of it by raising rents anytime they can. However, the truth is that they just can’t do that, and there are laws in place to protect you.

For example, if you have a one-year contract, your landlord cannot increase your rent “just because” halfway through your contract. He can, however, give you a three-month notice for a rent increase (meaning your rent will go up three months after you are notified) for a particular reason, such as a major renovation. Even then, the increase cannot be more than 10 percent annually by law. You can always fight this increase by having a conversation with your landlord and pointing out how you’ve been a great tenant (always paid on time, no damage to the property) and ask him to reconsider.

Over the past couple of years, towns within a 30-minute commute of Prague have become more and more popular. Any place connected by train to Hlavni nadrazi, Masarykovo nadraží or Holešovice is particularly ideal, as train tickets are cheap, comfortable and provide a great way to commute into the city. While some villages – like Průhonice and Roztoky – are getting more expensive because of their proximity to Prague, others like Lysá nad Labem, Velké Přílepy, and the Beroun area are still-undiscovered gems.

Keep in mind that 30 minutes isn’t really that far away – many locations in Prague are the same distance from the city center but rents there are much higher. If you’re worried about your commute to work, you can use a tool such as Mapnificent to help you find nearby villages based on the distance you’re comfortable traveling.