Closed 12 Oct
Predict monthly rent
A playground regression contest on a synthetic rental dataset. Beat the mean, then beat each other.
- Scored by
- RMSE
- Lower is better
- Score to beat
- 748.564
- Predict the training mean
- Entrants
- 0
- 5 uploads a day
- Closed
- 12 Oct
- 00:00 UTC
Overview
The task. 3,000 training rows describe rental listings, city tier, floor area, bedrooms, distance to the centre, building age, furnished or not, with the monthly rent. Predict the rent for 1,200 test rows.
The data is synthetic, generated from a fixed rule plus noise, and we say so up front: nobody's real listings are in it, and there is a floor below which no model can go. That floor is the point, find the rule, and you will land near it.
Scoring. Root mean squared error, lower is better. While the competition is open the leaderboard scores about 30% of the test rows (the public split). At close, your selected submissions are scored on the other 70% (the private split) and that is the final standing. Probing the public leaderboard tells you nothing about the private one.
Baseline. Predicting the training-set mean for every row. Beating it is the first goal; a medal is the second.
Marking rubric
Exactly how your points are worked out. Mark your own work against it before you file.
All 100 points come from your score on the hidden test rows. There is no report in this competition.
The metric
100 points
Scored with RMSE (lower is better) on the private 70% of the test rows, which nobody sees until results. Your rank there becomes your points: first place earns the full 100, last place earns 0, and everyone between is spaced evenly by rank.
A score that does not beat the predict the training mean earns 0, whatever its rank. Ranks, not raw scores, so one runaway entry cannot squash the rest of the field.
points = 100 × (1 − (rank − 1) ÷ (entrants − 1))For example, 3rd of 21: 100 × (1 − 2 ÷ 20) = 90 points.
Medals and prizes
- With five or more entrants: gold for the top 10%, silver for the next 20%, bronze for the next 30%.
- Every medal needs a score that beats the baseline.
The full rules and terms apply to every entry.
Submission format
One thing to hand in: a predictions file, scored automatically.
Your predictions, as a CSV
- Header
id,monthly_rent. Column order does not matter; extra columns are ignored.- Rows
- 1,200 rows, one per id in test.csv. A missing id rejects the file and tells you which.
- monthly_rent
- A number. Decimals are fine; no units, no thousands separators.
- File
- UTF-8, comma separated, up to 10 MB. sample_submission.csv is a valid starting point.
- Limits
- 5 scored uploads a day (resets 00:00 UTC). A file that fails these checks is rejected with the reason and does not use one. Pick up to 2 for final scoring; pick none and your best public score is used.
Leaderboard
0 entrants, best public score each. The baseline and our reference model are pinned where their scores fall.
| Rank | Entrant | Uploads | Best score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Predict the training meanbaseline to beat | 748.564 | ||
| No scored uploads yet. The first scored upload takes rank 1. | |||
Scored on the public 30% of the test rows while the competition runs. Final standings use the other 70%, so a public lead is not a final one. The two reference rows are scored on those final rows.
Data
| Column | What it holds |
|---|---|
id | Row id. Use it in your submission. |
city_tier | 1 = capital-city inner ring, 2 = major city, 3 = regional town. |
sqm | Internal floor area in square metres. |
bedrooms | Number of bedrooms. |
distance_km | Distance to the city centre in kilometres. |
age_years | Age of the building in years. |
furnished | 1 if let furnished, else 0. |
monthly_rent predict this | Target. Monthly rent in US dollars (train only). |
Sign in to download train.csv, test.csv and sample_submission.csv.
A playground contest: the data card, sources and audit are published for Season 1 problems.
Timeline
OpensMon, 14 Sept 2026(done)
Data released; uploads accepted.
ClosesMon, 12 Oct 2026(done)
Selections are frozen. The last 48 hours are a quiet period.
Rules
- One entry per person. Your handle is fixed once you join.
- Up to 5 submissions a day (resets 00:00 UTC). Select up to 2 for final scoring; if you select none, your best public score is used.
- Train on the training data you can download here and nothing else. No hand-labelling of test rows.
- Sharing code with another entrant during the competition is fine; sharing a submission file is not, and identical files are detected.
- Results are published once and are final.
The full competition terms apply to every entry.
Read the brief, then enter.
Free with a student account. The brief and the public leaderboard need no account.