Renting a home in Chennai can be a difficult task. Even though the city has become an automobile and IT hub with a large floating population consisting of thousands of professionals – there is almost no systematic way to rent a home here. Unlike cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi, which have options such including online rental portals such as GrabHouse.com and NoBroker.com, Chennai still requires you to use the services of a broker and make painful treks across the city to look for homes. To make that task just a bit easier, we have compiled a list of the top four rental markets in the city. Read on.

1) Anna Nagar

With areas in the North like Thiruvotriyur, Madhavaram, Perambur and Ponneri lack social and civic infrastructure, Anna Nagar, one of the first townships developed in the city, offers all that is needed. Anna Nagar has several established schools, colleges, places of worship, hospitals, and shopping areas. It has also emerged as a hub for several restaurants. Average rentals in the area is in the range Rs10 to Rs 25 per sq. feet making it easy on the budget and making it the right choice for employees working in automobile industries and the port in North Chennai

2) OMR

Popularly known as the Old Mahabalipuram Road or OMR, this stretch is home to a number of BPO and IT/ITES companies such as HCL, TCS, Accenture India, Wipro, and Cognizant. Thousands of employees work along this stretch and so demand for rental housing is huge with almost every person here looking to ‘walk to work’. With rentals ranging from Rs10 to Rs 22 per sq. feet, a 2-Bedroom apartment can cost anywhere between Rs 10,000-20,000. The region also comes equipped with retail outlets, shopping complexes, cinema halls and even agencies that deliver home-cooked food, a rarity in Chennai.

3) Guindy, Adyar, Saidapet

Its proximity to the Central Business District and educational institutions such as IIT Madras and Anna University make these areas student hotspots. Plus points include connectivity by local trains, share autos and buses, a cluster of schools and retail stores and easy access to the IT corridor. Average rentals range from Rs15 to Rs 30 per sq. feet with options available for every budget. .

4) Velachery

Velachery has become popular thanks to the growth of the IT corridor and the Phoenix Mall, the largest mall in the city, both of which has driven residential and retail growth in the area. It is well-connected to the GST road, OMR and the Central Business Districts, making it a perfect fit for someone working along the IT corridor or Guindy or Adyar. Rentals are affordable ranging from Rs 14 to Rs 25 per sq. feet meaning you can rent a 2-bedroom apartment for about Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000.

Growing demand has seen rents increase by about 5% per annum in these areas, especially along Alandur, Vadapalani and Koyambedu after the metro came in. But the good news is that developers like Arun Excello, Plaza and Olympia are building studio apartments to cater to renters, which will mean more options for those looking at rental housing here.

Reporter : Smitha TK
Web Editor : Nikhil Narayan Sivadas