Tenant tells of her distress caused by landlord’s last-minute decision

Wang Ting had lived in Beijing for seven years in student accommodaton before she decided to rent an apartment in June last year when she got her first job, with a foreign company.

However, after just one year, she has had to move to another place due to the rent increases imposed by her landlord.

“A normal rent rise is acceptable to me, but I didn’t expect it to rise at such a rapid rate,” the 25-year-old said.

Wang shared a 70-square-meter three-bedroom flat with two other young women who also worked in the capital, paying 3,000 yuan ($440) for the main bedroom.

They spent nearly a month finding an apartment between the North Third Ring Road and the Fourth Ring Road last year at a rent they could afford and which was conveniently located.

Built in the 1990s, the apartment was originally constructed as a twobedroom flat but later divided into a three-room one to cater to more tenants.

Working as an entry-level saleswoman for a foreign information technology company, Wang dreamed of living a comfortable life in Beijing when she graduated from Peking University with a master’s degree in English literature.

But the rising rents have shattered her dream.

A month before their one-year lease expired, Wang called the agent to ask for a contract renewal.

“He just told me that the landlord could not make a decision at that time,” she said. “However, only 10 days before the lease expired, the agent advised us to find another place to live due to a sudden rent rise.

“I was quite distressed that they only notified us at the last minute,” she said.

Generally speaking, real estate agents in Beijing will not allow tenants to contact landlords directly.

However, Wang’s landlord unexpectedly offered to meet them in person at the apartment before the contract expired.

Wang and her flatmates met the landlord and discussed the rent with her. The landlord initially agreed to increase the rent just a little, from 8,200 yuan to 8,500 yuan a month, Wang said.

But three days later, Wang received another call from the agent to tell her that the landlord had decided to lease the apartment to other tenants at a higher rent.

The three women then began to look for another apartment in the same area. After two weeks, they found one that was suitable, with a rent of 9,600 yuan.

“I finally got to know from a website that the rent for our previous apartment rose to 9, 500 yuan,” Wang said.“But we can only accept the reality of all this.”

Earning about 10,000 yuan a month, she spends about 30 percent of her salary on rent.

“I don’t plan to live in Beijing for long,” she said. “With high-rising rents, I might consider second-tier cities for my future.”