Renting long term in Tbilisi looks simple until the deposit is gone. Rents get quoted in dollars, the contract arrives as one page of Georgian, and most tenants sign without knowing that the Civil Code already caps the deposit and sets the notice period. Those rules exist. They are just not in the document your landlord printed. Here is what the law hands you, and where it stops.
Where the listings actually are
Three channels carry nearly all the long-term stock, and they are not interchangeable.
The Georgian classifieds, ss.ge and myhome.ge, hold the most listings and the most realistic prices. They are also full of dead posts. Sort by date, ignore anything older than a week, and expect to phone rather than message. Expat Facebook and Telegram groups move faster and quote higher, and scam volume is highest there: a below-market flat, an owner conveniently abroad, a deposit requested before viewing.
Agents cost money and save weeks. A good one negotiates in Georgian, reads the title extract and holds the landlord to the handover. Our ranked list of Tbilisi real estate agencies covers firms working both sides of the market, and rental agents in Tbilisi narrows it to the letting specialists. Commission is conventionally a share of one month's rent and who pays it is negotiable. Settle that before the viewing.
Price the district before you price the flat
Rent here buys wildly different things depending on which side of the river you land on.
| District | Who it tends to suit | The trade-off | Rent band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vake | Families and longer stays wanting green space | No metro station, so buses, taxis or a car | Highest |
| Vera and Mtatsminda | Remote workers who want to walk everywhere | Old stock, steep streets, no parking | High |
| Saburtalo | Newer buildings, lifts, parking, metro | Less character, longer trip to the centre | Middle |
| Sololaki and Old Town | Courtyards, character, everything on foot | Heritage buildings, heritage plumbing | Middle to high |
| Chugureti and Marjanishvili | Value close to the centre, renovation under way | Quality swings street by street | Middle |
| Didi Dighomi, Isani, Varketili | Space per lari, families on a budget | Commute, less English on the ground | Lowest |
We are not printing rent figures. Asking rents move with the season and with the region, and any number fixed into a guide is stale within a quarter. Build your own: filter ss.ge to one district and one size, sort by newest, discard anything over seven days old, take the median. Our guide to the best districts to live in Tbilisi walks the neighbourhoods in detail.
What the Civil Code already gives you
Georgia has no separate residential tenancy statute. Rental of a dwelling sits in Chapter Three of the Civil Code, published on the Legislative Herald of Georgia. These articles apply whether or not your contract mentions them.
| Rule | Where it sits | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit ceiling | Article 552 | Security capped at three months' rent, payable in three instalments |
| Default notice period | Article 561 | Three months, unless circumstances or the contract say otherwise |
| Landlord needs a valid reason | Article 562(1)(2) | Breach, own use, refusal of a market-rate increase, illegal acts |
| Furnished flats | Article 562(3) | The landlord may always terminate on notice |
| Tenant's early exit | Article 555 | One month's notice plus a solvent replacement tenant |
| Staying past the term | Article 559(2) | Holding over unopposed converts the deal to an indefinite term |
| Sale of the flat | Article 572 | The buyer steps into the landlord's shoes |
| Normal wear and tear | Article 547 | Not your liability where use matched the contract |
Having that one page read once by a real estate lawyer in Tbilisi costs less than a month of the rent you are about to commit to for a year.
The deposit ceiling, and the instalment right
Article 552 caps the security at three times one month's rent, lets a tenant pay an advance security in equal instalments across three months, and voids any agreement made otherwise to the tenant's detriment.
Most landlords here ask for one month, so the ceiling rarely binds. The instalment right is the useful half, for the day someone wants first month, last month and a deposit all on signing. The same article says interest accrues on an advance security, which nobody pays in practice.
Notice runs three months, unless your contract says otherwise
Article 561 fixes the period for terminating a rental contract at three months, unless something else follows from the circumstances or the parties' agreement. A contract specifying 30 days displaces the default, so read the termination clause before relying on the Code.
Article 563 requires termination of a tenancy agreement to be made in writing. A WhatsApp message is not obviously a written termination, and arguing about that later costs more than sending one signed letter now.
