The rentals of residential properties in the city have been on a steady rise for the past couple of years. People who migrate to the city for work are baffled by the abnormal rents that the landlords quote for their apartments and individual houses.
The rentals started going up ever since the State’s capital region was announced. In the areas like Currency Nagar, Gurunanak Colony and Bharathi Nagar, the rents for a semi-furnished two bed-room apartments are not less than ₹10,000 depending on the property as against a modest ₹6,000 to ₹8,000 before the bifurcation. Same is the situation with many areas in and around the city.
“The capital announcement has come as a bane to the tenants and even outsiders who are seeking a flat for rent in the city,” says Sreenivasa Rao, a realtor who has been roaming around to find a flat that fits his budget.
“A landlord demands ₹20,000 as rent, excluding maintenance, for an unfurnished 3 BHK,” laments K. Mallikarjun who had to drop the idea of bringing his family to the city to avoid the burden of added cost.
The landlords increase rents of their flats unreasonably. They tend to increase the rent of their apartments each year by ₹200 to ₹300 or sometimes even ₹400 causing inconvenience to tenants, complains Prasad Reddy, a tenant.
Appeal goes in vain
All flat owners attribute the reason for the hike to the city becoming capital. “Amaravati has not yet come up as promised, but the rise in the cost of essential commodities have gone up forcing us to increase the rate of rent,” says a landlord who owns a few flats in Padmaja Nagar.
The abnormal increase in rents even made former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to appeal in vain to the landlords to avoid exploiting the conditions.
Though the Rent Control Act, 2005 in vogue, the implementation of it seems to be a far cry. Most landowners do not make any formal written contract with their tenants, which is a strict violation of the Act.
“Probably, with change in the government, we hope that the rent ceiling be revised in accordance with the guidelines,” says a tenant, Varun Reddy.