The Bengaluru rental market is infamous for its “heartbreak stories,” but a recent Reddit post has done the opposite, highlighting a landlord losing money on himself. The tenant who lives in a well-stocked 3BHK flat in Whitefield stated that the owner requested a rent of ₹25,000 per room (or ₹75,000 for the flat), even though the local average rent for comparable rooms was about ₹20,000.
A Ghost House in a Gated Society
The effects of this overpricing were stark. While one tenant agreed to pay ₹25,000 for a single room, the other two rooms remained empty for close to a year. The owner refused to let a unit as a whole on a family-level contract at a competitive rent; he demanded to rent only for the price of an "every room"; a 3BHK was basically leased out to only one person for a third of the expected total.
“I’ve been living in an enormous 3BHK in a good society at a mere ₹25,000,” the tenant said. As a result of this, the landlord was losing about ₹40,000 to ₹50,000 every month, to a loss of more than ₹5 lakh in the same period.
The "2022 Peak Mindset"
Netizens were quick to note that a lot of Bengaluru landlords are in the "2022 peak mindset", when the pandemic Return-to-Office (RTO) requirements led to a scrambling scramble for housing and owners imposed unrealistic prices. But the reality on the ground in 2026 is different:
- Supply: With numerous new-build gated communities in Varthur and Varthur Road, alongside many tech parks, the number of available units has soared significantly.
- Underutilized Tech Parks: Tech parks such as Sumadhura Capitol Towers and other Brigade projects are said to not be at full capacity, tempering demand in their nearby residential hot spots.
- Empowerment of tenants: They can now afford to pay between ₹18,000–₹25,000 for a single room in a shared building with 2BHKs in independent buildings available for ₹20,000, so why bachelors will take it in.
The “Hotel Analogy” Comes Back Again
The conversation reflected a lot of recent talk when users likened renting to “bad” dining experience for a guest. “If there’s a 2BHK available for ₹20,000, who’ll afford ₹18,000 to have a shared residence? It is a joke,” one wrote. Other participants had warned that the landlords may wait out a mere ₹1,000 difference in the rent and end up losing ₹50,000 or more as the property sits in vacancy.
