The ASP scheme was first launched in 2015 to help citizens who lacked the technical knowledge to navigate the online registration process for Leave and License documents. However, over time, the department received numerous complaints about the ASPs, with some even being found to have engaged in irregularities during the document registration process.

According to a report from various regional offices, the ASP scheme is no longer necessary due to increased technical literacy among citizens and wider access to online services. The decision to cancel the ASP appointments was made with the public interest in mind.

The official announcement, made by Ravindra Binwade, I.A.S., the Inspector General of Registration and Controller of Stamps, Maharashtra State, Pune, was issued on August 28, 2025. The circular, states that the decision is effective immediately. Following the new mandate, the department has instructed the relevant Deputy Inspector General of Registration and the Accounts Department to reconcile the security deposits submitted by the ASPs and make appropriate decisions regarding the remaining amount. The circular also directs the removal of all previous circulars and lists related to ASPs from the department’s website.

What this means for tenants?

This decision is a step towards a more transparent and direct process for property transactions, but it also shifts the responsibility of online registration to the tenants and landlords themselves.

Key Directives from the Circular

• The appointment of all Authorized Service Providers (ASPs) for the online registration of Leave and License agreements has been canceled with immediate effect.
• All circulars and lists related to the ASPs are to be removed from the department’s website.
• It is now the responsibility of the tenant and landlord to complete the online registration process for their leave and license agreement.

Also Read: Physical registration of Leave & License re-starts

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India’s real estate sector has bounced back to become one of the mainstays of the country’s GDP by contributing almost 13%. And this growth is being consistent across residential, commercial as well as the retail space. After executing a strong vaccination drive along with the boosters, the Indian government has done an excellent job of opening up the markets in a strategic and systematic manner.  With the markets opening up and the economy witnessing a V-shaped recovery, India’s real estate sector is also amidst one of its best growth phases ever.

This has also had a significant impact on the rental demand  across the country. Recent industry data suggests Indian rental housing searches increased 84.4% year on year and 29.4% sequentially in the second quarter of this year. Furthermore, across 13 Indian cities mapped, total combined rental housing listings increased 3% quarter on quarter and 28.1% year on year. The demand for rental housing has started to rebound after witnessing sluggish activity for nearly two years owing to the outbreak of Covid19 pandemic, mobility restrictions and companies offering the work-from-home option.

Some of the key reasons for this are:

Offices & Schools resume:

While multiple companies are still practicing a hybrid model of WFH and WFO, most corporations, conglomerates and startups have started full-fledged operations by opening up their offices. This means that employees who had gone out of the city would now have to return and find a place on rent in order to resume normal working trends. Youngsters and millennials aged anywhere between 25-40 years are also increasingly looking for rentals because they have mostly returned from their hometowns. Not only offices, but even schools and colleges have completely reopened in the past few months. This has also pushed families along with students to move back to the city, thereby increasing the demand for rental homes close to these educational institutes as well.

Projects with the latest amenities:

Today’s new age projects are designed keeping in mind the modern requirements of the customers. With growing digitization, home seekers have their own list of expectations of tech-based amenities. They are increasingly choosing smart home systems that provide a higher level of comfort while also improving their overall lifestyle. Customers place a high priority on apartments that offer fully furnished or semi-furnished homes and numerous electronic appliances like air conditioners, televisions, etc. These necessary amenities are an effective tool for property owners to draw in new tenants

Implementation of the Model Tenancy Act:

The Model Tenancy Act has brought around some sort of semblance  to the rental industry of Mumbai by institutionalizing the entire ecosystem. It not only gives renters three months’ notice before raising rents to guarantee that landowners may collect the market price for their properties but also gives the tenants ample time to make sufficient arrangements in their best interests. It also helps in dispute resolutions, in case the tenant does not vacate the property on time.

Increased connectivity:

Mumbai is in the middle of a massive infrastructure upgrade process right now. With 1 metro line already active and 10 more already under construction, making it very easy for the average Mumbaikar to travel to any part of the city within no time. Apart from that, the city has already established multiple new link roads that have eased travel times equally. To name some – the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR), Santacruz-Chembur Link Road that help connect the eastern and western express highways and lastly the Easter Freeway which has reduced travel time to South Mumbai drastically.

Considering all the above factors, rental housing in Mumbai is expected to boom in the next two years, owing to rapid urbanization, migration to cities, and rising home ownership costs. With offices opening up and employees thronging back to the city, the demand for rental homes would see a constant spike, making this an ideal time for you to become a landlord in the city.

