Baku | August 24, 2025 – Every August, Baku’s housing market turns into a feeding frenzy. Thousands of students and young professionals pour into the capital, and landlords smell opportunity. What should be an exciting moment — preparing for a new academic year — instead becomes a financial nightmare for families across the country.
This year, rents are climbing again. One-bedroom flats in old buildings now start at 400 manats, with two- and three-bedroom options hitting 500–700. In shiny new developments, landlords are asking 8–10 manats per square meter, making even mid-sized apartments unaffordable for many. And if you want to live near the metro? Expect a 30% surcharge.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t about greedy realtors. Brokers make a one-time commission and would rather close quick, affordable deals. The real culprits are landlords, who weaponize the annual surge in demand. They know students and their families have no choice but to pay.
The result? Education becomes hostage to housing. Families that should be investing in books, tuition, and a better future for their children are instead forced to funnel thousands into rent. For some, it means cutting corners on essentials. For others, it means piling on debt.
Government officials like to boast about “smart cities” and “youth opportunities,” but where is the affordable housing policy? Where are student dormitories that don’t feel like relics of the Soviet era? Instead of tackling systemic problems, authorities leave young people at the mercy of a market that sees them not as students, but as cash cows.
Until there is real regulation, or at the very least a policy that expands affordable housing options, Baku will continue this vicious cycle: every August, students move in, landlords cash in, and families are left to pay the bill.
Education should be a ladder to opportunity, not a luxury reserved for those who can afford inflated rents. The question now is simple: will the government finally act, or will it let another generation of students sink under the weight of rent they should never have been forced to pay?
