Renting in Romania: a written contract, which the landlord registers with the ANAF within thirty days

Can you, as a Dutch citizen, simply rent a home in Romania? Yes. EURES writes that you only need a valid identity document to rent and to sign an agreement with the owner, and that the agreement must be official and in writing. Rents are far below the Dutch level, even in Bucharest. The find at the ANAF: the landlord is obliged to register the contract with the tax agency within thirty days. The pitfall is a landlord who would rather not, because then you have no registered address and he has no wish to put you on paper.

What does renting in Romania cost?

EURES gives these average monthly rents for March 2026, according to the listing sites:

Home	Bucharest	Cluj	Iași and Timișoara	Oradea
Studio	410 to 450 euros	400 euros	350 euros (Iași)	—
One bedroom	510 to 680 euros	600 euros	450 euros	—
Two bedrooms	600 to 1,250 euros	700 euros	500 to 550 euros	480 euros

Water, electricity, gas, heating and telephone are as a rule not included in the rent; you pay those separately as a tenant. According to EURES the rent is often paid in cash, on a set day of the month. If you pay other than by transfer, ask for a receipt; that is the proof that you have paid. Furnished and unfurnished both occur, and in the big cities, Bucharest first, prices are highest.

Why must the contract go to the ANAF?

The Romanian tax agency writes it literally in its material of April 2026: anyone who, as an individual, has income from letting goods from their personal assets is obliged to register the contract and every later change with the competent tax office, within thirty days of concluding or changing it, with form 168 and a copy of the contract. EURES says the same from your side: owners must make sure that tenancy agreements are registered with the tax authority and that the applicable taxes are paid.

What the landlord pays is his business, but it explains his attitude. On the rent a flat-rate expense deduction of 20 percent applies, then 10 percent tax on the rest, to be declared before 25 May of the following year; if his income exceeds six minimum wages a year, also a 10 percent health contribution. A landlord who proposes "without a contract" wants to avoid that levy. You then pay the price for it.

Without a registered contract you have no address. The IGI's registration certificate states your address, and the ANAF asks for evidence such as your tenancy agreement with the questionnaire on your tax residence. A contract that only sits in a drawer is weak there. Ask the landlord for the proof of registration with the ANAF, and agree in the contract that he arranges it within thirty days.

What do you put in the contract?

We could not check the tenancy legislation itself at a Romanian source; what follows is what EURES and the ANAF mention and what you lay down yourself.

Subject	What you agree
Rent and currency	in lei or in euros; the ANAF converts a euro rent at the central bank's average annual rate
Payment	by transfer, or in cash with a receipt
Costs	which utilities are yours and how they are settled
Term and notice	the term and the notice period for both parties
Deposit	amount and the moment of repayment
Registration	that the landlord registers the contract with the ANAF within 30 days and gives you the proof
Investments	who pays for what you improve in the home yourself; the ANAF adds that to the landlord's income

That last one is a detail that surprises Dutch people: if you have a kitchen or heating installed at your own expense, that is, according to the ANAF, income for the landlord, and you must report the value to him within thirty days of completion. So agree beforehand who pays what.

The contract as proof of address

With a signed, registered contract you go to the IGI for your registration certificate, on which your address will appear and which gives you your personal number. If you move within Romania, you report the new address to the IGI within thirty days. You use the same contract at the ANAF, at the bank and at the health fund.

Anyone who spends their first weeks in a holiday home or hotel therefore has no address to register yet, while the three months run on. So rent preferably before departure, even if for six months. Buying comes later; why, and how that works, is in buying a house in Romania, and the order of the whole move in the step-by-step plan for Romania.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey, step 3.4: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Romania or go straight to step 3.4 in the open plan.