Ahmedabad: If you are house hunting in the city, brace yourself for a competitive market and soaring rents. With over 300–400 flats in some areas going into redevelopment, their displaced residents now crowd the rental pool, especially in prime areas.

At the same time, more and more people are arriving for work and education, pushing demand well beyond supply and leading to jump in rental costs by nearly 30% in popular neighbourhoods.Some are now heading to the SP Ring Road belt and other areas in the outskirts where affordability still offers some relief.Dhaval Soni, a broker, said, "The increase in redevelopment deals has resulted in an unprecedented surge in demand for rented houses in central areas like Navrangpura, Naranpura, Paldi, Vasna, and Vadaj.

There are areas where 300-400 apartments went for redevelopment, but those areas do not have enough inventory for rented houses. Higher demand than supply has resulted in a significant increase of at least 25-30% in rentals compared to last year in some societies."Earlier, builders used to give monthly rent amount of Rs 12,000-13,000 to displaced residents but now they pay Rs 15,000-30,000 every month."Adding to the pressure is the seasonal rush of students and professionals relocating for the new academic and job cycles. Many prefer renting over buying, which has pushed even fringe areas near SP Ring Road into higher demand. Dhwani Shah, president (elect) of the Ahmedabad Realtors' Association said, "Most popular areas in the city are witnessing increased redevelopment deals in the past two years. People want to rent houses in the same neighbourhood, but supply does not meet demand.

Since the builder pays a fixed amount, many are forced to move to faraway areas where the rent is lower. This has led to higher demand for rental houses on the outskirts."