On the second floor of an old building in the Staff Quarters area near Chapra Mosque in Azimpur, Dhaka, four people share a small room with four beds.
Books and bags are stored under the beds, clothes are stacked in a corner, and a few cooking pots sit by the window.
For the three university students and one employed woman, living in such a cramped space is the price of staying in the city.
Some came to Dhaka for their studies, while others are waiting for a place in a residential hall.
With rent rising and commuting from distant areas becoming increasingly expensive and time-consuming, many young people in the city are turning to shared or sublet accommodation.
Dhaka’s housing crisis has been driven by rapid urbanization, population growth and a rental market struggling to keep pace with demand.
In Dhaka Division, about 45% of households were renting or subletting their dwellings in 2023, compared with the national average of 19.08%, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2023.
The House Rent Index for the division rose 6.20% year-on-year in the latest available period, according to the BBS.
Research on middle-income renters in Dhaka has found that most spend more than 30% of their monthly income on rent, the threshold commonly used to define housing affordability.
A 2025 study found that households in Nayatola, Mogbazar, often spend more than this threshold. A 2017 city survey cited in the State of Cities 2017 report found that about 77% of households paid rent above the usual affordability limit. When utilities were included, 82% faced unaffordable housing costs.
The pressure is particularly acute for students and young workers, who often have limited incomes and cannot afford large advance payments or security deposits.
The University of Dhaka has about 41,000 students, including around 18,902 women. According to university sources, five female residential halls accommodate 9,005 students, leaving around 9,897 female students outside the residential system.
