SWABI: Rents of residential units have registered a sharp increase here in the district during the last one year and it is difficult for outsiders to find a house for family on rent.

Interaction with the people and building owners here on Tuesday revealed that getting a house on rent was almost impossible for outsiders if they did not have strong contacts with some influential person of the area.

Owners said that shortage of houses was a big issue in the district.

The local people, who can’t afford to own or build a house, were hit hard as amid increasing rents the owners had been telling them to pay the increased rent or leave the house. “We are three brothers sharing a three-room house. Each one lives in one room along with his family. Whenever our relatives come for a night we have to sleep on the ground,” said Wajid Ali of Topi.

People said that over 100 per cent hike during the last four years in the cost of construction material and labour charges had made it very difficult for the middle class people to build own houses.

“I was told by the owner to pay Rs12,000 for a three-room house instead of Rs8,000. I am paying the amount as there is no alternative,” said Abbas Ali of Maneri.

There is not a single large private building scheme or apartment in the district where people could easily get an apartment on rent.

Shaukat Ali, a local businessman, said that not a single residential or apartment project had been undertaken since the country’s establishment because majority of people were living in rural areas.

However, he said that the situation had changed because cities had become congested and people from rural areas were also coming to settle there for different purposes.

The hike in rent is being attributed to influx of people into the district from other areas, especially the tribal region.

A number of people from violence-prone areas have shifted here besides Afghan refugees who are living in rented houses instead of camps. Jalil Ahmad, owner of a few houses in Swabi, said that newcomers were ready to pay Rs8,000 each for a two-bed house instead of Rs4,000 about six months ago.

Zahirdad of Maneri Bala said that he struggled for two months to get a house on rent in Topi city, but could not find one. The number of outsiders living in Topi is more than the local people.

The officials and workers of Gadoon Amazai industrial estate and employees of various other projects live there in low-quality rented houses. Besides, a number of families from Gadoon mountainous belt have also settled in Topi.

Published in Dawn February 11th , 2015

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