Several Kabul residents living in rental homes say rent prices in the capital are rising relentlessly, deepening the housing crunch and squeezing families already struggling with unemployment and a difficult cost of living. Monthly rents that once ranged between 7,000 and 8,000 Afghanis have climbed to between 12,000 and 15,000 Afghanis, and finding a suitable home has become a struggle for many. The cheaper options, residents say, often lack basic amenities or are too damp to live in.
Speaking to the Hasht-e Subh Daily, residents described renting in Kabul as growing more difficult by the day. They say some landlords raise rents at will, with no authority in place to monitor the market. Others use the threat of eviction to force tenants into paying more. With few alternatives, many families have little choice but to accept whatever increases come their way.
Setara, who lives in a rented home in Kabul, says finding suitable housing has become a serious problem alongside the rising rents. She says the absence of any oversight has allowed property owners to push prices up without restraint, leaving tenants with no real options.
“After the Taliban came to power and the mass expulsion of migrants began, the situation got much harder,” Setara said. “Houses that are damp and don’t even have proper bathrooms or kitchens are being rented out at very high prices. When you ask the price, you’re left wondering what to do. I have been searching for a house nonstop for the past two years. Either there’s no water, or it has no basic amenities, and if it does have any, the rent is at least 8,000 Afghanis. Houses far from the main road go for between 3,000 and 5,000 Afghanis.”
Sakina, another Kabul resident, says she has spent nearly two months going from one real estate office to another without finding a place she can move into. The challenge, she says, is especially harsh for couples about to start their lives together.
“We were supposed to get married in the month of Jawza, and we spent that whole time looking for a house,” Sakina said. “We asked friends and went to real estate agencies, but finding a home in Kabul has become incredibly hard. A two-room house with a small hallway now costs 10,000 Afghanis a month. Three rooms cost 15,000, four rooms go up to 20,000, and no one offers any discount. Mortgaging a house is also out of reach, because the deposit runs between 35,000 and 40,000 dollars.” She adds that when tenants complain to the Taliban, landlords simply evict them, claiming their relatives are returning from Iran or Pakistan and need the house. The complaints, she says, do nothing to bring rents down.
“There’s a rumor going around these days,” Sakina added, “that some people who complained to the Taliban about rising rents were told by their landlords: ‘You should leave, because our relatives are coming from Iran or Pakistan, and they’ll rent the house.'”
Shafi, another resident, warns that without oversight, renting in Kabul will only grow harder. With unemployment and economic hardship rising, he says, many families cannot afford the new rates, but the housing shortage leaves them no room to negotiate.
“Rent prices have hit their peak,” Shafi said. “The mass return of migrants and the growing number of homeless people have driven demand for rental and mortgaged housing through the roof. That has given landlords the upper hand. In many cases, they raise rents so high that tenants either pay or move out, because demand is so strong that replacements come quickly.”
Other residents say the rising rents are pushing people to the outskirts of Kabul or back to their home provinces.
Seyar, a resident of Kabul, says demand has grown so intense that even uninhabitable houses are being rented out at high prices. The unprecedented increases, the housing shortage, and landlords’ indifference to people’s economic conditions have left tenants in a desperate position. On top of high rents, he says, some landlords now demand several months’ rent in advance.
“Finding a house in Kabul has become extremely difficult,” Seyar said. “Even places that used to be storerooms or animal sheds are being rented out for as much as 10,000 Afghanis, with five or six months’ rent paid up front. My cousin’s landlord asked her to leave. She was distraught and said she couldn’t find anything. She found one place, dilapidated and made of mud, for 6,000 Afghanis a month, but they wanted six months’ rent in advance. After two days of searching, she gave up and went back to her village in Surkh Rod district.”
Samad, another resident, says rent prices in the capital have nearly doubled since the surge in returning migrants and rising housing demand. The shift, he says, has hit low-income families hardest, pushing many into marginal areas and harsher conditions.
“Demand for rentals and mortgages has doubled,” Samad said. “A house that used to cost 5,000 Afghanis is now 10,000, and even places at five or six thousand are hard to find. Mortgage prices have also gone up, and new arrangements have been introduced that put even more pressure on tenants. I hope that with more construction, prices will come down so people can find decent homes.”
Residents are voicing these concerns even though the Taliban Ministry of Justice previously issued a statement warning real estate agents and property owners against arbitrary rent hikes and threatening legal action against violators. The warnings appear to have had little effect, and rents continue to climb.
At the same time, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) has reported that a large share of returning migrants are settling in cities, particularly Kabul, fueling rapid urbanization and placing a growing strain on urban services and infrastructure.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
کرایهنشینی در سایه بیکاری؛ افزایش روزافزون کرایهها از سوی مالکان
