Have you been accepted into some of the universities in Kosice (Pavol Jozef Safarik University, Technical University of Kosice, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy), and have you started to look for a flat? There is one good news and one bad news – as there are plenty of Slovak and foreign students, there are many students’ flats, dormitories, and possibilities to find a flat. The bad news is that the demand is higher than the offer and prices went up significantly in the last few years. There has been a lot of development and construction progress in the last few years, so there are many good flats in the market. Universities have also dormitories, but they are usually occupied by students from higher years who reserved them in previous years.
The best time to look for a flat is before the end of August when most of the students are not in Kosice and the offer might be better. If you start looking in September, prices will be higher as most of the international and Slovak students look at the same time.
What is the budget you might expect in Kosice in 2024:
single rooms apartments (with kitchen, bathroom, and approximately 23-35m2) for a single person are usually the most expensive and will start from 450€, apartments with better location will start at 500-600€
double rooms apartments (with two single rooms) are priced around 650-800€ – the price is for 2-3 students
three students may count with the price of 750-850€
four students should have a budget of 800-900€
The best locations for international students in Kosice
The best location to look for accommodation for UPJS is Old Town – Stare Mesto and Terasa as the university is located very close to the city center.
The best locations for students of veterinary medicine are Old Town and Kosice Sever (Kosice North).
The best locations for students of Technical University are Old Town, Terasa and Sever (North).
These locations have also premium prices, so you may end up with a higher price when looking for apartments in these locations.
Where to look for flats in Kosice for international students?
There are two ways how to find apartments. Make sure to speak only with people who published their real names and not nicknames. The profession of real estate agents in Slovakia is regulated and they need to follow the codex of work as well as declare their income for tax purposes. Before moving in, the owner or real estate agent must provide you with a contract where rights and responsibilities of the both sides are described.
First of all, we suggest looking at Facebook groups (groups might be dedicated also to specific nationality of students):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/408660459188649/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/212789922252163/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1155667181125345/
If you want to look also for real estate agency offers, you can search here in this aggregator:
https://byval.sk/nehnutelnosti/byty/prenajom/Kosice/najnovsie
The second is by real estate agencies – the disadvantage is that there are sometimes service charges, that are charged to students in the amount of one month’s rent.
Rental scams in Kosice
Recently, there have been many scams happening in terms of accommodation. The scenario is usually the following: you find flats in portals like bazos.sk or www.nehnutelnosti.sk (or find links in Facebook groups). Then you are contacted by a person who is pretending to be the owner. He will send you link that looks like a booking.com reservation. The price is very good and you are prompted to make payment without seeing the flat (even if you are in Slovakia, they do not offer you the chance to see the flat – they claim they are abroad). They tell you that you can see the flat after the payment. Once the payment is done, you won’t hear from them again. They are under various identity, the bank account is usually in the UK.
You can also watch videos about fake rental offers on our Youtube channel:
The cheapest alternative
The cheapest alternative is to get a student dormitory, which is provided by the university. It is really difficult to get dormitories, especially for UPJS and Veterinary medicine students (Popradska, Medicka), as students come often to TUKE dorms.
A recently discovered alternative is a secondary school dormitory with the price of 80-110€ per month located at Medicka 2 (is it not part of UPJS university dorms). A kitchen and washing machine is not available, so it is suitable especially for students not staying at weekends in Kosice.
More details: https://www.simedke.sk/index.php/turisticka-ubytovna
If you need help, please contact us and we can check the flats for you.
