Renting a property in Iran is generally an annoying and stressful task, so imagine this to be multiplied when searching for a furnished property. Generally most Iranians have their own equipment, sofas, beds, TV’s etc. so finding furnished flats even in Tehran is quite a daunting task. Most furnished properties in Tehran tends to be in the following neighborhoods : Elahiyeh, Jordan and sa’adat abad. These 3 neighborhoods tend to be more open minded to single resident occupancies also, specially Jordan which has recently become a trendy place to live in Tehran. It doesn’t feel quite as safe as some of the other family residential areas in Tehran as there are groups of youth generally out and about till the early hours of the morning and none stop traffic of Iranian youth playing dor-dor (Iranian way of flirting with girls by cars, till they exchange numbers!)

Whereas more family residential neighborhoods like Niavaran, Farmanieh, Mirdamad, Aghdasieh, Velenjak, Evin are less likely to have furnished properties in tehran or accept single people as occupants of their properties.

Due to the influx of social media in Iran and Iranians who lived abroad there is a slow shift in trend in furnished property rentals in Tehran, this is more so now, due to the youth inability to buy their own property but wanting to live independently. There is a growing (quite slowly) volume of furnished properties. These split into two sections:

  • Iranians
  • Foreigners

Properties who are trying to attract Iranians in their furnished properties tend to be less trendy neighborhoods, less trendy decors and designs (for example Iranian toilets instead of western ones and a more Persian designed property than a western architectural property) These properties also tend to be cheaper to rent however expect to pay a fair amount of deposit if the property is furnished.

Properties trying to attract foreigners tend to be in more lux or trendy locations, they tend to be more on point with design and have western style toilets and bathrooms. They generally expect payment in Dollars or Euros and will not ask for a great amount of deposit unlike properties advertised to Iranians! Therefore the monthly rental price is a little bit higher but still not outrageously high. These properties are generally also more flexible on rental periods (which can be months instead of min 1 year contract) and all bills are generally included, including apartment complex service fees (common thing to pay if renting a flat in any apartment complex in Iran)

We strongly recommend foreigners staying in Iran long term to start with a western furnished property and once they have adapted to Tehran to move to another property which suites their lifestyle. We urge all foreigners staying in Iran for the short term to only rent properties advertised for foreigners as these are more experienced landlords with foreign clients, they will take better care of you and you will not have issues with contract lengths.