Manju Yagnik, is Vice-Chairperson Nahar Group, Sr. VP NAREDCO, the views expressed in this article solely belong to the author and do not represent the views of SquareFeatIndia

Also Read: Key Factors That Impact Affordability while investing in real estate

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By Varub Sinhh

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people work and will have long-term effects. The pandemic and lockdown restrictions impacted all segments of the economy.

In 2021, the co-working sector had a roller coaster journey, Following the first phase of the Covid, companies and professionals returned to work, kicking out the year with a bang. The co-working space sector is resurrecting in the post-pandemic context, using the crisis as an opportunity.

Nakul Mathur, Managing Director of Avanta India says, “This is the ideal time for property owners to think ahead of the curve and collaborate with co working operators to make the best of their vacant real-estate spaces. This way, they can unlock the untapped potential of their vacant properties.”

Co-working is a concept in which professionals from various firms agree to share office spaces which provide a variety of advantages, including cost reductions, ease, leading edge infrastructure and decor, and networking possibilities. It is often seen as the way of the future. It has a promising potential. As a result, these spaces are regarded as one of the most rapidly rising trends in the corporate sector, particularly in the aftermath of the epidemic.

According to Good works, “There has been a huge surge in the number of co-working spaces recently both worldwide and in India. The total number of spaces is projected to hit almost 26,000 by the year 2022 – a 42% increase since last year, 2019. More than 2,500 new co-working spaces are being added worldwide per year.”

With that in mind, here are some of the most important co-working trends affecting the market as we approach 2022.

Hybrid workspaces:
Hybrid work spaces are the future of co-working since they are working models that are meant to provide employees maximum flexibility while preserving the physical element of working. In this approach, a worker may choose to login from home or occupy an office location while doing their daily tasks.

They are also regarded as the future of co-working as major corporations seek ways to reintroduce their workers without compromising the mobility and comfort that they have become accustomed to while working from home.

Meanwhile, co-working can save businesses money on office space and provide economic opportunity for other facility owners as hybrid co working spaces can be found in hotels, restaurants, and other locations. The facility owners want to take advantage of the potential to expand their operation and find new ways to generate more money. Depending on the time of the day, restaurant, gyms, and event facilities might be used as cool working spaces.

“Several companies across the globe had asked their work force to work from home and increasing number of people now want a mixture of working from home and going back to the workplace. As highlighted in a survey by Prudential, “68% of global workers now prefer a hybrid workplace model where there exists a flexibility to work outside the office occasionally.” From the cost-saving perspective, both organisations and employees have saved a great deal of expenses from the hybrid model. In the post-pandemic world, a mix of office and work from home arrangements are going to be an omnipresent trend,” Mathur added.

Landlords Step Into the Co-working industry:
Due to the epidemic scenario, demand for traditional office spaces has dramatically decreased, resulting in a decrease in rent and the conversion of houses into work spaces, which creates competition for co working operators as homeowners are introduced in the game.
Rather than collaborating with co working space providers, landlords and property investment groups are beginning to transform themselves into flexible office space providers in order to capitalize on this opportunity by developing their own flexible space and they will go head to head with the service providers after launching their own co working segments.

“Co-working as an industry never fails to surprise, and 2022 is likely going to witness yet another year of its relentless growth. Beating the pandemic blues, the co-working sector is going to see newer trends emerge, including but not limited to, adapting to the guidelines of wearing mask at public places, sanitation, hygiene, and social distancing, change of space layouts according to these mandates, price correction at individual market levels, and restructuring of co-working packages for corporations, start-ups, and freelancers.” says Siddharth Maurya, Resource Specialist – Fund Management.

Work Near Home will be more popular:
The epidemic prompted a significant shift to remote working throughout the world where companies have realized that they are unable to achieve desired employee productivity and social connect from work from home scenario. This can be influenced by a wide range of factors, Poor connectivity and colliding of work and personal life, a lack of availability of suitable work space and employees’ fear of commuting long distances in public transportation such as metro, buses and shared cabs and the organization understands and respects their employees and is prepared to spend for membership in co-working near their homes. This demand for suburban co working space will almost certainly result in the opening of new facilities in 2022.

Co-working is adapting as per the need:
The co working business has progressed significantly. Despite the pandemic, coworking spaces have shown to be incredibly robust, and are poised for development as they adapt to it and respond to the new remote work trend.

