Places to rent and to buy, listed by island and by ward
Flats in Malé and Hulhumalé, land on the islands, shops and office space. Every listing says which floor it is on, whether there is a lift, and what the rent does not include.
Four things we put in writing before you view anything
The floor and the ward, always
A flat in this country is two facts before it is anything else. The ward tells you the walk to school, the shop and the ferry. The floor tells you the stairs, and whether there is a lift at all.
The rent, and what is not in it
Water and electricity are billed separately in most buildings, and whether your flat has its own meter or a share of one is worth more than a thousand rufiyaa a month. We ask before we list.
Deposit and advance, agreed on paper
The custom here is a deposit plus some months in advance, and the number of months varies by building and by landlord. Whatever is agreed gets written down and receipted.
We have stood in every room
Nothing reaches this site from a photograph somebody sent us. One of us has been in the flat, run the taps and counted the stairs.
Six kinds of property work
Letting and sales in Malé and Hulhumalé, land on the islands, commercial space, valuations, and the management that follows once somebody has moved in.
Renting a flat in Malé or Hulhumalé
We find you a flat, tell you what the rent leaves out, and we charge you nothing for it.
Letting your flat or your whole building
One month of rent on a completed letting, including photographs, viewings, checks and the agreement.
Buying and selling flats
Two per cent on a completed sale, and an honest account of what the documents do and do not show.
Land and plots on the islands
Island land handled slowly and in the right order, with the council involved from the start.
Shops, offices and commercial space
Ground floor frontage, office floors and storage, let with the fit out and the ending agreed up front.
Valuations and rent reviews
1,500 rufiyaa for a written rent opinion, 3,500 for a sale valuation, with the comparables listed.
Recent instructions
A family flat in Maafannu, a whole building in Hulhumalé let floor by floor, and a shop with a mezzanine on a main road.
A three bedroom flat in Maafannu, let in nine days
Fifth floor, no lift, and a rent we advised the landlord to lower by fifteen hundred rufiyaa before we listed it.
A whole building in Hulhumalé, let floor by floor
Six flats above a ground floor unit, deliberately staggered so all six tenancies do not end in the same month.
A shop and mezzanine on a main road, let to one tenant
Eleven hundred square feet of frontage, a six month advance negotiated down to four, and an ending agreed at the start.
The agency in numbers
What landlords and tenants say
They told me my flat was worth fifteen hundred less than I was asking and showed me four lettings that proved it. It let in nine days. The agent before them had it for three months and never once explained the stairs.
The listing said fifth floor, no lift, sixty eight stairs, own water meter. Every other flat I looked at that month was a mystery until the viewing. We signed an inventory with photographs and got the whole deposit back when we left.
I wanted all six flats let in a fortnight and they refused, then explained that I would have six empty flats in the same fortnight next year. Nobody else would have argued with me about it.
What tenants ask us first
What does the rent include?
Almost always the flat and nothing else. In most buildings here water and electricity are billed on top of the rent, and the question that matters is whether your flat has its own meters or pays a share of a building meter.
Own meters mean you pay for what you use and you can see it. A share of a building meter means your bill depends partly on your neighbours, and in a hot month that difference can be more than a thousand rufiyaa. Every listing of ours says which it is. Where anything genuinely is included, such as a tank pump or common area lighting, we name it.
What deposit and advance will I be asked for?
The custom is a deposit of one month plus some months paid in advance, and the number of months in advance is the part that varies. Two or three is usual on a flat and six is common on a shop, but it is set by the landlord and it is negotiable more often than people try.
What matters more than the number is that it is written down: how much, what it covers, when the deposit comes back and what may be taken from it. Get a receipt for every payment, including cash. We will not let a tenancy start without those, on either side.
Do you charge the tenant a fee?
No. Nothing at all, for viewings, for the agreement or for the handover. Our fee on a letting is one month of rent and it is paid by the landlord when the tenancy starts.
We prefer it that way because being paid by both sides of the same letting makes it impossible to give either of them a straight answer.
Tell us the ward, the bedrooms and the month you need it
Those three facts are enough for us to say what exists at your budget and what does not. If nothing does, we would rather tell you in the first message.
What are you looking for?
Renting, buying, letting your own flat, or a plot on your island. Every message reaches a person and we reply the same working day.
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Where we are
Second floor, Nirolhu Building
Orchid Magu, Malé 20188
Maldives - Call us +960 330 4477
- WhatsApp 9607904477
- Email us lettings@athiriproperty.mv
- Opening hours Sunday to Thursday, 9am to 6pm Saturday, 10am to 2pm Viewings arranged for evenings and for Friday afternoons