House renting fees are skyrocketing in Hanoi as it is only a couple of days away from the opening of the national university entrance exam.

The admission test, Vietnam’s method of recruiting students for higher education, is the most important of its kind to local high school graduates since an undergraduate degree is seen as a passport to success in this fast-growing country.

The exam traditionally takes place in July, when parents from across the nation accompany their children to big cities like Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City to struggle with the admission tests for a seat at universities there.

Some locals in Hanoi meanwhile have taken advantage of this chance to rip the test-takers off, by turning their home into lodging houses and offering the service at exorbitant prices.

Triple increase

Shortly after his daughter and he gets off the coach at My Dinh bus station, Ngo Kim Hai, a Vinh Phuc resident, is surrounded by a dozen of xe om drivers, who repeatedly ask to take them to a “good and affordable lodging house.”

After asking to confirm his daughter is to sit for the university entrance exam, a xe om named Tuan says: “Just come to my place. No worries of prices.”

Tuan says he will charge the two VND1 million (US$47) for a five-day stay, excluding utilities expenses, at his 12-square-meter room.

“This is a very reasonable price, which is nowhere to be found in Hanoi,” he asserts, warning that price will be as high as VND500,000 a day when the exam approaches nearer.

The admission test this year kicks off on July 3.

The father eventually agrees to follow Tuan to his house in Tu Liem District, saying he just wants a stable place for the girl to focus on the exam, no matter what.

Lodging fees in Cau Giay, Thanh Xuan, Hai Ba Trung, and Tu Liem, where there are a number of universities and colleges, have also been doubled, or even tripled since this week.

A 10-square-meter room now costs VND150,000 a day, and VND300,000 for rooms double that area.

Elsewhere, at the Phao Dai Lang mini-apartment area in Dong Da District, Mai, who owns such apartment, says test-takers have to pay VND1 million for a three-day stay at her house, including power and water expenses.

“You can also choose to share the room with three other people, which costs VND100,000 a day,” she says.

Parents with deep pocket meanwhile can choose to have their children stay at motels and hotels, even though these facilities too offer exorbitant prices.

Nguyen Van Hoang, who runs a motel on Hoang Quoc Viet Street, says normal room rate is VND160,000 a night, but price for the ‘exam season’ can be up to VND500,000.

“But it’s worth it because the room is well equipped,” he says, adding room rates can even be higher when more test-takers flock to the capital city next week.