KOCHI: Take a 10-minute walk through the bus stops, roads, lanes or bylanes in and around Kochi and chances are that you would have seen half a dozen bill boards and posters announcing ‘Hostel for women,’ ‘Accommodation with homely food for gents,’ ‘Paying-guest facility available,’ and the like. With the city’s workforce exploding by the day and the demand for accommodation going over the roof, hostels and paying guest facilities are now a preferred option for many who move into the city. “There is a lot of demand for accommodation facilities. During January-February and after Onam season, the demand goes up. This is the time when a lot of people get married and there are transfers. Even agents like me, who generally look only at rented apartments, get as many as 8-10 calls in a fortnight specifically for hostels and paying-guest facilities,” said Shankaranarayanan, a real estate agent from Ravipuram. But this figure may be conservative at best. “Most of the transactions happen directly through the internet or direct calls. Real estate agents seldom look at these since our pay is dependent on the rent and the rent is low here. Moreover, we have to inquire about a number of factors like cleanliness, nearby residents etc, which is a burdensome job,” says Mohammed, a real estate agent from Kadavanthra.“The number of registered hostels and paying guests with licences is low. But the number is steadily increasing mainly owing the huge demand. Hostels and paying-guest facilities offer low cost and relatively safe accommodation. One of the reasons why the registration is not done is that it will push up costs. In the case of a hostel, you will need a reading room, adequate facilities to prepare food, mess and so on. This will increase the cost. Earlier, the fee was much higher, but today owing to the proliferation of such facilities the prices have gone down. Eight years ago, when the paying-guest concept came up, the fee was around `6,000. But today it is different, you get paying guest facilities and hostels for `1,500-3,000,” says Joseph K H, who runs a registered hostel in the city.The promise of safe housing, comparatively well-connected localities, lack of responsibility in terms of maintenance of the houses are some of the key attractions which drive students and workforce to such accommodation. But these also make them vulnerable to abuse. “We hardly get any complaint from paying-guests. Even after raising complaints, students do not go ahead with it,” says Vanitha Police SI C N Rajam.
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