A tenant shared a frustrating ordeal with a bye-law in a ‘big’ housing society in Karnataka that prevents its 1BHK residents from using facilities like the gym and swimming pool. The tenant said that despite the ban, the company charges them the same monthly maintenance as other residents who have access to full amenities.
In a viral post on Reddit, a tenant from Karnataka wrote, “Big company doesn’t allow 1 Bhk residents to use amenities but does maintenance.”
The tenant said he was paying “significantly higher rent” for his 480 sq ft one-bedroom kitchen flat under the promise that he would be able to work out in the community gym and swim in the pool.
“I live in a fairly large company. When I moved in, the company was just forming. I moved into a 480 sq ft 1 rk in the company. I pay quite a bit more rent for a 1 rk to use the equipment when I work out at the gym and also swim,” she wrote.
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But she soon said the landlord informed her that some people had a problem with the 1 bhk residents using the amenities, “and if given the option to buy lifetime access to the amenities, my landlord would buy it so that I and future tenants could use the amenities.”
“I never thought that the company would actually ban us from using the equipment now,” wrote a tenant, already shocked by the ban, “They don’t even allow a one-time payment to buy access to the equipment. If we want to use the equipment, we have to pay as a guest per day.”
“The worst part is that they take maintenance away from us,” she added.
In a separate comment, the tenant emphasized that the maintenance is per square meter of the apartment, instead of the same maintenance for all apartments, regardless of the size of the apartment. “So each flat pays maintenance according to the size of the flat, including 1 bhks.
The tenant asked fellow Redditors if this was allowed. “Isn’t that discrimination and against basic rights?” she asked.
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Here’s what the network operators had to say:
The post quickly attracted attention on social media, with netizens saying there was no rule barring a 1BHK owner from accessing the amenities for others unless a clause was added at the time of purchasing the property.
Several users said that the owner probably already knew about the clause and still decided to rent the apartment at a higher price with the promise of these amenities.
“It’s illegal unless there’s some stupid clause in your unit/apartment contract with the builder or some authority, which probably isn’t the case,” said one netizen. “Get to the bottom of it, read it all. Go to the registrar/companies authority and raise your case. This will most likely fall back on company policy.”
“I know of several projects where 1bhk or studios have a separate amenity section which is limited and they don’t have access to the main clubhouse, pool or sports facilities, not even a dedicated parking lot, only 2W parking available,” said a social media user. “But the builder clearly states this in the purchase agreement and the owners are well aware of this, they were not charged for it and therefore they will not be able to use it in the future.”
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Another user suggested that the tenant should ask the landlord for a rent reduction because she is not receiving the promised amenities. “Also post it everywhere, name the building and say that tenants should be aware of this before they rent there. Most of the 1bhk and 1rk flats like this are used by the landlords for investment purposes. They have zero interest in getting you equipment or anything as long as they get the rent. The only way to get them to do something is to attack where it hurts.”
However, the tenant replied: “I asked my landlady several times to reduce the rent. She said I could leave if the rent was too high for me.”
