Cheapest EU rental escape routes are Athens, Sofia and Bucharest

Whether you voted Remain or Leave it’s been a difficult time for Britons, as the Government continues in its failure to return any level of certainty to the UK property sector when it comes to our departure from the EU.

If you’re unhappy with the deal being struck and want to remain in an EU member state, or you’re so sick of the process that you just want to put some distance between yourself and Westminster, property management platform Bunk has analysed the cost of renting in EU capital cities to find where’s the most affordable.

Athens is the cheapest for one beds

The cheapest EU capital city centre to rent out a one-bed apartment is the historic city of Athens in Greece (£316).

Other cheap options are Bulgaria’s capital Sofia (£323), Bucharest in Romania (£336), as well as the Latvian capital, Riga (£337).

To put these prices into context, in London it typically costs £1,544 to rent a one-bed apartment in the city centre, while it’s also a costly affair in Dublin, Ireland (£1,425) and Amsterdam, Netherlands (£1,354),

Bucharest is the cheapest for three beds 

If you need a bit more space, Bucharest in Romania is the cheapest EU city to rent a three-bed apartment, costing just £557 per month.

The capitals of Bulgaria, Greece and Latvia are once again on the cheaper end of the scale.

Other locations that are affordable for renters are Zagreb in Croatia (£656), Vilnius in Lithuania (£724) and Nicosia in Cyprus (£734).

If you’re looking for somewhere cheap, places to avoid include Luxembourg City (£2,347), the French capital Paris (£2,226) and Copenhagen in Denmark (£1,925).

In London, it costs £2,718 to rent a three-bed apartment – the most expensive of the lot.

Tom Woolard, co-founder of Bunk, said:

“Regardless of your stance on Brexit, it’s quite astonishing to see just how expensive the cost of renting in London and the UK is when compared to many other areas of Europe. In fact, outside of the UK and Ireland just a very small handful of nations present the same affordability issues facing tenants here.”

Cheapest EU Rentals – rankings
EU 27 – average rent 1 bed city apartment
EU Nation
Capital City
Average rent – city centre – 1 bed apartment (per month)
Greece
Athens
£316
Bulgaria
Sofia
£323
Romania
Bucharest
£336
Latvia
Riga
£337
Croatia
Zagreb
£402
Hungary
Budapest
£411
Lithuania
Vilnius
£414
Cyprus
Nicosia
£441
Estonia
Tallinn
£455
Slovenia
Ljubljana
£488
Poland
Warsaw
£517
Slovakia
Bratislava
£531
Czech Republic
Prague
£636
Belgium
Brussels
£716
Portugal
Lisbon
£749
Germany
Berlin
£758
Spain
Madrid
£785
Malta
Valletta
£804
Finland
Helsinki
£827
Italy
Rome
£874
Sweden
Stockholm
£953
Denmark
Copenhagen
£1,016
France
Paris
£1,055
Luxembourg
Luxembourg City
£1,281
Netherlands
Amsterdam
£1,354
Ireland
Dublin
£1,425
United Kingdom
London
£1,544
EU 27 – average rent 3 bed city apartment
EU Nation
Capital City
Average rent – city centre – 3 bed apartment (per month)
Romania
Bucharest
£557
Bulgaria
Sofia
£568
Greece
Athens
£568
Latvia
Riga
£596
Croatia
Zagreb
£656
Lithuania
Vilnius
£724
Cyprus
Nicosia
£734
Estonia
Tallinn
£752
Hungary
Budapest
£774
Slovakia
Bratislava
£884
Poland
Warsaw
£917
Slovenia
Ljubljana
£923
Czech Republic
Prague
£1,097
Belgium
Brussels
£1,250
Spain
Madrid
£1,403
Portugal
Lisbon
£1,455
Germany
Berlin
£1,461
Malta
Valletta
£1,503
Finland
Helsinki
£1,531
Sweden
Stockholm
£1,582
Italy
Rome
£1,628
Denmark
Copenhagen
£1,925
France
Paris
£2,226
Netherlands
Amsterdam
£2,253
Luxembourg
Luxembourg City
£2,347
Ireland
Dublin
£2,562
United Kingdom
London
£2,718

Properganda PR

National and local media coverage for property businesses. Journo quotes delivered in minutes.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Private rent and house prices, UK: December 2025

Main Points Average UK monthly private rents increased by 4.4%, to £1,366, in the 12 months to November 2025 (provisional estimate); this annual growth rate is down from 5.0% in the 12 months to October 2025. Average rents increased to £1,422 (4.4%) in England, £820 (6.1%) in Wales, and £1,012 (3.3%) in Scotland, in the…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 17/12/25

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X. How to get Proptechs from MVP to EXIT Reporter Zara S. Proptech has spent years trying to prove its relevance to the property industry. New platforms appear daily, capital flows in cycles, and “disruption” is promised more often than it is delivered. What is far less…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Why Real Estate Pros Should Care About the RoHS Directive in Smart Home Tech

Some of the tasks that real estate pros perform nowadays include negotiating and posting, and checking houses on property listings. You also have to deal with buyers who expect “smart-everything,” landlords who want long-term reliability, and tenants who care about safety and sustainability. In the middle of these expectations, there’s rohs directive. Why should you…
Read More
Breaking News

A fifth of ‘second-steppers’ received financial help from friends or family to buy their home

 ‘Second-steppers’ who had financial help received £81k on average towards purchasing their home Three in 10 second or third-time owners who received financial help for their current property, say they also received support for a previous home Barclays data shows spending on rent and mortgages rose by 3.5 per cent year-on-year in November, the smallest…
Read More
Breaking News

NPPF review is a chance to fix planning, build homes, restore wildlife and help SMEs

The latest National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) unveils an ambitious package of reforms designed to speed up the planning process and make smaller sites more viable. This includes trimming environmental regulations and cutting Building Safety Levy on smaller sites, as well as providing more funding to local authorities to process planning applications faster, whilst taking…
Read More
Letting Agent Talk

Five key tax mistakes made by landlords

By Allison Thompson, National Lettings Managing Director, Leaders Landlord tax is a hugely complicated area, so if you are investing in buy-to-let or renting out any property you own, it’s well worth consulting a specialist property tax adviser. They can help ensure you: a. Own, let, take income and realise gains from your investment in…
Read More