Find a flatmate in Sofia before the flat: how newcomers split the rent
The cheapest way to live well in Sofia is not the cheapest room; it is half of a two-room flat. Two people with €350 each rent a flat for €700, each with a room of their own and a door that closes. The hard part for a newcomer is finding the other person before there is a flat to show them. That is what a seeker card is for.
By Strehana · Updated 28 September 2026
144 people are currently looking for a room in Sofia on Strehana (updated 2 October 2026).
The arithmetic
A two-room flat in Mladost, Lyulin or Ovcha Kupel costs less than two separate rooms in the same neighbourhood, and each of you gets a room, a shared kitchen and a contract in your name. The deposit is one month's rent, split in two. Electricity, water, heating and internet are split in half; the building fee is one per flat.
Finding the other person
- Post a seeker card on Strehana: budget, areas, move-in date, the languages you speak, two sentences about you. Mark it «open to team up».
- Set the «Speaks» filter to English and the deck shows the seekers who confirmed they speak English and are open to a team, in your areas and budget.
- Like the people you could live with. If they like you back, the conversation opens.
- Meet for a coffee before you look at flats. Agree the budget for two, the neighbourhoods, how long you both plan to stay, and the house rules: guests, smoking, cleaning, quiet hours.
- Look for the flat as two, with one message to each host. A host who sees two complete profiles asks fewer questions than one who sees a single newcomer.
The contract for two
- Cleanest: both of you are tenants on the contract, each responsible for your half, both signing.
- If the landlord wants one tenant, the second signs a short agreement with the first: rent, deposit share, notice period. Check that the main contract allows subletting.
- Write down who paid what of the deposit, so each gets their share back.
- If either of you needs address registration, the landlord signs for each person separately; ask before the deposit.
When one of you leaves
Every shared flat has this risk, and it is settled before it happens: agree a notice period between you, usually one month, the leaver pays their rent to the end of it, and the one who stays finds the next flatmate. On Strehana the one who stays lists the room as a tenant looking for a flatmate, free, and chooses from the applicants' cards.
Strehana charges no commission. If a flat reaches you through an agency, its fee is between you and the agency and is written in the listing; Strehana adds nothing on top.
- Is it cheaper for two people to rent a flat in Sofia than two rooms?
- Usually yes. A two-room flat in Mladost or Lyulin costs less than two separate rooms in the same neighbourhood, and the bills are split.
- How do we split the deposit?
- In half, written down. When someone leaves, each takes their share back minus damages.
- Should both of us be on the contract?
- Ideally yes. If the landlord wants one tenant, the second signs an agreement with the first, and the main contract must allow subletting.
- How do I find an English-speaking flatmate in Sofia?
- Post a card on Strehana marked «open to team up» and set the «Speaks» filter to English. You see the seekers who confirmed they speak English, in your areas and budget.