The end of summer and the start of the academic year always mark a busy period in Poland’s rental housing market, with students fueling demand for apartments. A report from Rankomat.pl and Rentier.io shows that rental prices are not falling—in fact, they now reach as high as 80 PLN per square meter. Currently, renting a 50-square-meter apartment in a major city costs anywhere from 2,000 PLN in Częstochowa to 4,000 PLN in Warsaw, excluding utilities. In university towns, dormitories remain a cheaper alternative: a bed in a shared room costs around 400–500 PLN, while single rooms in Wrocław can reach 1,500 PLN.
Warsaw Tops Rental Costs at 80 PLN/m²
Data from August 2025 highlights the wide variation in rental prices across cities. Warsaw is the most expensive at 80 PLN/m², while Częstochowa is the cheapest at 39 PLN/m²—less than half the capital’s rate.
Month-on-month, rents rose 1.5% in Warsaw and Gdańsk, while Kraków and Wrocław saw small declines of under 1%. More notable drops occurred in Łódź and Białystok (–2.5%). By contrast, Gdynia recorded the steepest monthly increase at +3.7%, with rents now averaging 62 PLN/m², ranking it as the fifth most expensive city. Sosnowiec also saw a jump (+3.3%), though at 43 PLN/m² it remains one of the most affordable.
Compared with August 2024, the sharpest annual rent hikes were seen in Toruń (+9.9%) and Lublin (+9.8%), followed by Bydgoszcz (+8.6%). Częstochowa was the only city to record a slight year-on-year decline (–1.7%).
August proved a particularly hot month for the rental market, largely driven by students—both newcomers and returning tenants looking for new accommodations. Tenants had plenty of choice, with 10% more listings than in July. Across 17 major cities, nearly 61,000 listings were available, and average prices were up 4% year-on-year. According to Anton Bubiel, CEO of Rentier.io, landlords are raising rents to offset inflation, leaving little room for negotiation. He expects the rental market to remain active through September, with rents continuing to rise but no faster than inflation.
When Mortgages Beat Renting: Szczecin, Sosnowiec, and Radom
In August 2025, renting a 50 m² apartment cost between 1,965 PLN in Częstochowa and 4,000 PLN in Warsaw (excluding bills). By comparison, mortgage payments for similar apartments ranged from 1,829 PLN in Sosnowiec to 4,735 PLN in Warsaw. Despite recent rate cuts, renting is usually still cheaper than buying, except in Szczecin, Sosnowiec, and Radom. Sosnowiec offers the best ratio, where mortgage payments were 336 PLN lower than rent. Conversely, Kraków fared the worst: there, a mortgage cost 924 PLN more per month than renting.
High interest rates in previous years boosted rental profitability, especially as frozen housing prices stabilized. But 2025’s triple rate cuts reignited demand for purchases, with some renters now considering buying instead. Bubiel warns that in the long term—assuming geopolitical stability—rental profitability could gradually decline, even if short- and medium-term returns remain steady.
Dorm Costs Climb Toward 1,500 PLN
Dormitories provide a cheaper alternative to apartments, though prices vary widely. Costs depend mainly on whether students share rooms or opt for singles. Each university sets its own rates, so dorms in Gdańsk or Warsaw are not necessarily the most expensive despite high local rents.
Among 15 university cities, the cheapest dorm option is around 400 PLN per month at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. The highest minimum price is at the University of Silesia in Katowice (717 PLN). These prices usually apply to multi-person rooms shared by two or three students.
Single rooms cost more: 646 PLN in Zielona Góra and 710 PLN in Opole, though Zielona Góra adds utility fees. The priciest dorms are in Wrocław, where rooms in “Kredka” and “Ołówek” cost up to 1,470 PLN per month. Single dorm rooms also exceed 1,000 PLN in Katowice, Kraków, Warsaw, Poznań, and Olsztyn.
Some cities show relatively narrow pricing bands, including Gdańsk (230 PLN difference between cheapest and most expensive options), Opole (260 PLN), and Zielona Góra (212 PLN).
Methodology
The analysis covers apartments listed online between 1–31 August 2025 across 17 cities. It is based on 25,000 rental listings; only cities with at least 100 listings were included.
Rankomat – one of Poland’s largest financial and insurance comparison platforms, operating online since 2008. It enables users to compare car, property, travel, and health insurance, as well as loans and leasing offers. Rankomat is part of Nexus Capital Insurance Services Group (NCI), which operates comparison services across Europe.
Rentier.io – a Polish analytics and investment platform launched in 2018, supporting individuals and businesses with real estate decisions. It provides tools for tracking property listings, transaction prices, and market trends. Rentier.io operates on a subscription model, serving both private investors and institutional clients such as developers and banks.
Source: CEO.com.pl
