Doha - Forced to cope with high rents that often far exceed allowances paid by employers, an increasing number Indian expatriates were planning to lease out their apartments to short-time visitors to Qatar, during the forthcoming summer holidays, enquiries revealed. Such apartments, which are usually fully furnished, can be rented for periods ranging from three to six months and the market this summer was expected to be flooded with more offers, than ever before.
An Indian expatriate, who did not wish to be named, said he was forced to rent out his two-bedroom, fully furnished apartment to a visiting family since he, his wife and their three kids would be on summer holidays for two months from the first week of July. "Who will pay the QR3,000 per month rent that I am now coughing out as compared to the only QR2,000 that I get paid as the housing allowance from my company?" he asked. He said, he therefore opted to rent out his apartment for three months to, preferably a compatriot, for a rent of QR2,000 per month. " I can afford to pay the landlord the balance QR1,000 per month," he added, explaining, he would be unable to find anyone willing to pay the full QR3,000.
Another such an expatriate said he was seriously considering sending his family back to India and some household items were already being packed to be dispatched as cargo. He had also bought one-way tickets for his wife and two sons when they will travel with him at the end of June. "If the rent situation does not change, which I doubt it will, I will leave them at our family home in Kochi and return here alone. I will then serve and complete the notice periods of both, my employers and my landlord, take my end of service benefits and leave for good," he added. He said he had already advertised for leasing out his apartment for two months, for a rent of QR1,800 -- or the amount he pays for the unfurnished flat. "I am offering the house fully furnished to any family, for that period," he said.
The demand for such fully furnished apartments at lower-than-market-rents and available for a short period were said to be extremely popular among Indian expatriates who live here without their families. Such 'bachelors' fly in their wife and kids on visit visa for the summer holidays. Though the practice of renting out family apartments for short periods during summer holidays was common even during the past, higher rents would force more expatriates to do so this year, despite initial reluctance.
© The Peninsula 2005
