Rent
CONCEPTS
CONTRACT
FEES
There are several housing options. Nowadays, many people use the so-called rental. It is one of the easiest ways to stay in an apartment or house for a short or long time. If you decide to rent or sublease real estate, an important question will await you – where to look for relevant offers? The housing search section will help you with just that. Once you’ve chosen your future apartment or house, you’ll deal with an important matter – the rental agreement. This page can help you with that.
Basic terms
In practice, you may come across rent, lease and sublease terms. If you think these are synonyms, it could cause you some big problems!
Rent (prenájom) is a commonly used word, but it has no legal basis in real estate. You can use it in everyday communication, but it is not defined in any law. Conversely, rent and sublease are official designations of two different ways of renting real estate.
A lease (nájom) is a legal relationship between the lessor (who owns the property) and the tenant (who plans to live on the property). Rent is when you rent an apartment or house directly from its owner. Sublease (podnájom) occurs when the tenant provides the property to someone else, i.e. a third person, while he is not the owner of the given apartment or house. In this case, it can also be cohabitation.
You can find a detailed explanation and specific differences, for example, in the article Rent, lease or sublease – what are the differences between them?
Rental agreement
Before moving into a new house or apartment, the lessor and the lessee conclude a contract. It contains mandatory and optional points. By law, the rental agreement must include the following:
The object of the lease and the extent of its use – what house or apartment are you renting, and to what time can you use it
Identification of the parties to the contract – who are you as a tenant, and who is the landlord
The amount of rent – how much you will regularly pay for rent
The amount of payment for services related to use – other fees in addition to rent, for example, for electricity or a contribution to the repair fund
Make sure that these two amounts are listed in the contract separately, not together! If the contract specifies only one payment, it may be considered invalid.
The contract may also include other provisions that you and the owner agree on, for example:
- when and how will you pay the rent and additional fees,
- the conditions when the amount of rent and costs can be increased,
- when can the landlord grant you a price for late rent,
- what is the amount of the deposit, which is an advance payment that you pay at the beginning of the lease and at the end of which it is returned to you under certain conditions,
- what are the penalties for damage to the apartment or its equipment,
- terms of termination of the contract, i.e. when you or the lessor can terminate the agreement,
- other obligations of the lessee and the lessor.
Always read the contract before signing it! Don’t be afraid to discuss individual points with the landlord, and don’t sign what you disagree with, what you don’t understand or what you know you can’t fulfil. If the length of the notice period does not suit you, do not be afraid to ask for its shortening. If you are not comfortable with the conditions under which the landlord can terminate your contract, discuss them. If necessary, do not hesitate to contact an expert. You can read more about rental agreements, for example, on the bezrealitky.sk portal.
In the case of a sublease, the contracts are a bit different. For example, you can get more information in the article Lease, rent or sublease – what are the differences between them?
the search for a lease or sublease and the contract arrangement will go well. You will face other challenges and probably various major and minor problems. Our article’s 10 practical tips for independent living will help you avoid at least some of these problems. In addition, it is crucial to take care of the household.
Fees
In addition to the housing itself, it is also essential to consider all the other fees associated with it. The regular housing fee will not be your only monthly expense. Besides it, you have to think about other things.
You are likely to encounter most of these charges:
- electricity, gas, water
- fee for municipal waste
- repair fund
- caretaker fee
- cleaning common areas
- parking fee/parking space
- concessionaire fees
- entertainment (TV, Netflix)
- the Internet
- dog tax
You can read more about fees in energies and services.
The National Association of Real Estate Agents of Slovakia provides more detailed information on this topic in its regular NARKS podcast.
In our podcast, you will learn directly from a person from practice – real estate expert František Fortuna from FORA reality. You can find us on Spotify, Apple, Google podcast, and many other platforms.
Listen on your favourite podcast platform:
