Unlock tales: With 50% rent, storage spaces are a win-win for both tenants and landlords

Delhiites and Gurugrammers have found a unique way to save money, by keeping their luggage at a storage space, while they are at their home towns, working from home.

Exorbitant rents, salary deductions, job insecurity — times are tough! So how does one survive in such difficult circumstances? Well, young professionals have found a way by relocating their stuff to storage facility for a month or two, till they return from their home towns.

Storage spaces in Delhi-NCR have become popular among those who have had to go back to their home towns during the pandemic. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Social media timelines are filled with posts by professionals offering to keep belongings of others at their rented space for 50% or a lesser amount. Anish Bakshi, who had posted about one such storage facility on a Gurugram group on Facebook, says, “The idea is just to help out people who are being made to pay full rent for their rooms in Gurugram, even though that they are not living here anymore because most organisations have given work from home (as an option or mandate). We are offering storage in our flats. I’ve mostly received enquiries from bachelors who are moving or have already moved to their home towns.”

A 22-year-old marketing manager in Gurugram, Anamika Manhas, sharing her experience, says, “I couldn’t move to the new house and there was a lot of family pressure to return to my home town, Jammu. I flew two days before lockdown. It’s been three months that I’m here now, and all my stuff was at my rented place and the notice period was over too. I couldn’t physically come and move my stuff (clothes, kitchenware, etc). So, when I found out about this service, I felt it was very helpful. I paid around ₹4,000 for a month and my stuff is all safe.”

Those from outside Delhi wait for their turn to get thermally screened before travelling back to their homes at Ambedkar Stadium. (Burhaan Kinu/HT Photo (For representational purpose only))

For Varun Kataria, who owns flats and PGs in Delhi-NCR, storage space has become a means to sustain him during these times. This landlord says, “Jo log Maharashtra, UP se hain woh iss time Gurugram aana safe nahin samajh rahe... People who were living on rent in Delhi-NCR have reached out to me from across the country including Mumbai, UP, and even south India. We sent a vendor to get their luggage picked up, and then confirmed with the owner each item on the check list. After all this checking, we sent a video to the owner on WhatsApp to confirm.”

Aditya Kaushal, a 32-year-old fraud investigator with an MNC in Gurugram, tells us, “I was travelling prior and have been with my family in Jammu since March, and couldn’t go back to Gurugram because of lockdown. There is a huge rent burden wherein I’m not using the premises but still have to pay the rent. My stuff was lying in the house (refrigerator, washing machine, etc.). Initially we had a discussion with the owner about the salary cuts that I had to bear, but the owners didn’t agree to reduce the rent. The only option thus left was to find a storage facility and move our stuff over there. I took help of movers and packers, and a friend helped me too. And now when the landlord saw us vacating it, he thought he’d loose a steady income so offered to reduce the rent by 40% till the time we come back!”

“It’s an equal opportunity for all. There are people like us who don’t want to spend anything like ₹30,000 as monthly rent, when they aren’t even living in these places.”
– Kovid Ummat, an advertising professional

Those who are renting out their place for storage are ensuring to share all crucial information in advance, before allocating the space. Kovid Ummat, an advertising professional who is renting his two rooms as storage space, says security is a concern, too. “We ensure that I and the other party share all details prior. Somewhere this came out of our own need, as one of my flatmate had left for Agra before the lockdown. And when we came home, we realised that it was uncertain as to when will WFH stop. The rent was a completely avoidable expenditure at this point. So we guys thought to take out our stuff and put it in a warehouse, and in the process realised that they aren’t many warehouses. This made us open two rooms for people who required this facility. It’s an equal opportunity for all. There are people like us who don’t want to spend anything like ₹30,000 as monthly rent when they aren’t even living in these places.”

Author tweets @Nainaarora8

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