Also Read: Bhushan Kumar Of T-Series Paid Rs 167 Crore For Juhu Bungalow

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By Varun Singh

In its latest whitepaper by Colliers, “Future of Co-living in India”, it has said that the shared economy or popularly known as the Co-living segment in the country is expected to see a recovery in 2022 driven by reopening of offices, record vaccination and reopening of colleges in a phased manner.

Though the pandemic marred the growth story of the co-living sector in 2020, it has already witnessed a sharp recovery in 2021. The co-living segment is expected to have 4,50,000 beds mainly driven by organized players by 2024 as opposed to 2,10,000 beds by the end of 2021, mentioned the report. 

“With the situation improving rapidly, the sector has recovered substantially and is looking more optimistic. The primary contributor to the recovery is the growing rate of vaccination. The unemployment rate is down to 7% in November 2021, a gradual dip from 11.84% in May 2021. Also, amidst the pandemic, hiring by IT companies has gathered pace followed by robust performance of the sector which will only add on to the demand for the Co-Living in coming quarters,” said Ramesh Nair, CEO, India and Managing Director, Market Development, Asia, Colliers.

The concept of “Shared Economy” got severely tested during the peak of the pandemic. Factors such as uncertain economic conditions resulting in loss of jobs, work from home and the shift of migrant population to their respective hometowns in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak brought the evolving Co-Living sector to an immediate halt.

Between December 2020 and March 2021, the occupancy in most Co-living facilities crossed the 45 – 50% mark as the market improved and 60-70% in Q4 of 2021. However, the second wave proved to be a dampener from Q2 onwards as occupancy dipped sharply. 

The Co-living segment is further expected to witness recovery in occupancy in 2022 with factors such as increasing workforce, migration to urban centers for jobs, the unorganized shared living sector and the growing student population increasingly looking for the organized modern co-living model.

“Co-Living has a strong long-term potential in the metro cities. However, the current market scenario has presented an opportunity to consolidate and reconfigure the market. While many players have exited the business as they could not sustain the financial stress of the previous year, others have capitalized on the opportunity to strengthen their position by strategic acquisitions and expansion in prime locations in metro cities,” said Subhankar Mitra, Managing Director, Advisory Services, Colliers India.

The shift in perception amongst millennials to ‘sharing’ instead of ‘owning’ has made the co-living concept popular. For all groups – corporate occupiers, start-ups, entrepreneurs, and millennials – renting offers flexibility and savings. Co-working offers cost savings of 20-25 per cent compared to traditional office space leasing.

Many investors already actively pursue options in the market to create flexible co-living facilities. The lucrativeness of a higher yield compared to a traditionally rented house has resulted in an influx of new players every year where this trend is expected to continue for the next few years. Co-living offers attractive returns; 2-4 times higher than the traditional residential yield of 2-3 per cent.

However, Co-living in India is still in its nascent stage and the operators are constantly updating their metrics. The Covid-19 pandemic has further pushed the operators back to the drawing boards to reinvent their strategy to provide an attractive and safe housing solution.  

Also Read: CIDCO to hold 5,000 homes lottery in Jan 2022

The post India’s Co-living Market Expected to Double By 2024 appeared first on Square Feat India.

By Varun Singh

A tenant who failed to vacate the flat even after termination of the leave and license agreement was asked to pay Rs 10 lakh as damages to the landlord.

This order was passed by the Court of COMPETENT AUTHORITY RENT CONTROL ACT, KONKAN DIVISION AT MUMBAI on November 17, 2021.

An application was filed under Section 24 of the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999, (the Act) to recover the vacant and peaceful possession of Flat located in Bandra (West), Mumbai-400 050 and damages.

The contention of landlord (applicant) was that in around November 2018 the tenant (respondents) approached the applicant and requested to permit them to use and occupy the landlord’s premises on leave and license basis for residential purpose of their family for a period of three years.

Accordingly, on December 1, 2018 the leave and license agreement was executed. The period of leave and license agreement was commencing from December 1, 2018 and ending on November 30, 2021. The license fee was fixed at the rate of Rs 1 lakh per month. The lock in period was of one year, which expired on November 30, 2019.

It was the contention of the landlord (applicant) that the tenant (respondents) were irregular and delayed in making payment of license fee from the month of January, 2019 . Only repeated follow-up and making several requests would the license fee be paid.

