Yes, Mumbai city is renting out way too less than what it used to in the previous years. The figures collated by SquareFeatIndia have thrown a surprise.
By Varun Singh
Believe it or not, but the city of dreams Mumbai has witnessed a major decline in rental deals. There’s a sharp decline in the number of rental agreements being registered in Mumbai.
Data accessed by SquareFeatIndia, between April to June for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021 has revealed startling figures. The data have been accessed from the Department of Registration and Stamps.
While the three months in the year 2020 were marred by the COVID 19 led pandemic and the following lockdown. The three months in 2021 also saw a decline in registration figures of rental agreements in Mumbai, when compared to 2019.
In June 2021, a total of 19,021 leave and license agreements were registered in the city of Mumbai. This is a sharp fall from 22,974 leave and license agreements registered in Jue 2019.
| Month | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| April | 22767 | 27 | 12730 |
| May | 23795 | 991 | 10717 |
| June | 22974 | 8635 | 19021 |
The June figures according to industry experts include the carry-forward figures of April and May 2021, as the city was facing heavy restrictions then.
According to Yashika Rohiira, of Karma Realtors, there are multiple reasons for the decrease in the number of rental deals but all of them are connected to COVID 19.
She said, “With Pandemic, most people have returned to their homes, may it be college students or even those who use to work in Mumbai and hailed from different parts of the country. With the threat of another third wave looming, no one sees either colleges or workplaces opening up soon. Hence, there’s not much a desire in the people to come back and rent the places.”
For areas like Bandra, South Mumbai, and other places where foreign nationals would rent a lot of property even here there’s a downfall as many have left for their native countries as remote working has kicked in.
So who are the ones who are renting apartments in Mumbai? Rohiira answers this question too. She says, “Tenants of buildings undergoing redevelopment are the ones renting apartments and also those who were on rent either are moving to larger or smaller ones, depending on their need and capacity.”
With no clarity on when things will open up and also the danger of a third COVID wave looming overhead, the rental market of Mumbai is suffering.
Also Read: High Street Rentals Hit By Pandemic
