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Journalism of Courage
A Bengaluru tech professional has highlighted just how tough the city’s rental market has become, sharing his frustrating house-hunt experience on X.
Sahil Khan, a product designer at a startup, posted about the shockingly high rents he encountered while looking for a new place. “Landlords are asking for 1L rent in Cooke Town for a 3bhk. Have people lost their minds?” he wrote, after checking out eight different houses in a single day.
His post quickly blew up, prompting a wave of relatable reactions. One user joked, “Come to Mumbai Bro, 1 Lac mein acha 2 BHK mil jayega. And 30% of the deposit amt too.” Another commented, “They are motivating you buy your own house.” Someone else chimed in that Delhi NCR is far more reasonable when it comes to both rents and deposits.
Cooke Town, part of the old Cantonment area in central Bengaluru, is known for its premium rentals, but Khan said even he was surprised by what brokers were quoting. According to HT.com, he’s planning to get married and wants to shift homes in January. He currently lives in Koramangala and pays Rs 50,000 for a 2BHK, but the places shown to him in Cooke Town ranged between Rs 75,000 and Rs 80,000.
One 3BHK was listed at Rs 65,000, which felt too good to be true, until he discovered it was right next to a railway track. The flat priced at Rs 1 lakh, meanwhile, was only semi-furnished and not even part of a gated community with amenities. Maintenance charges weren’t included either.
Khan said the steep prices are partly because “there are a lot of IT people (in Bengaluru). So there is money. They (landlords) want some of that (money).”
Having moved from Pune in 2021, he believes the city’s housing pressure won’t ease until Bengaluru increases its floor space index (FSI) to allow more residential development.
