The decline in income during the epidemic has forced many tenants to think about saving. Apartment owners, as a rule, meet them halfway and provide substantial discounts on rent.
Since lease payments are a significant expense item, many tenants who have found themselves in a difficult situation due to the epidemiological situation in the country have turned to their landlords with requests for discounts and deferred payments, says Maria Zhukova, managing director of MIEL-Arenda.
Most landlords agree to reduce fees for self-isolation and quarantine periods. The amount of the discount and the terms for which it will be provided are discussed separately in each case and depend on the personal agreements between the parties. Sometimes the discount reaches 50%.
Demand for rental housing in Moscow fell by 20% since the beginning of self-isolation
“It is quite obvious that the owners are going to dialogue. And they do this in order, firstly, to support their tenants who are in a difficult situation, and secondly, to keep them. They understand that a period of self-isolation is far from the best time to find new employers. And if the tenants have been living for more than a year, regularly pay the rent and comply with all the terms of the contract, then the landlords will all the more try to maintain these lease relations and agree to discounts and installments, ”Zhukova notes.
“Many owners are sympathetic to the financial difficulties of their tenants, confirms Oksana Polyakova, deputy director of the apartment rental department of INKOM-Real Estate. “At the same time, discounts and deferred payments are exclusively goodwill, and not the obligation of landlords.” According to the company, property owners agree to cut payments by 10-20% for 1-2 months.
According to the analytical center CIAN, competition in the capital's rental market is increasing. In April, 33.5 thousand apartments are offered for long-term rent in Moscow, which is 11% more than in early March. "
During the same period, the number of apartments for daily rent decreased by 4% - that is, some rentiers reoriented to long-term rentals in the absence of tourists. In addition, the move of some tenants from Moscow to the regions due to reductions in companies and quarantine contributes to the growth of supply for long-term leases, ”says the head of the analytical center Alexei Popov.
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All this also affects prices: the average long-term rental rate in Moscow (for all types of rooms) is 54.2 thousand rubles, which is 7% lower than in early March, and 7.8% lower than in early February) ... However, few tenants are now considering the option of moving to cheaper housing.
“Moving, given the introduction of urban travel passes, is not an easy task. And the search for a new tenant by the owner can be delayed indefinitely. Therefore, the landlords themselves are not interested in the current tenant leaving urgently - it is much easier to lower the rental rate than to lose several weeks on the “idle” apartment, "Popov notes.
In the first weeks of self-isolation, the number of applications for renting apartments in Moscow decreased by 20%, according to Inkom-real estate. The demand is supported by internal migrations of employers living in Moscow from other regions of Russia (about one third of applications) and the countries of the former USSR (two thirds of requests). Individual requests come from Muscovites who want to rent a separate apartment for the period of quarantine - for example, for secluded remote work, the company notes.