Rent in Prague: specifications

When the person comes to Prague for a long time, almost at once he faces the challenge with renting ot the property.

First of all, think about the parts of the city where you would like to live and the distance from flat to the metro stations. This way you can calculate the estimated rental costs of the property.

There are several ways to find a real estate:

  1. Through the real estate agency
By opting for working with a specialized company, you will be guaranteed a wide range of offers. The flat for you will be looked by professionals. You in turn, will just compare the suggested options and choose the best one.

However, for each job you must be paid and therefore you should be prepared to pay real estate services (usually the sum of them is equal to one monthly lease of the flat).

  2. Through mass media (groups on social networks, newspapers and various sites where owners offer apartments directly or lessees  look for their replacement / neighbors).
Of course, this option is more advantageous in terms of finance, but also more problematic for following reasons:

it requires a lot of time
it requires knowledge of laws
it requires Czech language proficiency.
Obviously, you can purposeful  searching for the Russian or English-speaking owner, but you have to keep in mind that the number of rental options will be drastically reduced. Nevertheless, the situation is more complicated in the case of laws – you have to know them to avoid problems with a lease agreement. In addition, some owners when choosing tenants, prefer Czechs and Slovaks and reject foreigners.

Of course, as elsewhere in the world, in the Czech Republic there are features of renting apartments that need to be known.

Peculiarity № 1. Czech layout of flats

Let`s start from the most important abbreviations. The abbreviation “kk” means “kitchenette”, that means than the kitchen is united with living room. The abbreviation “+1” means that the kitchen is separated from the living room.

Classification of flats

– Garsoniéra– studio apartment where only one person can live. Usually it is 1 + 0 or 1 + kk.
– 1 + 0 – studio apartment without kitchen. The kitchen can be placed on the floor.
– 1 + kk – studio apartment, kitchenette is united with living room.
– 1 + 1 – one- bedroom apartment, kitchen is separated.
– Ateliér– such flat is indistinguishable from 1 + kk or 1 + 1, but you can not register here, because it is not a residential property according to the documents. Of course, this option is not suitable for foreigners.
– 2 + kk – This flat has one bedroom and one living room that is united with kitchenette.
– 2 + 1 – apartment with two separate rooms and a separate kitchen.
– Mezonetový byt– two-storey apartment. Both floors are residential.
– Loft – two-storey apartment, but the second floor is not a full floor, there can be situated a bedroom.
– Podkrovní byt– apartment located in the attic (under the roof), here the ceilings are usually bevelled and the windows are roofed.
– Suterénní byt– apartment arranged in the basement. Often there is no sunlight in these apartments. Usually these flats attract by their relatively low price.
– Družstevní byt– apartment owned by a housing cooperative.
– Osobní vlastnictví – an apartment owned by the owner.
 

Kauce / jistota – Deposit / Security. Two terms with one meaning. In fact this is sum of the money that the lessee gives to the lessor as a guarantee of the security of the apartment on period of renting. This sum is usually equal to one month’s lease (but sometimes apartment owners want more money) and is given at the time of lease agreement`s signing.

Peculiarity No. 2. Apartment heating

There are three types of heating in Prague: district heating, electricity, gas. The most profitable is gas. After heating a flat by electricity, it is likely that you will get a large heating bill.

Peculiarity No 3. Utility bills

In the Czech Republic, there are two types of payment for services associated with the use of apartments:

Advance – the tenant pays every month a so-called deposit, pays the average cost. We will analyze this payment option on the example of electricity.
The amount is calculated as follows: the cost of one kilowatt of electricity in accordance with prices of the supplier , multiplied by the average amount of consumption of electric energy by one person per month and multiplied by the number of persons living in the apartment. In this case you pay the average cost. Every six months or a year, meter readings are deducted, and if the prepayment you’ve paid exceeds the actual spend, a portion of your prepayment will be refunded.

Transfer of payment for utility bills to a tenant – the lessee pays for the services he has in fact used in the period of one month.
 

Components of the monthly rental costs

Rental- a fixed amount of money for the use of square meters.
Common utility bills-often includes payments for sewage disposal, garbage disposal, cleaning in the stairwell.
Expenditure on electricity /gas /etc.- in ase that payment for utility bills has been transfered to a lessee.
 

The lease agreement and the act of the handover of the flat

The essential points of  the lease agreement are following:

– Surname and name, passport data, addresses of permanent – residence, dates of birth of the contracting parties;
– Description of the subject of the lease, the exact address of the – house, floor, area and layout (1+K / 2+1, etc.);
– The purpose for which the apartment is rented;
– The term for which the lease agreement is concluded (“from” and “to” dates»);
– Hire cost, the amount of utility payments, method of payment (cash or transfer to a Bank account), the date of payment and sanctions associated with non-payment on these dates ;
– The ammount of the deposit, purpose of payment of the deposit, the returns policy;
– Rights and obligations of the contracting parties;
– Description of the rules of termination of the agreement.
 

The act of the handover of the flat

The act of of the handover of the flat is attached to the lease agreement. In this act the lessor writes the state of the flat, records the state of the water according to the water meter, state of gas, electricity. Sometimes this document lists in detail the equipment of the apartment (furniture, appliances)