City homes struggling to find tenants

City homes struggling to find tenants

Sudipta.Sengupta@timesgroup.com

Hyderabad:10.06.2020

Homes in the city are having a tough time finding takers, according to property brokers. They say that the flood of enquiries during what is usually their peak season — April to June — has been reduced to a trickle due to the coronavirus pandemic. Complicating matters further is the return of the city’s sizeable migrant workforce to their native places which have led many properties to put up their ‘to-let’ boards.

“Our business is down to just 10% of what we otherwise register during this time,” said Rizwan Khan a Begumpet-based broker. “Most hirings happen between April and June so people move to the city either to join a new job or on transfer from their old job. That is the trend. Since hirings have almost come to a halt due to the lockdown, it has affected us immensely,” he added.

Brokers said that while they would usually attend to as many as 40 calls per day for homes during this period, they are now receiving barely five to six calls. This has been the case for brokers even when it comes to the city’s most sought-after locations such as Madhapur, Jubilee Hills and Somajiguda.

“We are getting some local enquiries but that is limited. Most of our business usually comes from the migrant workforce,” said Mohammed Ibrahim of Ideal Homes in Jubilee Hills. In fact, many have even reduced their commission from one month’s rent to half-amonth’s rent, to lure customers. However, takers have been few and far between.

A broker who had cracked the deal for staffers at a popular city restaurant said: “The employer had rented out flats in two buildings in Kundanbagh to accommodate them. There were about a 100 people living in these houses. Now, they have vacated all but two flats as the workers have returned home. The employer was paying over ₹1lakh a month in rent.”

But will this slowdown lead to cheaper rentals? “Not really. Though some property owners are willing to offer discounts, many others are in the wait-and-watch mode. Maybe if things don’t start looking up for another few months, they will consider a cut in rents,” said Khan.

Covid-19 has had an impact on broader residential market. Rents usually go up by 3-5% per annum but the current market conditions don’t support a growth in short term given uncertainty prevailing in the job market

Veera Babu | MD, CUSHMA AND WAKEFIELD (HYDERABAD)