Renting

The most common option for families — the types of housing, why properties come unfurnished, and how Iran's rent (ijareh) and security deposit (rahn) system really works.

Although some seminaries provide housing for married couples and families, many students need to find their own accommodation. Renting is the most common option for families staying in Qum.

Types of housing

Housing in Qum varies, but typically falls into one of four categories.

Villas

A traditional two- or three-storey house, with each floor usually designed as a separate apartment. These apartments normally have one or two bedrooms and a large living room. The main entrance usually leads to a tiled front garden, normally reserved for the ground-floor residents but sometimes used for parking or storing bikes, strollers and the like by other residents too, depending on the contract.

Apartment

A typical modern apartment, usually in a block of three or more floors. Most blocks have allocated parking for each apartment and sometimes a private storage room. Apartments tend to be more expensive than villas, as they are generally newer builds and more sought after.

Duplex

A home over two floors — usually a ground floor and the one above — designed as a single unit, with the living room, kitchen and washroom downstairs and the bedrooms upstairs. Unfortunately these larger homes are very rare and, where found, can be extremely expensive.

Dar Bast

For larger families, one option is to rent a whole villa (dar bast). This isn’t always ideal, since each floor is designed as a separate unit, but it is sometimes the only choice — landlords are often reluctant to rent single apartments to families of more than three or four people.

Furnished vs unfurnished

Almost without exception, long-term rentals come unfurnished. The property is handed over completely bare — no furniture, appliances or carpets, and quite often not even lighting fixtures or curtains. Furnished properties do exist, but they are normally very short-term (a few days up to a month), smaller and considerably more expensive.

Cost

Renting in Iran can be quite different from what you may be used to. Understanding the system of rental payments (ijareh) and security deposits (rahn) is key to gauging the true cost, as listings almost always quote both figures.

In the West a security deposit is typically one month’s rent, set aside for damage or loss during the tenancy. In Iran, however, the deposit can vary enormously — from twice the annual rent to as much as a fifth of the property’s total value. Landlords commonly use these deposits to invest in businesses, property or profit-bearing bank accounts to boost their own income.

It is also important to understand the inverse relationship between rent and deposit, which can be negotiated at the start of the tenancy. Roughly, for every $20 increase in monthly rent, the deposit drops by about $1,000 — and vice versa. So a listing of $200/month with a $5,000 deposit is equivalent to the variations below. Note that not all landlords will negotiate, especially for large changes.

It is possible to rent purely by paying a large deposit with no monthly rent (known as rahn kaamil, literally “full security deposit”), but renting with no deposit at all is virtually unheard of in Iran. The full-deposit option may sound attractive, but be aware:

1. The deposit must be paid — and returned — in local currency only. Since the Rial is prone to fluctuation (usually devaluation), your deposit may be worth less at the end of the tenancy than at the start.
2. As landlords routinely invest these deposits, it can be hard to recoup the full amount immediately, especially for large sums. Landlords generally rely on the next tenant’s deposit to refund the previous one — which causes delays when a new tenant isn’t found in time.
3. There is a difference of opinion among scholars about the validity of a rental contract with no (or minimal) monthly rent. Refer to your own marja for clarification.

Rent prices depend on the type of housing, size, number of bedrooms and location, so precise estimates are difficult — but the table below gives a general guide. Although the law caps rent increases on renewal at 20%, in practice this is often ignored, with some landlords raising rents far more, occasionally over 100%. These increases are in local currency, however, and are rarely reflected as sharply in foreign-currency terms.