Buying a flat in Budapest to rent out
A Budapest flat let to a long-term tenant earns about 4.3 to 4.6 percent of its price a year in rent before costs, and roughly 3 percent after tax, an empty month and upkeep (central bank data via Bankmonitor, May 2026; ingatlan.com, May 2026; Economx, June 2026). Rental income is taxed at a flat 15 percent with no social contribution on top, for residents and non-residents alike (NAV, February 2026). Short-term letting is a separate, licensed activity whose rules are tightening district by district, so most new buyers plan around a long-term tenant. This guide shows the numbers, the tax and the rules as they stand on 11 November 2026.
What a rental flat earns
Gross yield is one year of rent divided by the purchase price. Three recent sources agree closely for Budapest: 4.3 percent in the central bank's (MNB) rental data, down from 7.8 percent in 2016 (Bankmonitor, 15 May 2026); 4.5 percent in ingatlan.com's listing data (Telex, 20 May 2026); and 4.6 percent at Global Property Guide (February 2026). Prices have risen faster than rents, which is why the figure has fallen.
Net yield is what remains after tax, upkeep and time between tenants. One estimate puts it at roughly 3 percent (Economx, 11 June 2026); Bankmonitor's stricter calculation, which also deducts wear and insurance, arrives at about 2 percent. Bankmonitor also found that about four fifths of a Budapest investor's return over the last ten years came from rising prices and one fifth from rent. Past price growth is no guide to the next ten years, so check that the purchase works for you on rent alone.
Rents are steady. The KSH and ingatlan.com rent index shows Budapest rents up 5.3 percent in the year to September 2026, and the median asking rent in early October was 260,000 HUF a month (about 710 EUR), the same as a year earlier (Economx, 12 October 2026).
Yields by district, and what drives them
Price per square metre climbs faster than rent toward the historic core, so the most prestigious addresses yield the least and District VIII, with lower prices, yields the most. The right-hand column shows each district's position on short-term letting, covered below.
| District | Gross yield | Average rent (HUF/month) | Short-term letting, 11 November 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| I, Castle District | 3.8% | 320,000 | No district limit yet. A resident poll favoured ending it (58.6 percent); a council decision is expected in November 2026. |
| V, Belváros-Lipótváros | 3.7% | 350,000 | At most 5 percent of the units in a building may be guest accommodation. |
| VI, Terézváros | 4.5% | 280,000 | Zero permitted days since 1 January 2026. |
| VII, Erzsébetváros | 4.6% | 245,000 | Zero days unless the building has agreed; then 365. |
| VIII, Józsefváros | 4.9% | 240,000 | District, neighbourhood and building caps approved in principle in June 2026; the decree is not yet adopted. |
| IX, Ferencváros | 4.4% | 240,000 | No district limit reported. |
| Budapest | 4.5% | 250,000 | No new registrations citywide until at least 31 December 2026. |
Yields and rents: ingatlan.com analysis in Telex, 20 May 2026. These are averages from asking rents, so check the flat in front of you against current district rents. Short-term column: sources listed under the short-term section. 250,000 HUF is about 685 EUR at about 365 HUF per EUR (ECB reference rate, 30 October 2026).
Tax on rental income for private owners
These rules come from the tax authority's 2026 guide to letting property (NAV information booklet 10, 3 February 2026) and apply when you own the flat as a private person.
- The rate is 15 percent personal income tax. Social contribution tax (szocho) is not payable on income from long-term letting.
- You choose how the taxable income is worked out. The simple route deducts a flat 10 percent, so tax falls on 90 percent of the rent. The itemised route deducts invoiced costs instead: repairs, renovation, and yearly depreciation based on the price you paid. Mortgage repayments cannot be deducted separately, and depreciation is not available on an inherited or gifted flat.
- Utilities and the common charge are treated differently. Metered utilities passed on by actual use are not your income. The common charge (közös költség) the tenant pays to you is, and can be deducted on the itemised route.
- Renting elsewhere yourself? Rent you pay for a home in another Hungarian municipality, for more than 90 days, can be set against the rent you receive.
- Paying the tax. With a private tenant you pay the advance each quarter, by the 12th of the following month, and report the year in your annual return. A company tenant withholds the tax for you.
- Registration. Ordinary residential letting is exempt from VAT and can be done without a separate tax number; you use your personal tax ID (adóazonosító jel).
Worth confirming with an accountant
- Which route, flat 10 percent or itemised, leaves you more after tax, especially if you renovate or furnish.
