The sudden rise in house rentals in the recent times has come as a rude shock for many middle class families in Hyderabad city and its suburbs. Depending upon facilities being provided, location and road connectivity, landlords have increased the rent in a range of Rs.500 to Rs.3,000 in last couple of months. In cases of tenants seeking to know reasons for the sudden increase in rent, the house owners are simply displaying "Tolet" boards in front of the main gates forcing them to vacate at the earliest.
Reasons
Real-estate brokers attribute this to three reasons: High income levels among software engineers and call center employees, shortage of houses available for rental and the decision of Central Government to upgrade the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation as A-1 City from September.
The high-salaried class working in software and ITES, MNCs and high-end corporates in the city are willing to pay almost three times more for a house at Kukatpally and Miyapur. One factor is that an employee can easily reach the workplace, most of which are located in Madhapur and its surroundings, within 10-15 minutes due to new spinal road connecting Cyber Tower and JNTU at Kukatpally.
A majority of them prefer to take a house on rent in the vicinities instead of commuting to office at Madhapur all the way from Kushaiguda, Malkajgiri, Uppal and Dilsukhnagar and spend considerable time in heavy traffic snarls. "Taking a house on rent in Kukatpally will not only save time, but also commuting won't make one feel tired. Hence, software engineers and call center employees are opting to locate themselves here by paying more rentals," explains D. S. Kiran Babu, owner of Arun Rentals in Kukatpally, But this trend is having a cascading effect on the middle class families. With high-income groups ready to pay more rent, the house owners increased the charges. Unable to meet the demand of house owners, tenants who cannot afford are vacating the place and move to areas like Bowenpally, Safilguda, Malkajgiri, Nacharam, Kothapet etc, where house rents are comparatively less. Their problems are further compounded as some owners in these areas also increased rentals owing to shortage of houses for rent and the sudden influx of those seeking dwelling on rent. "How can they resort to such step without giving prior information? It's not correct on their part. We too have our financial commitments," asks M. Jaya Kiran from Ramanthapur.
Heavy burden
The rise in the rentals has ended up putting the financial planning of the middle class in dilemma. For instance, a family used to stay in a triple-bedroom house at Chaitanyapuri in Dilsukhnagar for a monthly rent of Rs.3,500.
A few weeks later, the family vacated the house at the request of the owner. They are now staying in a house in the same locality by paying a rent of Rs.5,500. "We have no option except to postpone our other financial commitments and pay the rent," decry family members.
Another factor is the decision of some corporate companies taking entire building on lease to provide accommodation to their employees coming from other States, mostly from North India. "This is also leading to dearth of houses for rent," maintains W. John, a real-estate broker.
He adds owners immediately hiked the rent after they came to know that Government employees would get extra HRA as the city was upgraded as A-1 city. Whatever be the reasons, middle class families are feeling the pinch of additional financial burden.
