Rent in some areas rose by SR2,000, while it went up by SR5,000 a year in other parts. When tenants object to the price increase, the owners simply ask them to either pay or vacate.
Tenants accuse property owners of taking advantage of the price increase everywhere. The majority of tenants interviewed said owners are driven by pure greed. They also take advantage of the absence of a clear law over rent price control.
Hosam Ali, an Egyptian tenant in Al-Rawda district who works as a doctor in a private hospital, said the owner of the building he lives in increased the rent by SR5,000. It went up from SR25,000 to SR30,000 per year.
“Shocked about this unjustified increase, I begged the owner to keep the old price, but he refused. His excuse was that prices increased everywhere, and that he would follow suit. When I searched for prices of other apartments in the district, they were almost the same everywhere. I was left with no choice but to temporarily accept the new situation until I find another solution,” said Hosam. He said the increase is unjustified.
Marzook Al-Harbi, a Saudi tenant in Al-Salama district, was also shocked at the increase in his rent.
Al-Harbi works in a private telecom company with a salary of over SR6,000 a month. “An average four bedroom apartment costs between SR16,000 and SR20,000. Mine was SR21,000 when I rented it. Last year, the owner decided to increase my rent to SR27,000, which was insane. I begged him to increase it to a maximum of SR25,000, but he refused, claiming that prices were going up everywhere and that he did not want to be left behind.”
Al-Harbi said that when he decided to move elsewhere, he found out that all prices had increased. In addition, moving to a new apartment costs a lot of money. He decided to accept the new rent and stay.
Abu Ahmad, a private company employee earning SR7,200 a month and father of five children, lived in Hira area. He paid SR25,000 a year for his apartment. Like many other victims, Abu Ahmad suffered from a sudden rent increase — to SR35,000 a year, an enormous raise that he could not afford.
Abu Ahmad called the female owner of the apartment building many times, hoping that she would reconsider the price, but she refused. “There is no way that I can pay the new price. I could barely afford the old price. She refused to reduce the amount, saying that there are people who would come and rent for the new price. In the end I was asked to leave the unit. I was left with no choice but to move far away in Briman neighborhood in east Jeddah. I was lucky to find a four-bedroom apartment for the reasonable price of SR17,500 a year. I have to drive a long way to my work, but it is a problem I can live with,” said Abu Ahmad.
According to Abu Ahmad, he understands that owners of new apartment buildings demand high rent to pay for the costs. But he cannot understand why owners of 20- or 30-year-old apartment buildings increase their prices. To him, the issue is all about greed.