Living on rent got more costlier

People living in Mumbai paid an average of 18% more for renting their homes last year.
Rents rose on average by 15% in Chennai and 14% in Bengaluru last year.
Debasis Mohapatra reports.

Rising rents are pushing up the cost of living in major cities.

People living in Mumbai paid an average of 18% more for renting their homes last year.

Rents rose on average by 15% in Chennai and 14% in Bengaluru last year.

These findings have emerged in a report by proptech start-up NoBroker.com based on a survey of tenants, property owners and other users in five major cities: Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Pune.

While Mumbai topped the chart in percentage rise in rental values, it was the Delhi-NCR region where the average rentals in absolute terms remained the highest.

According to the report, the average rent in Delhi-NCR was Rs 23,016 last year, an increase of 11% over the previous year.

This was followed by Mumbai at Rs 21,168.

In Bengaluru it was Rs 16,365.

Pune too saw a moderate growth of 7% in rent with the average rental standing at Rs 12,356.

"The reason for rentals in Delhi-NCR, mainly in Gurugram, being higher than that of Mumbai is because most of the houses in the Gurugram region are of higher value comprising 3BHK properties," says Akhil Gupta, co-founder and chief technology officer, NoBroker.com.

Mumbai, he adds, had seen the highest rise in rents because demand outstripped supply.

NoBroker's figures are derived from data collected from 1.7 million properties.

The report noted that, despite a faster rise in rentals, most tenants last year had preferred 2BHK or 3BHK houses.

'This is a significant development as 1BHK was the most sought after property of tenants in 2017,' it said.

The survey found out that proximity to work, sound public transport, and a safe neighbourhood were the three key factors for tenants when choosing a property.

Another important consideration was water supply.

The report found that house owners in Chennai and Bengaluru asked for the highest security deposits from tenants.

In Bengaluru, they demanded eight months's security deposit while in Chennai it was seven months.

In absolute terms, the average security deposit in Bengaluru stood at Rs 134,472 and Rs 100,527 in Chennai.

Tenants in Mumbai were a bit better off, expected to provide an average of four months's security deposit of around Rs 89,850.

• MONEY TIPS

For areas such as Delhi-NCR and Pune, the deposit was even lower, about two to three months.

"We have not seen much change in the security deposit front," says Gupta. "But we believe that as more options are available for tenants in terms of taking a property on rent, it will definitely come down."