Demand for rental housing rising fast

ISTANBUL

The number of people looking for a rental house surpassed those who look for a house to buy, according to recently published data.

Figures provided by the real estate platform Emlakjet showed that in May 52 percent of those out in the real estate market are looking for a house to rent. In April, this was 50 percent.

The survey conducted by the online platform found that 87.4 percent of landlords do not consider renting out their properties.

Their main concern is tenants failing to pay their rent on time.

Those who look for a rental house cited prices as one of the biggest problems they face. Some 28.4 percent of the respondents said they were looking for a new apartment because their current landlords demand a huge rent hike.

Meanwhile, many landlords have taken their properties off the market after the government decided to extend the 25 percent rent hike cap for another year until July 2024.

The government introduced the cap last year to prevent exorbitant rent increases.

The regulation applies to the contracts valid between July 2 this year and July 2, 2024.

If a contract is signed on July 3 this year, the landlord will be able to demand a hike of more than 25 percent when the lease agreement is renewed in July next year.

The cap is not resolving the problems in the housing market but only amplifying them, said Hakan Akdoğan, a real estate expert.

“Many landlords have removed the classified ads for house rentals. They will wait until after July 2. Landlords exert big pressure on current tenants to evacuate their properties,” he said.

In practice, the 25 percent hike rule is not observed, the landlords and tenants work out a midway solution, according to Gökhan Taş from MasterTürk Group.

“They agree to a minimum 50 percent increase in rents.”