IKAN Relocation provides mobility solutions to many corporations moving their employees within India. Most such move are to cities like Hyderabad and Bengaluru and majority of such moves are of young technical graduates fresh from the University.

Large MNC’s like Google, Amazon, Qualcomm, Microsoft, Deloiite, HSBC., IBM, INTUIT to name a few are hiring  fresh graduates in large numbers and asking them to take p assignments in new destinations.

One of the biggest challenge with these domestic moves within India is availability of budget housing. Most move with budgets as low as 7 to 10 thousand per month and the only option for them then is to share accommodation with others.

Some understanding of how this shared accommodation system works has been reproduced below ;

What does ‘shared-Accommodation’ mean?

Where an individual is looking at finding a room in a property where a portion of the property, i.e other rooms in the property are rented by other individuals or shall be rented by other individuals and wherein the landlord of the property is willing to have multiple tenants share such an accommodation.

Some landlords allow their properties to be rented in a shared manner to increase their rentals. Alternately two or three individuals come together and rent an apartment for their use. Such properties are usually found in an  apartment complex/ gated community/ stand alone apartment/ stand alone house and many such properties  are also being run as a managed premises/ Paying Guest (PG)/ Hostel.

Who prefers “ shared accommodation”

Shared accommodation is ideal for single, young executives, fresh graduates who are looking at budget accommodation. Such accommodation is also ideal for students and intern.

How does one find availability of ‘shared-Accomodation’?

In earlier days, the best method was the Sunday newspaper. The newspaper carried advertisements offering low budget accomodations and these were usually lapped up by noon, the same day. In India there is a huge gap between demand and supply and has always been the case.

In the age of Electronic and social media, Landlords have become more savvy and place such personal notes on  the internet via :

• Social media groups

• internet based websites

• phone based applications

However the reality of yesteryears is still true even today. Most executives find time over the weekend to visit such options and are expected to immediately book these by making a token payment as a gesture of acceptance. Such options are lapped up by noon of that Sunday.

Shared – Accomodation – Red Flags.

• The advertisements on vacancy that are published on social media, internet websites, mobile phone applications are not validated and hence there is no authenticity of the data that is published

• There may be 2/ 3 or more individuals who are already living in the accommodation and one of them may have published the listing while others may not be aware of the listing or the exact details of what has been published. Therefore, one may sometimes get conflicting information/ details if they speak with different occupants in the same housing

• As there may be 2/ 3 or more individuals sharing the accommodation one may never be able to get a 100% correct information of their identity, meals preference, if they smoke/ consume alcohol, etc. The information declared during the enquiry or in person meeting can be found to be incorrect at a later stage of your living in the property.

• In some cases the actual house owner is not even involved in the change of the occupant as these advertisements may have been presented by the other occupants who have some vacancy due to someone leaving. One may not be given the owner’s contact in many cases & also may not be privy to a copy of the actual rental contract with the owner

  • This aspect also highlights thatone may not be able to verify if the share of rent advised to you is in line with the total rent being paid to the owner

  • The amount of security deposit being collected is in line with the actual security deposit that has been paid to the owner

• Monthly rental budget, Inclusions/ Exclusions advised over the phone during the first contact call may differ when you make the actual visit

• Most landlords are not able to take responsibility of the behaviour and life style of the other tenants / occupants and hence it is impossible to be able to carry out a reference check of other occupants of the apartment – current or future.

• In case one likes a particular property, most advertisers will ask for a non-refundable ‘token money’ Or ‘holding money’ to remove the advertisement and not show to potential buyers. Decision / confirmation of interest is expected to be immediate.

• Rental would not be hence available to be signed in such circumstances

• Note: A Lot of these listings are done by the advertisers’ late evening/ weekends and hence you need to be on a constant watch out. Some of the advertisements have a shelf life of 2 hours/ 6 hours and the properties are taken very fast

IKAN’s role in the process of finding ‘shared-housing’ 

• IKAN can suggest such weblinks and details of the social media groups, website, mobile phone applications where advertisements have been placed for seeking shared accommodation paying guests. Employees can view themselves and shortlist what seemingly suits them and meets their needs – budget, location, size, other occupants, facilities etc.

• IKAN will also review such placements and shortlists some options and share with the employee for further review.

• Advertisers prefer to deal directly with the potential tenants. As the movement is extremely fast, and low budgets, most landlords and advertisers don’t entertain middlemen. Hence where the advertiser does not respond to IKAN query, IKAN will share the links/ details with the employee so that they may contact the advertiser directly

• For options where the employee needs to make direct contact, IKAN can assist to validate the information given by the advertiser to you & also help assess on the location/ area/neighborhood and advise.

• IKAN consultant will accompany during the visit & assist with negotiations

• Wherever possible, IKAN will try and help set up a signed rental agreement so that the employee has a valid document that can be used as an address proof.

• It is highly recommended that such contacts and subsequent visits are established and conducted on a Saturday. It is usually the case that by Sunday afternoon majority of the advertised properties are off the market.