Your landlord needs a reason, until the flat is furnished
Article 562 allows a landlord to terminate only for valid reasons, then lists them: a substantial breach by the tenant, the landlord needing the dwelling for himself or close relatives, the tenant refusing a rent increase that corresponds to market rates, and illegal or immoral acts against the landlord. Read the third one twice. Georgian law gives you notice, not price protection.
Article 562(3) says that where the object of the tenancy is a furnished apartment, the landlord may always terminate provided the notice period is observed. Nearly every long-term rental in Tbilisi is let furnished, so the "valid reasons" protection does not reach most tenants. Your real security is the fixed term written into the contract. Negotiate the term and the notice clause hard, because the Code will not do it for you.
Leaving early without forfeiting the deposit
Article 555 gives the tenant of a dwelling a route out before the term expires: one month's notice, plus a replacement tenant who is solvent, acceptable to the landlord and willing to take the remaining term. That is a right, not a favour, and it is the cheapest exit in the Code. Most tenants hand over a month of deposit instead, because nobody told them.
Subletting, and what happens if the flat is sold
Article 549 requires the landlord's consent to sublet and treats a family member of the tenant as not a third person. Article 550 goes further for a dwelling: consent may not be refused where the tenant has a valid reason, subject to exceptions such as overcrowding. Listing on a booking platform is a separate regulatory question, covered in short-term rental rules in Tbilisi.
Article 572 passes the landlord's rights and duties to a buyer once the property is in the tenant's possession, so a sale does not end the tenancy. Enforcing that against a new owner who has never met you is a different problem, and that is what registration solves.
Register the rent right when the term matters
Article 11 of the Law of Georgia on the Public Registry lists what goes into the Registry of Immovable Property Rights, and rents and sub-rents are on it. Paragraph 4 says registered data on those rights transfers intact to a new owner. An unregistered lease relies on Article 572 and on proving possession after the fact. A registered one sits on the title the buyer's lawyer reads before completion.
Paragraph 5 turns the option into an obligation in one common case: where a transaction runs for more than a year and a private legal entity is a party, the rent right is to be registered. If your Georgian LLC signs a two-year lease on a flat or an office, that is you.
| Registry service | 4 working days | 1 working day | Same day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration of the origin, change or termination of a right | 150 GEL | 270 GEL | 350 GEL |
| Paper extract from the register | n/a | 20 GEL | 75 GEL |
| Extract ordered electronically | n/a | 13 GEL | 52 GEL |
| Cadastral plan of the flat | n/a | 7 GEL | 26 GEL |
Those are the agency's published charges from its immovable property registration schedule. The registry also verifies signatures on a transaction for 7 GEL, usually cheaper than a notary. Confirm the service line and the fee at the counter, since the schedule gets amended.
The tax question behind the paperwork
Article 81(1) of the Tax Code of Georgia taxes a natural person's taxable income at 20%. Article 81(2) drops that to 5% on income from renting out residential space for residential purposes, where the person takes no deductions against it.
So a compliant landlord pays 5%, not 20%. That is low enough that the usual justification for cash-only arrangements does not survive arithmetic. When a landlord refuses a written contract, the rate is rarely the reason: nothing is being declared at all. A landlord off the books has every incentive to keep you undocumented, which is the worst place to stand when a deposit is in dispute.
If a Georgian company signs the lease instead of you, the treatment shifts. Article 154 makes enterprises withholding agents on certain payments to natural persons who are not registered as individual entrepreneurs. Tax Code rules are amended regularly, so confirm the position before the company signs rather than at the first filing. We list the firms worth calling among the accountants in Tbilisi.
We research the real estate agencies working in Tbilisi and rank the ones worth paying. Independently researched, re-checked quarterly, free to read.
See the ranked list
Before the deposit leaves your account
An extract ordered electronically costs 13 GEL and lands in a working day. It shows who owns the flat and whether the title carries a mortgage or another registered right. Order it before you hand over anything, and match the name on it to the passport of the person signing.
Then work down the rest.
- Confirm the signer is the registered owner, or holds a notarised power of attorney naming the specific act.
- Check the extract for a mortgage. A bank enforcing against your landlord becomes your problem too.
