Single in the city

The recent incident in Gurugram where, Mohit Agarwal, a tenant, was not allowed to host a female friend as the residents’ welfare association in question did not allow women to enter an unmarried man’s house is not peculiar to NCR alone. Bachelors living in the city undergo a similar ordeal.

There are a number of baffling rules, applied by landlords, say many. Sharad Chandran, an IT employee says, “Every time my female friends came over, they told the security that we were ‘cousins’ or some such. The landlord already had restrictions on alcohol and non-vegetarian. He’d always drop by for a ‘surprise check’.

Single women, looking for accommodation have to go through a rather embarrassing questioning process, where they have to answer probing questions about their personal lives. Sulekha S moved to Chennai from Cochin after her divorce in the hopes of starting a new life, in a new place. She started contacting landlords through Facebook pages that list available houses. Little did she know that her past will have a role to play here too. 

“The first question they ask is if I am married. After I tell them that I am still single, their next question is why. I tell them that I am separated and they immediately hint that ‘No men allowed’. These questions used to make me mad initially, but now I am used to it.” Thanks to dedicated Facebook pages, many tenants interact with the roommates directly. 

Those who come to the city in search for a job often land up in the mansions, as they are called. Space is a constraint in these popular places of accommodation, where usually three people share a room. For those who live there, it turns out to be cheap. “I pay Rs 7,000 a month for a mansion in T. Nagar, where I share a room with two other men,” says 30-year-old Pravin Kumar, a graphic designer. “We do not have an air conditioner or a kitchen, so we end up eating outside. However, thankfully there is a TV that keeps us entertained,” he adds. 

Manikandan V, a graduate, says he could survive only for a month in one of the mansions in Mahalingapuram. “I did not have enough money to pay the advance. They room I stayed in was shared by 4 people with a/c. But even to go to the bathroom was a struggle. So, I decided to move on.” 

“Some maintenance work or the other would always be going on,” says Ankita Mishra, who lived in a Paying Guest (PG) accommodation for over a year. “The owner would slap an additional Rs 2,000 worth of expenditure to our bill sighting some repair work and also ask us to change rooms. She’d want us to be home by 9 pm and even locked the gate if we were late,” says Ankita. Matters became worse when she asked Ankita to move out without any notice. “I had informed her that I’d vacate the place by end of the month. There was still a week remaining and the owner asked me to vacate immediately as she found some other replacement. Where was I supposed to stay for a week?” questions Ankita, who threatened to go to the police. “Only then did the owner agree to give me the other room,” she says. 

A lot of youngsters from North India and other parts of the country, working in the IT sector live along OMR. “Rents here are cheaper. A good two bedroom, hall and kitchen (2BHK) apartment here is available for Rs 15,000 – Rs 20,000. Here there are a lot of service providers, who ensure that there are tenants in the apartment and promise the landlord a certain amount of rent, after taking the commission. Usually, three to four people share an apartment and it becomes difficult for the house owner to collect from all of them, given that one or the other often move cities. These service providers ensure that the house owner gets the monthly amount,” says Rajesh Hemdev of Hemdevs Real Estate & Rentals.

A landlord has to follow the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, according to which the landlord cannot remove the tenant by force. “If the landlord is harassing the tenant to vacate without any prior notice or without any valid reason, he or she can file a complaint with the police or file a suit before the court. 

The same can be followed if the landlord refuses to pay back the advance,” says LG Sahadevan, an advocate. He further adds, “According to the Act, the landlord can only demand one month’s advance but in most cases they take six-months rent as advance.” 

When asked about residential apartments turning into hostel facilities, he says that strict legal action is taken against those found guilty. “There are a lot of ladies’ hostels mushrooming and many establishments have been cashing-in on the demand and have converted residential apartments into a hostel, with three bunker beds inside. Most of these ‘hostels’ continue with the domestic license, instead of opting for the commercial license. They can be charged for the theft of electricity and serious action can be taken against them by TNEB,” says the advocate.