What 3 Years in Kathmandu Taught Me About Renting a Space

Looking for a room for rent in Kathmandu can become a gigantic task. Going through Facebook groups, contacting brokers, visiting the place, and even identifying whether the listing is available can consume much more time than it should.

I have personally experienced this process.

Having lived in Kathmandu for the last 3 years and being involved in the real estate industry myself, I have identified that it is not just the shortage of rooms to rent but the difficulty in finding the place, getting accurate information and meeting the right person.

In this article, I will describe the current process through which people look for rooms to rent in Kathmandu, the fee structure of brokers, the features I think are lacking in online rental services, and how Nawa Niwas is making things easy for people.

My First Experience Renting in Kathmandu

I began living in Kathmandu in a hostel. However, I soon realized I needed to relocate. The absence of privacy was the key factor for me. Interference of hostelers and especially the warden aunty in my private affairs helped me figure out that hostel life was not my cup of tea.

Hence, I began searching for a room. And that is where the Mahabharat begins.

Through online sources and my contacts, I could not find any satisfactory accommodation. In due course, I found myself using a broker, paying Rs. 500, filling up forms and visiting different properties. It was only then that I found something satisfying enough to live in.

But what made me think of this entire process was how difficult the procedure of finding a room was. There were numerous places to live in Kathmandu, however, finding one according to my preferences proved challenging. Years later, I am convinced this process of finding a rental property is still a significant contributor to this problem.

How Do People Find Rental Properties in Kathmandu?

There are two general ways in which one can look for accommodation. Either via online platforms or physically looking for a place.

Online Platforms

Facebook Marketplace and classified websites such as Hamrobazar are often the first stops when it comes to looking for accommodation in Kathmandu. These platforms allow you to search properties easily and conveniently from any place you want to.

They are not, however, exclusive to rental properties. The listings might be hidden among all sorts of irrelevant content and might not contain enough information.

Finding an apartment or a flat that seems perfect to you, only to find out that it is no longer available, is not uncommon. Some postings might be made by real estate agents rather than the property owner, some posts will lack information, while other posts might contain incorrect information.

Rental Platforms are another way to look for accommodation.

These platforms are created specifically to help users search for properties but can only work if there are sufficient listings that would be relevant to the user. A very good design and numerous features won't matter much if the user won't be able to find anything suitable in the selected region.

Physical Searching

Another possibility is simply to go around your desired neighborhood and try asking people. Kirana pasals (small grocery stores), tarkari pasals (vegetable stores) or other such neighborhood businesses can at times guide you to available rooms. People often inform people in their community about an available room, even if they never advertise it online.

This method can be very effective in certain situations where you're specifically searching for a room in some neighborhood. The problem, however, is that it requires effort and time. You might spend the whole afternoon going around without even finding something worthwhile. If you're just moving to Kathmandu, you might not even know which neighborhoods match your requirements.

How Do Rental Brokers Charge in Kathmandu?

Broker fees constitute another aspect of the renting process that should be taken into account. According to my personal experience and observations, there are three general ways brokers deal with their clients. They are not officially categorized and can differ from broker to broker.

The Renter Pays

In most cases, renters pay the broker for assistance in getting a home to live in. It involves filling out the form and making the initial payment, and then, when choosing a property, another payment will be required.

In the case I faced, the initial fee was Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 5,000 depending on the accommodation chosen. Tenants have to pay several thousands of rupees to get the apartment or house to live in, regardless of the cost of living in it and the required deposit from the homeowner.

The report published by The Kathmandu Post in February 2026, called The Murky Business of Room Finding in Kathmandu mentioned similar payments as Rs. 500 for the initial payment and other service charges depending on the property chosen. These charges vary. The crucial thing here is to know about what you are paying for.

The Homeowner Pays

In some cases, the broker gets paid by the homeowner to search for tenants. This may be possible in case of valuable properties and flats for which a good tenant will take more time.

For instance, a homeowner who lets out his property at a monthly rental fee between Rs. 60,000 and Rs. 70,000 will most likely be willing to pay some commission in order to keep the property occupied.

The amount of commission paid to the broker can be quite large and can equal one month's rental income. In this case, for the homeowner, the calculation becomes worthwhile.

Both Parties Pay

In some cases, payments might be made by both parties. The renter as well as the homeowner. The renter would make the payment for either registering or servicing the account while the homeowner would pay a commission for the services provided to them.

Sometimes it may not be very clear for the renter whether there is any payment being made to the broker on the side of the homeowner, especially when the broker does not reveal the information. Personally, I think it is not wrong to pay for the brokerage services since it does require a great deal of effort.

The only issue is that people do not have any understanding of the terms.

What Is Missing From the Online Rental Experience?

There are companies in Nepal that have tried to simplify the process of finding property through websites and other digital media. However, I feel that there is one basic issue that must be sorted out before any rental website can function effectively, and no it’s just better design. It’s the lack of adequate listings.
Think about setting up a grocery store which has great shelves, good checkouts and a great layout, but finds that most of its shelves are empty.

No matter how effective the shopping experience would have been otherwise, people will go elsewhere for their groceries. The tenant will have certain demands in mind. He will have a budget, a desired location, a type of property and a deadline. If such a platform does not have a sufficient number of desirable properties, then there is no need for him to come back to that platform.

That's why I think the development of an efficient inventory should be done before everything else.

Of course, quantity is not the only thing needed. The listings must also contain accurate details, actual photos and current availability. However, without a sufficient number of properties available, even the most efficient platform will be of limited use.

What we need to do is develop a platform that helps tenants find a property, not just another website on which people can list property details.

Why I Started Nawa Niwas

This is the challenge that I'm addressing through Nawa Niwas, the marketplace of rentals that I have started.

What we aim to do is simplify the search process of a rental property such that property owners can put their properties up for rent at no cost, and renters can find properties that suit them at no listing cost. We want it to be easy. Find a suitable property and then get in touch with the concerned individual.
Like discussed earlier, for a platform like ours to be of value, there needs to be enough supply of property listings.

Thus, our priority till date has been to increase our supply of products rather than developing features that users might utilize.

Nawa Niwas was launched on September 20, 2026. By October 8, only 18 days after our launch, we were able to achieve over 100 property listings.

I take great pride in this achievement, but I am also aware that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Being able to offer over 100 accommodations does not always guarantee that all renters will get what they are looking for. It is important to be able to convince people to rent and to be able to offer them a platform that has actual value for both parties.
This is our objective.

How Does Nawa Niwas Plan to Make Money?

One would wonder how we intend to sustain such a platform where it's free to list your house as well as search for a rent on it.

We plan to make money from advertisements from companies providing various services that people will require when they move into a new house. This might include home moving firms, electricians, plumbers, cleaning firms and various other home service firms.

Instead of earning money from people looking for a place to rent or from people listing their houses, we wish to earn money from the firms offering these services to people in need of their services.

Finding a Place to Live Should Be Easier

3 years after settling down in Kathmandu, the lesson that I have learnt is that it should not be such a lengthy process to search for a rental property.

When I first came here, it took me weeks before I decided to hire a broker since I had no other choice. Nowadays, the process has become easy through the online medium, however, having more websites won't necessarily resolve the issue as they should contain adequate numbers of relevant, accurate and available properties. This is where Nawa Niwas comes in handy to provide ease in finding a rental property and keeping the property listings up-to-date.

If you are searching for a room, flat or house in Kathmandu, you will get to see some rental properties on Nawa Niwas.

Or if you own any rental property, then you can list it for free on Nawa Niwas.

This is still a fairly new project in this regard and there is much to do. However, it is worthwhile and can help people a lot.