- The depreciation rate for your building, and how furniture is written off.
- How to receipt the rent, the annual return deadline, and paying from abroad.
- Whether your district levies a local property tax on a let flat.
Owners who live abroad
The same rules apply. NAV states that a foreign private person letting a Hungarian property has the same choices and filing duties as a resident, because income from property is taxable where the property lies, and no social contribution tax is due (NAV booklet 10, questions 7 and 8). In practice you need a Hungarian tax ID, quarterly payments and an annual return, which an accountant can file for you.
Your home country will usually want the income declared as well, with relief for the Hungarian tax under its treaty with Hungary. The method differs by country, so ask a cross-border adviser before you buy. When you eventually sell, the gain is taxed under the capital gains taper, and selling from abroad explains the practical steps.
Long-term or short-term letting
Letting to a tenant for months or years needs no licence. Letting by the night through Airbnb or Booking.com is a regulated accommodation service, and three layers of rules decide whether a flat can do it.
- National law. The accommodation must be registered with the district notary (jegyző) and report to the national tourism data system (NTAK). No new private or other accommodation can be registered anywhere in Budapest until 31 December 2026, and the operator of an existing registration cannot be changed (Commerce Act, section 11/H). A bill published on 11 November 2026 would extend this to 31 March 2027; it has not been passed (Portfolio and HVG, 11 November 2026). On tax, the flat-rate option costs 150,000 HUF (about 410 EUR) per room per year in Budapest, and owners outside that option pay 13 percent social contribution tax on top of income tax (NAV booklet 10, February 2026).
- The district. Each district sets how many days a year a flat may be let short term, and the Kúria (supreme court) has confirmed that zero is a lawful number. District VI has allowed zero days since 1 January 2026. District VII allows zero days unless the building has formally agreed, in which case 365; hosts registered before 2026 must file that agreement by 31 December 2026 (decree 46/2025). District V limits guest accommodation to 5 percent of the units in a building. District VIII approved a system of caps in principle in June 2026, and District XIII has a draft modelled on District VII; neither was adopted when we checked. District I expects to decide in November 2026.
- The building. See the next section.
For a buyer today: a flat you buy now cannot be newly registered for short-term letting in Budapest, and the rules after the freeze are still being written, so budget on long-term rent. If a seller presents short-term income as part of the price, ask your lawyer to confirm in writing that the registration is valid, that it can pass to you, and that the district and the building both allow it.
The long-term market has absorbed the change calmly so far. In District VI the number of flats let short term fell by 60 percent after January 2026, long-term listings rose 34 percent to 1,330, and the average rent stayed at 280,000 HUF (about 770 EUR), level with a year earlier (ingatlan.com in Telex, 20 May 2026).
Sources: Portfolio and HVG, 11 November 2026 (extension bill); Erzsébetváros decree 46/2025 (XII. 10.); Pénzcentrum, 19 May 2026 (Districts V, VI, VII); Telex, 25 June 2026 (District VIII); 444, 8 October 2026 (District I); district-by-district legal summary at jogihirek.hu, read 11 November 2026. These rules are changing month by month; check the district's current decree before you rely on any line here.
The building's own rules
Most Budapest flats sit in a condominium (társasház). Its organisational and operating rules (SZMSZ) set how flats may be used and let, and they bind every later owner and occupier (Condominium Act, section 17, as in force from 29 November 2025). Some buildings restrict short-term letting in those rules. District VII already ties short-term letting to the owners' agreement, and District VIII plans to. The house rules (házirend) apply to your long-term tenant too, so pass them on with the lease.
Ask the seller or the building manager (közös képviselő) for the SZMSZ and the house rules before you sign, and have your lawyer read them alongside the title deed checks.
Management, furnishing and empty months
- Managing it yourself or through a manager. A manager finds the tenant and handles handover and repairs for a share of the rent. One Budapest manager's public price list we found in November 2026 quoted about 10 percent of the monthly rent plus one month's rent for finding a tenant; treat that as one data point and ask each firm for a written quote, including VAT.
- Furnishing. Tenants increasingly expect a washing machine, a dishwasher and air conditioning as standard (Cordia Property Management in Economx, 26 August 2025). On the itemised tax route, an item costing up to 200,000 HUF (about 550 EUR) can be deducted in the year you buy it (NAV booklet 10). Get your own quotes for the rest; we have not found a reliable published figure.
