Almost every “to let” board in Bengaluru in front of houses comes with conditions in brackets: vegetarians only, families only, no bachelors allowed, for boys only, not for IT professionals and so on. With these conditions, many Bengalureans and migrants from across the country are finding it hard to rent a house in Bengaluru.
Dr. Riya Rafeekh, an academician from Kerala, shared her distress on how moving to Bengaluru and finding an apartment for herself and her husband was a harrowing experience. Talking to The Hindu, Dr. Riya said, “I recently got a placement at a college in Kengeri as an Assistant Professor. My husband and I were searching for flats to stay in and around Kengeri. Through friends we got to know about an online platform that can help us find flats easily without any middleman and shortlisted two apartments. However, both owners of the apartments decided to not take it forward after knowing our surnames and our backgrounds.”
What names did not reveal
Dr. Riya said that initially their encounter with the owners went quite well as both her name and her husband’s name -- Harshil -- did not reveal their social or religious backgrounds. “We collected the contact details of the owner of the first property and my husband started interacting with the owner. Initially, the owner was very keen to give the flat to us. He asked us to give our personal details to prepare the rental agreement. But once the owner came to know our full name and that we are Muslim, he said he cannot rent us the flat. His reason for denial was us being non-vegetarians, but he had not said that earlier.”
The encounter with the second owner was not any different for Dr. Riya and her husband. “He lives in Hyderabad and was willing to come from Hyderabad the very next day to sign the agreement. However, when he got to know our background, his tone changed. He said that he wanted to discuss the matter with his family, and later explained to us over a phone call that he wants a tenant who would perform pooja at their house at least once a week,” said Dr Riya.
Dr. Riya and her husband have finally found a house and moved to Bengaluru, however, but she said that it was easy for them to get the apartment as the owner was also a Muslim.
IT professionals too
For Kaniskha Gaonkar, a 26-year-old IT professional from Mangaluru, the problem was of a different kind. It has been difficult for him and his sister to find a home in Bengaluru over the last three years and they have had to move multiple times.
“I moved to Bengaluru with my sister, and the first thing many owners ask is if we eat or cook non-vegetarian food. We have rejected many houses due to this. Some owners say we cannot have visitors other than our parents. With high rents, demands for a high deposit amount and restrictions, no place feels like a home,” he said. Many were also suspicious if they were indeed brother and sister.
There were also many occasions when we were rejected due to his profession, says Mr. Kanishka “We found a house through an online platform. The property looked very good and there were no restrictions as such. However, when we met the owner, he asked what I did for a living, and when he realized that I was an IT professional, the owner refused to rent the house to us,” he said. Interestingly, there are also house owners who prefer IT professionals since they believe they can afford to pay higher rents.
No place for single women
Vasantha Krishnamurthy, a schoolteacher and a theatre artist says, her choice of career and the fact that she is a single woman made it hard for her to find a home in Bengaluru. “My family lives on the outskirts of the city, I work mostly in and around South Bengaluru and travelling everyday back home was very tiring and exhausting. So I decided to move to South Bengaluru and I started looking for homes in and around Jayanagar, J.P. Nagar, Banashankari, and Nagarabhavi. However, almost every house I liked came with conditions or the landlord made me feel uncomfortable,” she said.
“Many assume that women who move out of their homes, or live without a family member, are into activities or jobs that may cause harm or shame to them or their neighbourhood. Whenever I tell the landlords that I am a theatre artist, I am frowned upon. So I always introduce myself only as a schoolteacher. Many landlords ask where my parents are, what they do for a living and why I am living alone,” Ms. Vasantha added.
Ms. Vasantha, says that even if owners let out homes for single women like her it came with conditions. “Even if some owners were ready to let out their homes, it came with conditions like no friends were allowed, especially male friends. I could not even have my brother over.”
Any legal recourse?
B.T. Venkatesh, a legal expert and a human-rights advocate, said that there is no legal recourse for someone who is denied a house based on any condition.
“When someone owns a house, it is their choice to let out the house to anyone. Earlier there was something called the Rent Control Act which allowed rent controllers to allot multiple unoccupied homes by a single owner to anyone no matter the caste, religion, gender or eating habits. However, the Act was revised some years ago which gave owners the direct right to allot the homes,” he said.
Mr. Venkatesh said that only if the government comes forward with a specific law can people report these kind of incidents and rent a house easily no matter what backgrounds they come from. “Since no law says that the owners must let out their homes to anyone from any background, people who have faced discrimination are not be able to report it. There are thousands of affordable unoccupied houses and apartments in Bengaluru that are left unoccupied for several years due to the conditions or preferences the owners have. There can be a solution to these forms of discrimination only if the government comes forward with specific laws,” he argued.