The landlord further claimed that, the tenant (respondents) breached and violated the terms and conditions of the leave and license agreement. Therefore, he served termination notice dated March 10, 2020 upon the tenant and called upon to handover the vacant and peaceful possession of the premises.

The premises was to be vacated on April 15, 2020. Due to the situation of Covid-19 pandemic, the landlord granted additional time to vacate the premises on humanity grounds. The tenant in this period were paying the license fee belatedly.

The landlord further contended that after unlock 1.0 movements were permitted by the State, from June 1, 2020 yet the tenant did not act upon the opportunity that was available. The landlord claimed that despite request the tenant (respondents) failed to handover the vacant and peaceful possession of the application premises. So, the applicant is entitled for license fee from June 1, 2020 with damages on wards till the handover the vacant and peaceful possession of the premises.

The tenant (respondents) appeared and filed an application for leave to defend, which came to be rejected.

The Competent Authority noted the following points after hearing both the parties.

• Considering the nature of proceeding it is summary under chapter VIII of the Act for the speedy disposal of controversy in between licensor and licensee in respect of specific premises given for specific period.
• In continuing to this the Competent Authority is to see whether leave and license agreement executed or not. It is to be noted that the attraction of Section 24 the Act, it is to be establish the relationship as licensor and licensee, execution of agreement, period of expiry and ownership as held by Hon’ble Bombay High Court in case of Dinkar Deshmukh Vs. Vasantdada Sugar Institute, Pune reported in 1997 (1) Mh. L J 188. In this regard the applicant relied upon leave and license agreement dated December 1, 2018. The applicant filed verified copy of leave and license agreement on record. On perusal of leave and license agreement it appears that applicant is the licensor and the respondents are licensees. The period of leave and license agreement is yet to be expired.
• It is a contention of applicant that the respondents were breach the terms and conditions of the leave and license agreement, therefore the applicant issued termination notice dated March 10, 2020 and terminated leave and license agreement. The said termination is admitted by the respondents. Therefore, the applicant rightly terminated leave and license agreement as per terms and conditions of the leave and license agreement. The respondents paid Rs 5,00,000/- as interest free security deposit. Hence, the applicant proved all the necessary ingredients of the Section 24 of the Act.
• In continuation to this as per Section 55(1) of the Act any agreement for leave and license shall be in writing and shall be registered under the Registration Act,1908. In the case in hand the leave and license agreement is registered with Joint Sub Registrar, Andheri-3, Mumbai.
• Apart from this, as per explanation-b to Section 24 of the Act the agreement in writing shall be conclusive evidence of facts stated therein. Therefore, in view of the verdict of the Hon’ble High Court in case of Amit Dalal Vs. Rajesh Doctor reported in 2010(7) Mh.L J 1 the necessary order needs to be passed by the Competent Authority on expiry of the period of license. In the case in hand the respondents failed to vacate the application premises after termination of leave and license agreement. Therefore, the applicant is entitled for possession of application premises.
• As per Sub Section 1 & 2 of Section 24 of the Act the licensor got the right to evict the licensee from the premises on expiry of the period of license failure to vacate the premises by licensee along with damages. The Hon’ble High Court in the case of Geeta N. Shivdasani Vs. Niraj T. Sharma & ors., reported in 2009(4) All MR 821 held that “once it is established that Agreement of Leave and License is in writing, the courts cannot took into intention of parties and if period of the License has expired, the Competent Authority is statutorily obliged to pass an order of Eviction on an application made to it under the provisions of Rent Control Act, 1999 and on failure to vacate, the licensee shall be liable to pay double rate of license fees.” The ratio laid down in the case cited supra does squarely apply to the facts of the instant case. In the instant case also, there is written and registered leave and license agreement. The period of leave and license agreement is expired by termination.
• In this regard the averments made in application reveal that after termination of leave and license agreement the respondents were in possession upon the application premises. However, the respondents did not vacate the application premises after termination of leave and license agreement. But during the pendency of present application, on October 31, 2020 the respondents handed over the vacant and peaceful possession of the application premises to the applicant. This fact is admitted by the applicant and filed pursis at Exh.25 contending that she has received the possession of the application premises on October 31, 2020.
• On above discussion as per Sub-Section 2 to Section 24 of the Act on expiry period of license the continuous possession on the part of respondents or licensee become illegal and liable to pay the damages at the double rate of fixed license fee. In the present case after termination of leave and license agreement i.e. from June 1, 2020 to till October 31, 2020 (though the period of termination notice expired on April 15, 2020, but the applicant claimed damages from the month of June,2020) the possession of the premises with held by the respondents become illegal and for that needs to be imposed damages as per the statutory provision upon the respondents /licensees.

