Over the past two decades, Dhaka’s cityscape has dramatically changed. Tall apartment buildings with rooftop pools, advanced security, and flashy receptions now mark upscale neighborhoods such as Banani, Gulshan, and Baridhara. These three locations, often described as Dhaka’s “tri-state area” serve as the center of the city’s relatively high end rental market.

Despite this modern look, many high-end apartments stay vacant for months. Demand for quality rental housing keeps growing, yet many prime properties take far too long to find tenants. The gap between supply and uptake raises real concerns for owners and renters alike.

Rental Market Data: Over 350 To-let Listings Each Month, but Results Lag

A recent field research conducted by the smartLET Field research team of rental activity in Banani, Gulshan, and Baridhara shows over 350 properties are listed for rent each month. Rents in these areas usually range from BDT 1,00,000 to BDT 1,50,000, depending on size, amenities, and location.

These listings are for high-quality homes near embassies, top schools, hospitals, and business districts. The local rental market should absorb these units quickly. Yet, many sit empty for weeks or even months. And the trouble lies not with the quality of these apartments, rather with the lack of a smooth, reliable and most importantly a working process!

Why Dhaka’s Rental Process is Broken

Unlike other major cities, Dhaka simply lacks a professional, structured property rental platform to help match and bridge trusted renters with property owners. Instead, listings appear across different Facebook groups, scattered property websites, independent brokers and interestingly in the Facebook marketplace as well! Many of these brokers have no access to digital tools for listing checks or tracking leads.

This patchwork approach causes several problems:

1. Long vacancies, especially in high-rent apartments
2. Wasted time for owners and for those looking to rent
3. Trust issues due to unverified listings and unregulated brokers
4. No standard pricing, contracts, or tenant screening

The city’s rental market operates in a way that is both slow and uncertain. High-value units remain unused, which hurts both owners and the city’s rental economy.

Why a Structured To-let Platform is Quintessential for Dhaka

Cities like London, Singapore, and Mumbai rely on “letting agencies” (known as property rental platforms in Bangladesh) to keep residential rental markets moving. These services handle everything from listing properties to checking tenants, creating agreements, and handling handovers.

With this structure, property owners do not need to chase leads, worry about legal risks, or handle endless paperwork. People looking to rent can trust that listings are real, contracts are fair, and the process is clear from start to finish. Apartments get filled faster and both sides enjoy clearer communication.

Dhaka’s lack of a to-let platform, let alone a structured one, leaves the rental market disconnected and almost impossible to scale.

Today, platforms like smartLET bring a new level of organization to Dhaka’s rental market. As Bangladesh’s first fully digital letting agency, smartLET delivers modern solutions for today’s to-let challenges.

Here’s how smartLET supports both property owners and renters:

1. Properties are verified and digitized with professional photography and 360° virtual tours through smartVIEW
2. Homeowners can list and manage their properties from a centralized dashboard
3. Renters can browse accurate listings, schedule viewings, and apply — all online
4. smartLET performs basic tenant screening (ID and financial checks), reducing risks
5. Rental agreements are generated digitally, with built-in safeguards

With more than 350 active rental listings each month in key areas, this model saves time, builds trust, and improves transparency.

Moving Dhaka’s Residential Rental Market Forward

Dhaka’s urban growth has led to higher standards and expectations from both property owners and tenants. Many owners are busy professionals or living abroad, wanting reliable, hands-off management. Renters want a simple, honest process with accurate property details and convenient booking.

The demand for a streamlined, reliable to-let experience has outpaced what the old system can offer.

A structured letting agency is not just a good idea for Dhaka, it is needed. The rental market requires more than just listings. It needs a process that supports trust, efficiency, and fairness on both sides.

smartLET aims to offer this foundation, helping reduce vacancies, improve relationships between renters and landlords, drive a healthier local rental market, and most importantly digitalize and put structure into the rental space that Dhaka direly needs!