I couldn’t be happier being able to move into my own room. No more hostel life, no more young people being loud at 4 am in the morning, no more ants in the kitchen and no more sweaty rooms with 36 degrees inside. For the whole day yesterday I just slept. The heat, new country, new job and meeting all the new people have been quite exhausting and my body needed some serious rest. It is currently 35 degrees outside so I’ve come to my cool room to hide from the sun, but later this evening I am heading to the capital of Malta, Valletta. Well, I’m not in a hurry to move from this lovely double bed.
Renting a flat or even a room in Malta might be easier said than done. The rent level has skyrocketted, since young Scandinavians with their high salary are coming to work here. Landlords are just seeing big dollar, or euro, signs in their eyes and they can even rise the rent on the next week after signing the contract. I can give you an example of the rent level here. A while ago there was available a 2-bedroom apartment which located on the first floor in this same building where I live. And the asking price was 1450 euros a month! That is very expensive in a country where the averige salary is 1100 euros before tax.
Some of the flats are in a shitty condition or there might be mole. So I never ever recommend renting anything without seeing it in real life. There are also some scams around. When I posted an ad on Facebook saying that I am looking for a room, I was contacted by several people using fake profiles and trying to lent places that probably didn’t even exist. I posted my add on some different Facebook pages: Flatshares in Malta, Rent a room in Malta and Finnish people living in Malta, and received maybe 20 responses. You can also try to find a flat through an agent, just remember that you have to pay their fee (usually 50 % of the rent). Also a bond is required (one month’s rent), and make sure that you will get an receipt of that.
I was so lucky to spot an ad for this place where I am now. The post had just been out for 14 minutes and I was the first one who replied the ad. At that time I was still in Finland, but my second cousin who lives in Malta, went to see the place on the same day. Based on the photos and what she told, I decided to take this right away. This is a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment and I am sharing this with two girls. The location is just super. Only one minute from the beach, 10 minutes from my work and 20 minutes from my gym. Just 100 meters away there is a good minimarket that sells basically everything you might need. For this room I am paying 450 euros a month, bills included. It is not cheap, but as a comparison, I was paying around 500 euros for a room shared with two other girls in Australia. But you gotta live somewhere, right!
This far I am loving this place, my privacy, aircon, and this location. I hope that I would be able to keep this place for the rest of my stay in Malta.
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