Rise in PG rent unlikely this year

In a relief to students aspiring for admission to the Delhi University, private hostels and PGs in Delhi have decided to maintain or even reduce their tariff rates for the upcoming academic year. Facing stiff competition, the owners have opted for competitive rates for new students.

Sanjay Gupta, owner of Nivedita Sadan Girls Hostel in Kamla Nagar in north Delhi, claimed that because of overpowering competition, he was forced to offer rooms at discounted rates. “There are over 150 hostels within Kamla Nagar itself. Given the increase in the number of hostels in the past few years, we have received only 100 occupants in comparison to 200 last year. Hence, I am forced to offer the rooms at lesser rates so that more students come to our hostel.”

Having established 15 years ago, Mr Gupta is currently running three such hostels. Discussing the strategies adopted by him to survive the competition, he added, “Our normal two-seater rooms for instance cost around Rs 14,000. But if any girl rents a room prior to the end of May, we will be offering her a flat discount of Rs 10,000.”

Navish Gupta, a real estate dealer and owner of Gupta properties, also repeated the same thing. “We have always been faced with competition. But this year there is a probability of an increase in the number of students by around 2,000. Mostly, the prices will remain same like last year. Even if there is a hike, it wouldn’t go beyond Rs 1,000,” he said.

Meanwhile, the hostels operated by the DU administration are uncertain of any hike in the rates this year. “In the last two years, there has been no hike, except the charges for mess food that were increased. Usually students are given rooms based on merit lists that are provided to us. So more often than not all our rooms are full. But it is difficult to predict if there will be a hike, given the dynamic expenses and inflation incurred by us,” said a senior official.