- Read the electricity, gas and water meters at handover and photograph them with the date visible.
- Ask about the building's shared account. Communal debt attaches to the flat.
- Photograph every existing defect before a single box goes in.
- Write utilities into the contract. Article 553(2) allows additional expenses to be required only where the parties agreed on them.
Article 573 gives the landlord six months from the return of the property to claim damages for deterioration, so keep those photographs at least that long. Article 568 gives the landlord a lien over things you brought into the premises, so a landlord holding your belongings is not automatically acting outside the law. Our checklist for property due diligence in Tbilisi goes deeper on the title side.
Key takeaways
- Rental of a dwelling is governed by Chapter Three of the Civil Code, and those articles apply even when your contract is silent.
- Article 552 caps the security at three months' rent and lets you pay it in three instalments.
- Article 561 sets a three-month notice period by default, but your contract can displace it, so read the termination clause.
- Article 562(3) lets a landlord terminate a furnished flat on notice without a valid reason, which covers most of the Tbilisi market.
- Article 555 lets you exit early on one month's notice if you supply a solvent replacement tenant.
- Rents are registrable at the public registry, and a registered right transfers intact to a new owner.
- Compliant landlords pay 5% on residential rent, so a refusal to paper the deal is about non-declaration rather than the rate.
FAQ
How much deposit can a landlord ask for in Tbilisi?
No more than three times one month's rent. Article 552 of the Civil Code sets that ceiling and voids any agreement made otherwise to the tenant's detriment. Where the security is payable in advance, you may pay it in equal instalments across three months.
How much notice do I have to give to leave a Tbilisi rental?
Three months by default under Article 561, unless the contract or the circumstances set a different period. Most written contracts here specify 30 or 60 days, and that displaces the Code. Article 563 requires the termination itself to be in writing.
Can my landlord evict me before the lease ends?
Only for a valid reason under Article 562, unless the flat is furnished. The listed reasons are a substantial breach, the landlord needing the dwelling for himself or close relatives, refusal of a market-rate rent increase, and illegal or immoral acts. Article 562(3) then lets a landlord end a furnished tenancy on notice regardless, so the fixed term in your contract is the protection that holds.
What happens if the landlord sells the apartment I rent?
The tenancy continues. Article 572 passes the landlord's rights and duties to the buyer once the property has been transferred into your possession. Proving that to a new owner is easier when the rent right is registered, since Article 11(4) of the Law on the Public Registry transfers registered data intact.
Should I register my lease at the public registry?
Register it when the term is long enough that losing it would hurt. Rents and sub-rents are registrable under Article 11 of the Law on the Public Registry, which puts the right on the title rather than in a drawer. Where the term exceeds a year and a private legal entity is a party, paragraph 5 treats registration as required.
Do I need a notary for a Tbilisi rental contract?
Not for the contract to be valid between you and the landlord. Notarisation matters when you file with the registry or when someone signs under a power of attorney. The public registry verifies signatures on a transaction for 7 GEL, which is often enough and cheaper than a notary.
Does the rental contract have to be in Georgian?
No rule forces a rental contract into Georgian, and bilingual contracts are common here. Anything filed with the registry or taken to a Georgian court will need a Georgian text, so plan for translation. Where both languages exist, state which version governs if they disagree.
Can I sublet the flat or put it on Airbnb?
Subletting needs the landlord's consent under Article 549, although Article 550 says consent may not be refused for a dwelling where the tenant has a valid reason. A family member of the tenant is not a third person for this purpose. Short letting to travellers carries its own rules and building-level restrictions, so do not assume consent to sublet covers a booking platform.
Who pays for repairs and utilities?
The tenant carries out current repairs at their own expense under Article 548 and may not alter the dwelling without consent. The landlord must hand the property over fit for the contractual use and keep it that way under Article 532. Utilities are chargeable to you only where the parties agreed on them, under Article 553(2).
What tax does my landlord pay on the rent?
5% on income from renting out residential space for residential purposes, under Article 81(2) of the Tax Code, where the landlord takes no deductions against it. The general rate on a natural person's taxable income is 20% under Article 81(1). Tax Code rates are amended regularly, so confirm the current position before relying on it.