There has been a silent and sharp shift in priorities of tenants in last few months. Blame it on economic slowdown, job insecurity among high paying young IT professionals or tenants turning wiser after burning holes in their pockets, but the fact remains that plush and furnished homes have lost out in demand and simple and affordable dwellings are in.
Fully furnished apartments with beautiful lawns, gymnasium and swimming pool were most sought-after by software professionals and those working in corporates a few months ago. Some of them were even paying rentals between Rs.15,000 and Rs.30,000 for a triple bedroom swank flat that came equipped with all modern amenities. But this trend has reversed after the IT sector suffered a severe beating due to recession.
A stroll in the lanes and bylanes of East and West Marredpally, Begumpet, Somajiguda, Kukatpally, Miyapur and Chandanagar, brings one across quite a few “To Let” boards hanging on the gates and doors of several houses. Tenants in these places have vacated plush houses no longer able to afford high rentals. And rental agents admit that around 25 duplex flats in East and West Marredpally and 20 houses in Begumpet and its surrounding areas have been lying vacant for last couple of months.
Software engineers and call centre employees are now slashing down their budgets with companies seriously adopting cost-cutting measures. They prefer to tailor their expenditure on rent from Rs.5,000 to Rs.8,000 as against Rs.12,000 to Rs.20,000 they were paying in earlier times when the going was good. “Get me a simple single bed-room flat at a rent less than Rs.8,000. It’s very urgent and please do the favour as I am unable to pay huge rent,” is the fervent plea made to agents dealing with real-estate and house rental businesses.
Employees are making a beeline to agents requesting them to arrange a single bedroom flat for rent at economical price. “More than 30 persons approached us asking a single bedroom house in Secunderabad. Everyone wants the rent curtailed to Rs.5,000 and Rs.8,000,” explains an agent V. Vijay Raj in East Marredpally.
Another agent Syed Ahmed from Begumpet says the response for duplex houses had been unenthusiastic for last few months. “Employees are hesitating to pay more rentals and thus asking us to arrange only a house at very reasonable price,” he says. Some employees even shifted to colonies in Malkajgiri, Safilguda, Anandbagh, ECIL and Uppal as houses are available at less rent, he adds.
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