Are you looking out to rent a property in Chennai? This may be a good time. With the monsoon knocking at the door in Chennai, rental markets in some areas of the city get a fresh look in favour of prospective tenants.
“One can negotiate about 5-10 per cent of rent during this season in certain areas in Chennai,” says Sridhar Varadaraj C, vice president, Hannu Realty. Flooding and drainage problems in many localities are some reasons that give tenants a scope to negotiate. This is often an annual affair.
“Although the monsoons do not have a major impact on the Chennai rental market on the lines of Mumbai or Pune, one can negotiate on rental values with the owner during these times. This is primarily due to the drainage and water-logging issues faced by tenants,” says Varadaraj.
So which are the areas that offer you negotiated rents?
“The low lying areas of Velachery, Porur, Kolathur, Perungudi, Anna Salai, Tambaram, Mugalivakkam, Thiruvottiyur, Besant Nagar, Pulianthope and Vyasarpadi among others are the primary target areas,” says Thomal Ammal, owner of City Gate Consultants.
According to Magicbricks data, while currently Velachary offers properties on rent within the price range of Rs 12,000-30,000 per month, Porur offers in the range of Rs 12,000-25,000 per month. Tambaram rentals on the other hand are in the range of Rs 10,000-15,000 per month and in Kolathur current rental values range from Rs 11,000-22,000 per month. In areas like Besant Nagar, the rental values are slightly higher in the range of Rs 25,000-55,000 and above per month. Most of these units are in the mid-segment category comprising of 2 or 3BHK units.
During the monsoons however, one can easily negotiate for a rental drop of about Rs 1,000-3,000 per month. The negotiation is also dependent on the demand and supply scenario according to Varadaraj C. “For instance, an area like Velachary where demand for rented accommodation is always high as compared to supply, the percentage of negotiation may not be as high as 10 per cent,” says Varadaraj C.
Similarly, in Besant Nagar, one of the prime localities of Chennai, owners are reluctant to bring down rental values by more than 5 -7 per cent, during these months. But in areas such as Mugalivakkam, Perungadi and Tambaram, where road and civic infrastructure is still coming up and the supply matches the demand; scope of negotiation can be as high as 10 per cent or sometimes even more.
This trend is likely to continue for another 2-3 years as the concerned authorities are in varied stages of addressing the drainage and water-logging issues. For instance, Tambaram Municipal Corporation has planned an Underground Sewage (UGS) programme, which is still in the implementation stage. Wherever sewage construction is happening, concrete roads are being laid above it in an attempt to solve the water logging problem. However, it is not completely ready.
The Chennai Corporation recently held a meeting with other government agencies to churn out plans for the upcoming northeast monsoon. In the meantime, it can rain lower rental values for tenants of these areas.
Source: Times of India / Magic Bricks /Neha Nagpal, Magicbricks.com Bureau
Neha is a writer for over seven years now and has written on industries such as real estate, franchise and outdoor advertising.