Housing in Cluj or Bucharest: €40 in halls, €600 for a studio

⏱️ Reading time: 9 minutes · Verified 31 July 2026

A university hall of residence in Cluj costs €40 a month. A studio in the centre, €600. Fifteen times more, for the same city and the same degree.

Between the two sits a decision most students take in a rush, in August, from abroad, without having seen the city. It’s the best way to pay 30% over the odds and earn yourself an hour’s commute each day.

Here are the real 2026 prices, district by district, with the winter bills nobody warns you about and the five traps in a Romanian lease.

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⚖️ Cluj or Bucharest: two opposite markets

The inversion is worth noting: Cluj has the cheapest halls and the most expensive private market. Bucharest is the other way round.

Practical consequence: the halls rates look like a dream, especially in Cluj. The problem is getting in — see the next section. Build your budget on the private market, as our six-year calculation does, and treat a place in a cămin as a bonus if it materialises.

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🏘️ University halls of residence (cămine)

Cluj-Napoca

Source: UBB fee schedule, annex 4, Senate decision 2025–2026. Verified 31 July 2026.

As an EU national, you fall under the first line. Forty-eight euros a month, bills included, minutes from campus: on paper, unbeatable.

On the ground, it’s another story.

Comfort, moreover, is modest — two or three beds to a room, sometimes communal bathrooms.

Bucharest

Sources: UNSTPB and UMF Carol Davila schedules, October 2025.

UMF Carol Davila has its own halls, but the allocation logic is the same as at Cluj: family income and the previous year’s results, with priority to already-enrolled students. First-year international students share a very thin remainder. Assume you’ll be housed privately, and treat a cămin as a possible pleasant surprise in second or third year.

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🏢 Private rental, district by district

Cluj — a market under pressure

The tech sector has made Cluj one of the most expensive cities in Romania. Young IT professionals and students compete for the same rental stock.

Zorilor is the most sought-after compromise: walking distance from the faculty, quiet enough to work, without the historic centre’s prices.

Bucharest — bigger, more affordable

In Bucharest, don’t look for geographical proximity: look for proximity to a metro station. The network is efficient and costs €15 to €20 a month.

That’s the best trade-off available in the capital: living in Sector 3 near the metro works out cheaper than “nearby” housing that’s badly connected, for an equivalent journey time.

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⚠️ Bills, deposit and traps

Bills are almost never included

Always ask whether the listing is cu întreținere inclusă. In the great majority of cases the answer is no — and €120 of bills on a €300 rent changes the equation seriously.

The deposit

One to two months’ rent (garanție) on moving in, returned at the end of the lease if no damage is found.

Do a detailed inventory, in Romanian, with time-stamped photos, signed by both parties. Without that document, getting your deposit back is a matter of negotiation rather than of right.

The five traps

1. Renting without a written contract. The contract de închiriere isn’t optional: it protects your rights and it’s required for your residence permit. A landlord who refuses to draw one up is creating an administrative problem for you, not just a legal one.

2. Paying before viewing. Never a deposit without a viewing — yours, or one by someone you trust who’s there. Scams targeting international students exist, and they aim precisely at August.

3. Underestimating winter. Heating can reach €50 to €80 a month in a poorly insulated flat, with weeks at −10 °C. Ask the landlord for an estimate of the January bills, not an annual average.

4. Choosing the district at random. An hour’s journey each way is ten hours a week — the equivalent of two days of revision a month. Check the real journey at lecture times, not the distance as the crow flies.

5. Ignoring windows and heating at the viewing. Single glazing plus failing heating equals a miserable winter and a doubled bill. Open the windows, touch the radiators, ask the question.

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🔎 Where to actually look

Facebook groups are the number one resource, far ahead of everything else. Search for the international student groups for your city and your UMF, plus “Chirii Cluj” / “Chirii București”. Lease transfers circulate there before reaching the platforms.

Romanian platforms: OLX.ro (the local classifieds giant), Imobiliare.ro, Storia.ro. One tip that works: write your messages in Romanian, even rough Romanian, using DeepL. The response rate is markedly higher.

Students in the years above. Second and third years know which flats are about to come free and what they should be going for. Join the WhatsApp or Discord groups for international students at your UMF as soon as you’re admitted — the good offers never reach the open market.

Arrive in late August. Two to three weeks before term, you view without rushing, at exactly the point when stock is turning over fastest. It’s the highest-return advice in this article, and the only one that means booking a flight in advance.

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🤝 Flat share or studio alone

Our recommendation: flat share or halls in first year, a studio afterwards if you want one.

It isn’t only a question of money. The first months are when isolation does the most damage — that’s documented, and our article on mental health in medical training shows that supportive relationships are the most effective coping strategy. Living alone in a silent studio at 19, in an unfamiliar country, is a risky bet to save an hour of quiet.

The budget summary

Your next three actions

Apply for halls, even if you’re not sure you want to live there. It’s free, it’s reversible, and in Cluj it represents €4,000 a year.

Join your city’s international student Facebook groups now. Watch the real prices for a few weeks before searching seriously — you’ll then be able to tell a good deal from an overpriced listing.

Book your flight for late August. Three weeks before term, not three days.

To place this within the whole, the complete six-year budget shows that housing and living costs make up 40% of the total. Student life in Cluj describes what happens once you have the keys. And the first-year guide explains why an over-long commute costs far more than its price in transport.

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🛡️ If you’d rather not do it alone

Our support covers the application: checking every document before it goes out, sworn translations and the apostille, filing at the registry and follow-up through to confirmation of admission.

See how we handle an application →