![Hamid Haidari in the process of packing their goods from his rented house in Sanandaj’s Saadi neighborhood on September 12, 2021. Photo: Jabar Dastbaz/ Rudaw Hamid Haidari in the process of packing their goods from his rented house in Sanandaj’s Saadi neighborhood on September 12, 2021. Photo: Jabar Dastbaz/ Rudaw](https://www.rudaw.net/s3/rudaw.net/ContentFiles/601956Image1.jpg?mode=crop&quality=70&rand=1&scale=both&w=752&h=472&version=4301091)
Hamid Haidari in the process of packing their goods from his rented house in Sanandaj’s Saadi neighborhood on September 12, 2021. Photo: Jabar Dastbaz/ Rudaw
SANANDAJ, Iran - After 20 years of marriage and saving up in hopes of buying a house of their own in Iran’s Kurdish city of Sanandaj, Hamid and Leyla have not only given up their dream of being property owners, but are being pushed out of the city due to skyrocketing rental prices.
Leyla Sofizadeh, 38, sits tired and defeated on the pieces of furniture and belongings the family has gathered together in their small rental apartment they are abandoning. Moving has become an annual activity for the family, whose life savings were decimated in Iran’s ongoing economic crisis brought about by US sanctions on the country.
“Our landlord this year raised the rent from one million tomans to 2.5 million tomans. We were forced to look for somewhere else to live, but my husband and I have visited all the real estate offices in town over the past month, and have not been able to find a good place,” Sofizadeh told Rudaw English.
Ordinary citizens of Iran, especially those in the lower socio-economic brackets, have suffered the most since former US President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions in 2018 aimed at halting the country from developing its nuclear capacity. The devaluation of the toman against the US dollar and inflation have made everyday life unaffordable for many.
The family is now considering moving to a village close to the city.
“There are either no houses or they are so expensive we cannot afford to live in a middle class area of Sanandaj. They ask for 100 million tomans (around $4,000) in advance and then 2.5 million tomans monthly,” she added. “We do not have that money and I am really tired. We have been married for 20 years and have to move this furniture every year.”
Sofizadeh, whose white hair makes her look beyond her age, says landlords do not understand the situation of their tenants.
“No one understands the pain of tenants, landlords increase the rent however they like and the poor cannot do anything about it. Concerned officials care even less,” she said. “Now where are we supposed to go with these two children? I am so tired that I want to go to a village close to the city and rent a house there.”
Sofizadeh’s husband, 40-year-old Hamid Haidari says he shares his wifes pain, as he hands her a glass of water.
“I work in a factory and my salary is 4 million tomans (around $150) [a month] and even with half of my salary I cannot rent a good house in a decent part of town,” Haidari told Rudaw English.
“Three years ago, we sold my wife’s gold and were hoping to buy a house along with the money we had saved for years, but suddenly the price of a house increased ten times. Not only could we not buy a house, but we spent our savings over the last two years of coronavirus and joblessness,” he added.
Haidari has been given five days by his landlord to leave the house but is yet to find a suitable house for his family to move to.
“Now my wife, two children, and I have become homeless,” he said.
Even though Iran’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi, on his first day in office promised to build a million houses every year to solve the housing crisis, many doubt it will happen, cynical of promises by the country’s politicians.
Ezzat Almasi has had a real estate office in Sanandaj for 30 years. He says he has not seen a rental prices environment for tenants this bad since he started in the business.
“Due to the economic inflation, the landlords now have an excuse to increase rent. This is at a time when people’s income has not increased considerably and cannot pay that much,” Almasi told Rudaw English.
“Today I rented out a house in the outskirts of Sanandaj. Last year its rent was 500,000 tomans, but this year it has tripled to 1.5 million tomans,” he said. “This is at a time where per law, rent in Sanandaj should only be increased 15 percent this year, but no one abides [by the law].”
People working in the construction industry blame the inflated price of building material as a reason behind such an increase.
“Cement prices have multiplied in the past few months. Also, there has to be a balance between supply and demand of real estate in Iran, which does not exist,” Jamal Habibi, who works in the construction sector, told Rudaw English.
“People set the rent based on the total cost of the house, meaning the more it costs them to build the house, the higher the rent. However, the inflation these past three years ruined everything. This year in some cases, the rent of a house has tripled,” he said.
Habibi also says the coronavirus pandemic has played a huge role in increasing rent.
“The pandemic and the decrease of general income made real estate the main source of income. For some people, this sector sees inflation without any regards to the lower classes of society,” he added.
Translation by Dilan Sirwan
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