Online platforms help live-in couples find a home together in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: Interfaith couple Fiona Sara, 27, and her partner Haider, 28, both IT professionals, wanted to test the waters before making a life-long commitment. “We come from different religions and castes. There are so many factors to consider before marrying,” Sara says. The couple wanted to live in before deciding to get married. But it was not easy to find a home. “During our house hunting, owners would ask for a hefty deposit without any guarantee of giving it back or hike the rent when they realised that we were not legally married,” she says.

NOT VERY OPEN
Most houseowners seek hefty deposit or turn intrusive when live-in couples seek a home


They finally found a place through an online portal without the hassle of having to deal with intrusive questions about their relationship, paying a big deposit or brokerage. Bengaluru, home to students and young professionals, is witnessing a demand in housing for millennial live-in couples. According to Amit Kumar Agarwal, cofounder, NoBroker.com, a real estate search portal, 5% of queries are from young professionals who want to live in with their partners. “Millennials are now open in talking about their relationship status while looking for a house in the city,” says Agarwal.

Suresh Rangarajan K, founder, CoLive, a technology-driven shared living spaces company, says the demand for smaller homes in the range of 450-500 sqft has increased manifold in the past couple of years. In August last year, the company introduced a couples-only building with 16 units to cater to the ‘double income no kids’ category. The homes were occupied within two weeks.

Of the 10,000 enquires for homes in a month, more than 5% are for those that can cater to the live-in segment, he says. “When renting out, we ask for KYC documents. Earlier, we had an option for a couple to declare if there were living in. But we found many were discomforted by it. So now, we’ve changed that category to a co-tenant,” says Rangarajan. His company is now opening another couples-only place in Electronics City.

But in spite of help from web portals, couples who want to live in most of the time label themselves as ‘engaged’ or ‘soon-to-be-married’ to avoid bias. Says entrepreneur Parinita S, 28, who shares her apartment with her partner, “While home owners who choose to rent out through online platforms are non-intrusive, their comfort with the live-in tag remains low.”

(A few names have been changed to protect identities)