Real estate, rentals feel pinch

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In addition to this, scores of real estate businesses including property rentals have been severely affected because of the work from home policy. After the pandemic, many techies who had rented apartments in the Kazhakoottam area vacated the property and moved out permanently. Sajeev Joseph, a builder for the past 18 years, used to have around 50 employees but, owing to the financial crisis, he had to fire 40 of them.

“Nobody is purchasing flats and those who have bought the property are unable to pay back the home loans. Many techies have lost their jobs. Around 15 flats in my complex are lying vacant. Builders are not announcing new projects and many major builders have put on hold their ongoing projects. We can bounce back only when the IT park becomes fully functional. There is no point in constructing more flats without the situation coming back to normal,” said Sajeev, who is one among the many dealing with a similar crisis.

He said there are many people who constructed rental properties attached to their homes. “Many people are in huge debt and unable to pay back the housing loans they took hoping to repay with the rental amounts. Many people expanded their homes, constructed more storeys for renting out,” Sajeev added.