The Order

As per Explanation-b of Section 24 of the Act, an agreement of license in writing shall be conclusive evidence of the fact stated therein. Accordingly, the applicant has complied the mandatory requirements of the Section 24 of the Act, so also brought on record the continues possession after termination leave and license agreement i.e. form June 1, 2020 to till October 31, 2020 so as to claim damages. The respondents have handed over the possession of the application premises on 31.10.2020. Therefore, as per Sub Section 2 of Section 24 of the Act, the applicant is entitled for license fee at the double rate for a period of 01.06.2020 to 31.10.2020 i.e. 1,00,000 X 2 = 2,00,000/- per month i.e. 2,00,000 X 5 = 10,00,000/- from the tenant.

In view of the discussions noted above, the competent authority was of the view that the landlord (applicant) shall be entitled for damages from the tenant (respondents). In such circumstances, I am of the considered view that the application filed by the applicant deserves to be allowed.

The tenant were directed to pay a double license fee a sum of Rs.10,00,000/- for the period of June 1, 2020 to October 31, 2020 to the landlord (applicant) within 30 days. The landlord is also at liberty to appropriate the security deposit, if any.

Advocate Speaks

Prakkash Rohira, advocate for the applicant shared with SquarefeatIndia that ” It had become a common contention of people seeking non payment of Rent and License Fees due to Covid-19. People tend to litigate with the Flat owners once in possession, and stop paying rents, which is unfair to the Owners, specially the ones who are Senior Citizens. The Respondents presented several instances to evade and delay payment, which when brought before the court, was evident. The Judgement of the Hon’ble Court is appreciated.” 

Also Read: Pay 50% rent till September, new offer from landlords

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By Prakkash Rohira, Advocate, Bombay High Court

The Model Tenancy Act is an extremely updated and well-compiled law having its own expedited process for dispute resolution and irons out most of the issues between landlords and tenants, with its expedited dispute resolution process.

The Tenancy Act aims at resolving all rent-related issues concerning both residential and commercial properties, but excluding industrial premises.

Tenants and Landlords not in dispute need not worry as The Act Shall be binding upon tenancy Agreements entered into after the commencement of the Act, and all cases/disputes pending on the commencement of the Act shall be continued and disposed of in accordance with provisions of existing State Rent Control Act. 

The primary focus of the Tenancy Act appears to not side either the landlord or the tenant but is actually designed to punish the violator of the generic provisions of the Contract.

It appears to be very specific and punitive to the violators of the term of the tenancies created as per the Act.

Some of the features are as follows:

1. The Act Establishes A Rent Authority, who within 3 months of appointment shall develop an online platform, wherein Rent Agreement shall be submitted and registered authority agreement shall be in writing, also inform the authority as per specified form, within 2 months from the date of the agreement, and Unique Identity Number shall be given to the Parties. All such information is to remain recorded with the Authority.

2. The Agreement must be in writing and shall be treated asconclusive proof. Both Parties are to hold one original copy each of the Agreement.

3. The Act Recognizes Real Estate Agents as “Rental Agent”. The Act has also widened the definition of landlord and tenant from earlier interpreted terms, largely to include legal heirs, and has categorically recognized “Property Managers” as well.

4. The Tenancy shall be for a fixed period of time. The Tenancy can be terminated earlier subject to certain conditions or defaults in payment of rent.

5. The Act recognizes conditions of Force Majeure, and the Act does not in any manner indicate the Covid-19 Pandemic to be a Force Majeure. 

6. There is a maximum limit of 2 months of deposit on Security Deposit for residential premises and of 6 months Security Deposit for commercial premises.

7. The Act lays the burden of improvement and Structural Repairs of the building on the Landlord whilst putting the burden of maintenance and replacement of fixtures, electric switches, sockets, kitchen, glass panel, windows, doors, etc. on tenant unless agreed to otherwise in the tenancy agreement.

8. The Act speaks about the Rights of Legal heirs of all Tenants and Landlords on their respective rights and removes several disputes between them. It eases out the recovery of possession in premises of death or acknowledges and identifies the case of property even in the death of parties.

9. Landlord or manager cannot withhold essential supply or services as defined in the Act.

10. On the expiration of the period of tenancy or termination of tenancy by an order or notice, such tenant shall be liable to pay the landlord Twice the monthly rent for the first two months; and Four times the monthly rent thereafter the tenant continues to occupy the said premises.

