Student life in Hungary

This is a timely question. As a retired university instructor in Budapest, I stay keenly aware of the academics here.

Central European University is under attack, due to the founder, George Soros. Although the university is accredited in both the US and Hungary, the government is trying to push it out of the country. CEU is looking at options in Vienna, which will be devastating to the Budapest economy if they do.

I have had Erasmus students in my classes in the university. They generally are only here for one semester. The majority of them banded together, not really being accepted into most Hungarian social circles unless the exchange student spoke Hungarian. All of my classes were taught in English, so there was no reason for Hungarian students not to embrace the exchange students.

I would suggest if someone wants to come here to study, first do it on a grant like a Fulbright scholarship from the US or similar in Canada or the UK. This is a great testing of the environment.

That said, be aware that the cost of housing has risen exponentially over the last few years.

BudaBaB wrote:

This is a timely question. As a retired university instructor in Budapest, I stay keenly aware of the academics here.....Central European University is under attack, due to the founder, George Soros. Although the university is accredited in both the US and Hungary, the government is trying to push it out of the country. CEU is looking at options in Vienna, which will be devastating to the Budapest economy if they do. ...

There's a chance of some pushback and perhaps CEU will survive.  EU has referred Poland to the ECJ over the judges issue so perhaps Hungary will also get some aggravation for targeting CEU etc.

I am in Budapest since more than one year. I think the life here is very convenient for students. Most of the universities here are in the inner city centre, so everything you need and many activities are easy to find. Also the night life here is nice and it is safe also.
The life cost is not very expensive comparing to other cities in Europe. For a student, without including the accommodation, 200 Euros per month would be largely enough for a month expenses. Concerning the renting prices, it always depends on the emplacement of the flat, usually one single room in nearby of city centre will cost 200 to 250 Euros.
It's a city full of life and you canfind many activities here, it is also calm though. The public transportation is very good in Budapest as well.

Sarah Ben Salem wrote:

usually one single room in nearby of city centre will cost 200 to 250 Euros.

Wow. That is incredibly cheap. Do you have and referencesweb sites for this price?

klsallee wrote:

Sarah Ben Salem wrote:

usually one single room in nearby of city centre will cost 200 to 250 Euros.

Wow. That is incredibly cheap. Do you have and referencesweb sites for this price?

That's about right from memory. 

My BIL lives in a flat opposite the University halls of residence and the rent on tidy small flats in the building he lives in is about 250-300 EUR.  For that you get one room with separate bathroom and tiny and basic kitchen.   There's not a lot of money in it for prospective landlords.

fluffy2560 wrote:

klsallee wrote:

Sarah Ben Salem wrote:

usually one single room in nearby of city centre will cost 200 to 250 Euros.

Wow. That is incredibly cheap. Do you have and referencesweb sites for this price?

That's about right from memory. 

My BIL lives in a flat opposite the University halls of residence and the rent on tidy small flats in the building he lives in is about 250-300 EUR.  For that you get one room with separate bathroom and tiny and basic kitchen.   There's not a lot of money in it for prospective landlords.

Hm. Sounds more like what an American like me would call a "studio". I can never get these room definitions straight in Hungary.....

Still I think that is really cheap. A studio where I live, in the boonies, is about that price, or more. Does the price include utilities? Those add up fast if not.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

klsallee wrote:

Wow. That is incredibly cheap. Do you have and referencesweb sites for this price?

That's about right from memory. 

My BIL lives in a flat opposite the University halls of residence and the rent on tidy small flats in the building he lives in is about 250-300 EUR.  For that you get one room with separate bathroom and tiny and basic kitchen.   There's not a lot of money in it for prospective landlords.

Hm. Sounds more like what an American like me would call a "studio". I can never get these room definitions straight in Hungary.....

Still I think that is really cheap. A studio where I live, in the boonies, is about that price, or more. Does the price include utilities? Those add up fast if not.

No, I don't think it includes those kinds of costs. Yes, they do add up.  In that building, there's also common/city heating too.  I don't know what it adds, 30K HUF a month?  I can find out if really interested.

I think it is what they call a studio - living room and bedroom combined.   They are quite expensive now to buy one of these - 25M HUF and up depending on where and how renovated etc.  They are really small 30 m2 type of thing.

Hi. I usually check pages on Facebook about renting flats and finding flatmates and I recommend those which are in hungarian they re always cheaper, you may translate the posts sometimes they re just in Hungarian but anyway its usually less expensive.

Sarah Ben Salem wrote:

Hi. I usually check pages on Facebook about renting flats and finding flatmates and I recommend those which are in hungarian they re always cheaper, you may translate the posts sometimes they re just in Hungarian but anyway its usually less expensive.

I was just looking for District IX Ferencvaros, around Petofi bridge and there are varying places from basic 90K HUF - 120K HUF rentals for single occupancy.  I doubt the common costs are more than 15K HUF a month on top. 

I used www.ingatlan.com to check my facts.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I was just looking for District IX Ferencvaros, around Petofi bridge and there are varying places from basic 90K HUF - 120K HUF rentals for single occupancy.

Yes, those were the prices I have seen also. ~100K HUF is 300 Euro (https://www.oanda.com/), so 200 Euro really seemed cheap to me.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

I was just looking for District IX Ferencvaros, around Petofi bridge and there are varying places from basic 90K HUF - 120K HUF rentals for single occupancy.

Yes, those were the prices I have seen also. ~100K HUF is 300 Euro (https://www.oanda.com/), so 200 Euro really seemed cheap to me.

Yes it's quite cheap - we don't know if it includes common costs including heating but I assume not.   My BIL was getting rent of about 250 EUR from an Iranian student but that was at least 3 years ago. I don't think it's a great return on investment.   Agencies would charge more of course - don't know how much - maybe a month's rent for a finders fee?

It doesn't cost that much to fix up a place. I reckon one of those places could be refurbed nicely for say, 7-10K EUR and that's with quite posh but throwaway stuff (i.e. Ikea). 

Purchase prices are quite high now.  My BIL reported yesterday a yearly 20% increase in prices in the area around Petofi (for the Universities around that area of Budapest Ferencvaros).

Seems unsustainable to work at those rents vs opportunity costs.

"usually one single room in nearby of city centre will cost 200 to 250 Euros." = a single room in a flat shared with other people, not a studio just for yourself.

atomheart wrote:

"usually one single room in nearby of city centre will cost 200 to 250 Euros." = a single room in a flat shared with other people, not a studio just for yourself.

Could be for a couple sharing. 

Look on www.ingatlan.com to see prices.

atomheart wrote:

"usually one single room in nearby of city centre will cost 200 to 250 Euros." = a single room in a flat shared with other people, not a studio just for yourself.

It now seems so obvious after reading your post. Pity I did not "get it" on my own.

Thank you for the clarification.