Working for IT companies, I have lived the
life of a nomad. I have moved city-to-city in India – New Delhi, Mumbai,
Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. In the last 3 years, Pune has been my
‘temporary’ home; till work takes me to my next place. Even in Pune, I have
changed my rented apartment thrice for one reason or the other.
I thought of penning down my experiences
with rental properties and owners in Pune hoping that others will benefit from
these and not have to have heartburn or a headache when living in a rented
property in Pune.
Rent: The best part of Pune is
that rentals are much lower than other Indian metros esp. Bangalore, Mumbai,
Delhi and Hyderabad. Rent is payable in
advance at the beginning of the month and not at the end of the month. Most
owners are okay with accepting rent via online (NEFT) transfers. You may
occasionally come across the traditional or senior citizen owners, who ask for
rent for the entire duration to be paid in advance by PDCs i.e. post dated
cheques.
Who
pays for utilities: Tenants pay for all utilities – electricity, phone, gas, water etc.
from date of move-in till date of move-out. Owner pays for property tax.
Society
Maintenance charges: The usual trend is for owner
to pay society maintenance charges.
Owners expect the tenant to pay for additional society charges such as
non-occupancy charges, move-in and out charges. With increasing society
maintenance charges, owners are asking tenants will also have to pay society
maintenance charges as well.
Usage
of common amenities such as club house swimming pool: This depends upon the society. Some societies allow tenants to use
the facilities free of cost. Some societies charge tenants separately for using
common amenities. These charges range from INR 500 to 1000 per month. It’s
better to check with the society office before selecting the rented property. I
have seen that many a times even owners and agents are not aware of usage rules
for common amenities.
Security
Deposit: I don’t understand why India does not come
up with a law to regulate the amount of security deposit. Different cities have
varying security deposits. Here’s
Bangalore: Security deposit = 10 month’s
rent
Hyderabad: Security deposit = 2 month’s rent
Ludhiana: Security deposit = NIL / ZERO
Mumbai: Anywhere from 6 to 10 months rent
Pune:
Usually ranges from 3 month’s rent for unfurnished properties to 8
month’s rent for furnished properties
Usually owners ask for the entire security
deposit to be paid in advance before move-in.
They do not accept the amount to be in instalments.
Brokers:
Pune has a dearth of agents or brokers. Along with
the several road-side agents who have their shops on every road, many security
guards, drivers, society managers and even a few society chairman and
secretaries act as Agents. My advice to you is to choose your agent carefully.
Pick one who understands tenant’s needs and is professional.
Brokerage: Brokerage for
rentals ranges from 1 month’s rent in the suburbs such as Wakad, Hinjewadi and
Wagholi to 2 months rent in the established areas of Prabhat Road, Koregaon
Park, Aundh etc. Many agents offer to give discounts but do not tell you the
discount percentage/amount upfront which leads to arguments later. It is best
to get agency fees in writing before finalizing the deal. Based on experience
of many of my friends, it is better to pay the brokerage immediately when you
move in and to take a proper receipt for it. Also, it is recommended paying the
brokerage via cheque to avoid arguments with unprofessional agents. Believe me
– you want to avoid confrontations/ arguments later (some agents are
politically connected).
Agreement
formalities: Most societies nowadays do not allow
tenants to shift into the flat without a valid agreement and police
verification of tenants. Many of them started a NOC process last year – wherein
a prior approval of society committee is needed without which tenants
luggage/truck cannot move into the flat. I suggest having a proper agreement
and police verification in place before renting the flat. I have burned my
hands with some ‘template’ or stereo type rental agreements downloaded from the
internet. E.g. the last one I used off
the internet said tenant will bear all legal charges; but the norm in Pune is
for the owner to bear ½ of the cost of the formalities. If possible; hire a
lawyer/ legal firm to do the work to save any penalties/ fines later.
Police
Verification: Most metros in India require information of the tenant to be
submitted to police authorities. In Pune, due to increasing terrorist threats
to IT companies and spade of bomb attacks in last couple of years, police are
increasing checking compliances with police verification. If your friends are
staying with you, their information is also submitted by the owner to the
police. I have heard from my friends
working in Hinjewadi that the local police station requires information of all
adults to be submitted to the police station by the owner before the tenant
moves in.
What’s
up with Pune banning students and working bachelors?
Over the last few months, I have been
noticing an increasing trend that housing societies in Pune are banning
bachelors and students as tenants. If there is a fundamental law/rule in India
that a housing society in India cannot ban a particular community, religion,
case, age etc. from owning or renting a place, then I am surprised how these
societies are implementing such rules. When I spoke to some of my seniors in my
company who have been committee members, they says its due to bachelors not
following rules and creating issues such as late night parties, nuisance to neighbours,
not segregating wet and dry garbage, not completing police verification,
keeping taps open leading to water wastage etc.
While I understand that some
bachelors may create these issues, I have three questions for them:
1. Does every bachelor create these issues?
2. Don’t families also create these issues-
then why are they not banned?
3. Weren't all married people and committee
members ‘students’ and ‘bachelors’ at some stage in their life?
I think these societies should consider
imposing fines and penalties to anyone who does not follow society rules to
deter such behaviour rather than imposing a blanket ban on bachelors and saying
‘it was decided in AGM”.
