Rawalpindi: Rents of houses expected to rise with migrants coming in

[Naveed Yaseen]

Rents of residential units are expected to rise in the coming weeks as a large number of people living in extreme cold parts of Azad Kashmir, Murree and adjoining areas are all set to arrive in the city to avoid chilly weather of their respective areas.

The property dealers have started contacting the local owners for hiring of houses for these people who have conveyed to them the timing of their arrival in the city.

Most of these people are willing to get residential places in areas like Pindora, New Parian, Dhoke Najju, Sadiqabad, Pirwadhai, Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, Asghar Mall Scheme, Muslim Town, Dhoke Kashmirian and Dhoke Kala Khan.

Numbers of people who come from various parts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and tribal areas have already acquired houses that caused somewhat upsurge in rents and further arrival of new comers will likely to sustain this trend till the end of the winter season that is yet to start here.

“Some ten to fifteen families living in Rawalakot have asked me to arrange for them rented houses till the mid of October,” said Shahryar Malik, a property dealer in Satellite Town. “They come here every year and return back after spending three to four months of extreme winter season.”

He said the house owners taking full advantage of this situation were demanding Rs6,000 to Rs8,000 for a two-bedroom flat in the commercial areas while in the residential areas the demand was as high as Rs20,000 for a double storey apartment against comparatively low rent in the corresponding period of last year.

The presence of Afghan nationals in the city is also one of the main reasons as each Afghan family usually comprising 8 to 10 members collectively managed to pay even the high rents.

Major upsurge in rents of the houses was witnessed after the devastating October 2005 earthquake in Azad Kashmir and other parts of the country when thousands of people rushed to the twin cities in the face of continuous threat of after shocks.

The rents came down after return of the earthquake affected people to their respective hometowns, but the tension in restive parts of the NWFP pushed many others to settle especially in Rawalpindi.

After initiation of record number of development projects in Islamabad for the last couple of years, the technical staff and workers associated with these projects, mostly from other parts of the country, thought it advisable to live in Rawalpindi as a small room in average residential sector in the capital city costs four to six thousands rupees per month.

Latif Shaikh, a property dealer in Pindora, said it was now not an easy task to find vacant houses for clients because the housing shortage was multiplying with each passing year.

He said the construction of high rise residential apartments was on the rise all over the city but the students from other cities have been benefiting from this trend because they paid higher rents to owners.

Latif said the winter holidays in the educational institutions of Murree and adjoining areas would start by the end of next month after which the arrival of families in the city would increase to a large extent.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=136137