- Upkeep. The same Cordia source suggests putting 5 to 10 percent of the rent back into the flat each year.
- Empty months. Hungary publishes no official vacancy rate for rented homes. A cautious plan assumes one month without rent each year.
- The lease. Use a written, bilingual lease with a documented handover. Our bilingual lease template is a starting point for your lawyer, and how renting works shows what tenants expect.
A worked example
A 50 m² brick flat bought and let at the Budapest average, with a manager. Every input is sourced or marked as an assumption.
| Line | HUF | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | 65,000,000 | 50 m² at about 1.3 million HUF/m², the average for used non-panel flats (KSH, Q1 2026, published 31 July 2026) |
| Transfer duty and lawyer | 3,219,125 | 4 percent duty; 0.75 percent legal fee plus 27 percent VAT (buying costs) |
| Total outlay | 68,219,125 | Before furnishing |
| Rent received | 2,750,000 | 250,000 HUF a month (ingatlan.com average, May 2026) for 11 months; the empty month is our assumption |
| Income tax | 371,250 | 15 percent on 90 percent of the rent (NAV, flat 10 percent route) |
| Management | 275,000 | 10 percent of rent received (indicative, see above) |
| Upkeep reserve | 206,250 | 7.5 percent of rent received, the midpoint of the 5 to 10 percent guidance |
| Left after these costs | 1,897,500 | About 5,200 EUR |
On these inputs the gross yield is 4.6 percent of the price (3,000,000 HUF of full-year rent on 65,000,000), and the net return is about 2.8 percent of the total outlay. Managing the flat yourself lifts it to about 3.2 percent. Not included: furnishing, home insurance, a tenant-finding fee, any local property tax, mortgage interest, and any change in the flat's value in either direction. If you are borrowing, compare the net figure with your loan rate in mortgages for foreigners.
Sources for this page: NAV information booklet 10, "Ingatlan bérbeadásának és egyéb hasznosításának adózása", published 3 February 2026 (nav.gov.hu); Bankmonitor, 15 May 2026 (MNB yields); Economx, 11 June 2026 (net yield); Economx, 12 October 2026 (KSH and ingatlan.com rent index, September 2026); Economx, 26 August 2025 (Cordia Property Management); Condominium Act (2003. évi CXXXIII. törvény) at net.jogtar.hu. Euro figures are approximate at about 365 HUF per EUR (ECB reference rate, 30 October 2026). Tax rules and local decrees change; confirm your own position with a Hungarian accountant and lawyer before you commit money. Data and sources.
Weighing up a flat to let?
Run the purchase costs for your price, compare districts, and ask owners who already let here what they would do again.
Buy-to-let FAQ
What rental yield can I expect in Budapest?
About 4.3 to 4.6 percent gross, meaning one year of rent divided by the purchase price, according to central bank data reported by Bankmonitor in May 2026 and ingatlan.com data from May 2026. After tax, upkeep and time between tenants, published estimates put the net figure at roughly 2 to 3 percent. Inner districts with the highest prices, such as I and V, yield the least; District VIII yields the most of the inner districts.
How is rental income taxed in Hungary?
A private owner pays 15 percent personal income tax, and no social contribution tax, on income from long-term letting. You can deduct a flat 10 percent of the rent as costs, or itemise invoiced costs and depreciation instead. With a private tenant you pay the tax advance each quarter and report the year in your annual return. This follows the tax authority's 2026 guidance; confirm your own case with an accountant.
Do owners who live abroad pay Hungarian tax on Budapest rent?
Yes. Income from a Hungarian property is taxable in Hungary whoever owns it, and the tax authority applies the same rules and filing duties to non-resident owners as to residents. Your home country will usually ask you to declare the income too and gives relief for the Hungarian tax under its treaty with Hungary. Ask a cross-border adviser how that works for your country.
Can I buy a flat in Budapest and let it on Airbnb?
Not as a new host at present. No new short-term accommodation can be registered in Budapest until at least 31 December 2026, and a bill published on 11 November 2026 would extend that to 31 March 2027. Districts also set their own limits: District VI allows zero days, and District VII allows it only with the building's agreement. Plan around a long-term tenant and ask your lawyer to check the district and the building before relying on short-term income.
Do I need the building's permission to rent out my flat?
For an ordinary long-term let, generally no, though your tenant must follow the house rules. Short-term letting is different: the building's organisational and operating rules can restrict it, and some districts require the owners' agreement. Ask for those rules before you buy and have your lawyer read them.