11. The Explicit Roles, Duties and Obligations of the Tenants and Landlords are Described in the Act in brief.

12. Dispute Resolution:

• a. Any Applications filed shall be filed before the Rent Authority, upon not being satisfied with the order of which, an Appeal to the Rent court can be made. An establishment of Rent Tribunal in each District is also defined in the Act.
• b. Disputes when arisen, shall be disposed of expeditiously in a time-bound manner and restricted to 60 days whilst the appeals arising from the same shall be disposed of within 60 days.
• c. Very limited provisions of Civil Procedure Code stand Available, the act rather explicitly states to rely upon the Principals of Natural Justice thereby removing and easing off a lot of technicalities. 
• d. For recovery of fine, the Rent Court shall be deemed to be a Magistrate and have been powers of JMFC to recover “fine” under Criminal Procedure Code.

13. Procedure – Landlord / Tenant can:

• a. File application.
• b. Upon receiving the aforesaid, Rent Court/ Tribunal shall issue notice.
• c. Opposite party will file a reply, rejoinder, etc. 
• d. Date of hearing to hold a summary inquiry as deemed necessary or fit.
• e. Authority to dispose of the matter within 60 days, Appeal to be Decided within 60 days.

14. The Rent Court or tribunal also has powers to execute for delivering possession or attach one or more bank accounts for recovering of amounts due.

Towards several aspects, states have been given power to make their own rules and remove difficulties.

As Maharashtra would head to establish such authorities, the digital move will be seen with great appreciation, and we may find ourselves at a model closer to what we could see in MahaRERA. MahaRERA helps in providing extensive information to the public at large for real estate projects and has been taken as a positive step. Experts anticipate this move to be positive as well, however, the technicalities must be ironed out while establishing these Authorities and Courts. 

It however must be considered and a sufficient number of Courts must be established as the Act puts a burden on the Authorities to pass orders in a timely manner. The Citizens also have been anticipating and waiting for such established authorities and Courts for Cheque Bounce cases. The establishment of such courts and Fast-Track reliefs and Justice will strengthen the spirit of the citizens, assure them Speedy Justice and simultaneously declutter the courts to handle the existing burden of cases.

Also Read: Model Tenancy Act The RERA Of Rental Market 

PS: The views expressed are the opinion of the expert

The post Tenancy Act: Read This Before You Rent A Home appeared first on Square Feat India.

By Varun Singh

On June 25, a 1549 sq ft flat in a prime building on Bhulabhai Desai Road was leased out for Rs 1.75 lakh.

In the same building, on February 24, a flat measuring 1044 sq ft was rented for Rs 1.65 lakh.

This is one example of how the rentals even in the prime residential localities of Mumbai have started to slide downwards.

There are many such examples, where landlords, are willing to lower the rentals of the residential properties they own.

The trend was already visible in commercial properties. Where landlords were willing to waive 50% rent till September and in some cases till December for existing tenants.

In commercial properties even new tenants are being offered the rent waiver. Landlords prefer earning less is better than keeping their shops empty.

Also Read: Pay 50% rent till September, new offer from landlords

Seems the similar trend is catching up with residential properties, with landlords letting go their properties at lower rents.

Amit Bathija of Expat Housing Mumbai, says, “The rental market is definitely affected, in the lower end of the market of 1 bedroom apartments prices have dropped by 8 to 10%, the rentals for 2 and 3 bhk have gone down by 15 to 20 %, the worst affected is the higher end luxury segment where there is absolutely no demand at the moment.”

According to Bathija, the bulk of the demand for these apartments are generated by Corporates and expatriates.

It is an open secret that most of the corporate individuals have gone through a 10 – 20% pay cut and are under severe financial stress where in they just cannot afford to continue at the current rentals.

Siddhant Gupta, of Brickhouse, a realtor from Western Suburbs said, “The residential rentals have gone down since February and several non payment’s of rental since then as well.”

The situation worsened with many leaving the city for their hometowns. Because of which the number of homes lying empty has increased. Thus making severely affecting the demand supply ratio.

According to Gupta, Mumbai which attracts a lot crowd from different cities because of Bollywood and better job opportunities, has also seen most of these people returning to their home towns.

The rental market is impacted because several buildings are still not allowing visits or shifting of new tenants due to the fear of the pandemic.

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