During the past few years, the property rental market has undergone a radical transformation. Apart from houses, there are other options like apartments, studios, residences within apartment hotels, IRS and RES villas as well as units with the Invest Hotel Scheme. This phenomenon is rising, particularly for luxury residences where owners of a secondary residence let their property for a part of the year.
Tour operators also are joining the race. Through management companies, they offer apartments and villas in exchange of a commission. If a growing number of Mauritians are interested in apartments, the most sought-after type of property remains individual houses.
Nowadays, finding an individual house has almost become a privilege as type type of residential unit is becoming rare, based on the law of demand and supply. Prices tend to go up as a result. In urban regions, the monthly rental of a 3-bedroom individual house can reach Rs. 25 000
High demand for urban regions
A further observation : most of the people living alone specially young singles are in search for small apartments or studios. Security and affordable rent at around Rs. 4000 stand as their main search criteria.
There are also more and more foreign students coming mainly from Seychelles, Madagascar, Rodrigues and other African countries who in search of an accommodation options paricularly in the following regions : Réduit, Saint Pierre, Moka and Quatre Bornes. Usually they do not have much funds to spend (up to Rs. 4000 per pax for a 3-bedroom apartment). Very often, students choose to share their accommodation during their stay.
House Rental in Mauritius: the trend
Fully-furnished houses or apartments are let to expatriates for the duration of their assignment in Mauritius. The monthly rental of these accommodation options varies between Rs. 15 000 and Rs. 60 000. Home owners who have important financial means are investing in the purchase of apartments to afterwards rent them through renting pool management companies, often in partnership with a syndic for maintenance services. Moreover, real estate promoters offer residential units rental through rental pool services when those are not occupied in exchange of a commission and syndic fees.
The ground floor and first level of houses are also offered for rental. The monthly rental of a 3-bedroom house ranges between Rs. 6000 (non-furnished) and Rs.10 000 (furnished). Beachfront villas are rare even though their rental prices are high. They are offered for rental at prices ranging from Rs. 40 000 to Rs. 150 000 per month or Rs. 3000 to Rs. 5000 per day depending on the number of days rented. Nowadays, more and more intermediaries are directing tourists towards villas, bungalows or apartments.
Office space rental : drop in prices
The trend is such: the Mauritian real estate landscape is experiencing a decentralization of office spaces towards Ebène, Highlands and Moka. Major local real estate stakeholders state that this migration has given rise to excess supply in terms of office spaces. A low occupancy rate clearly contributes to a fall into rental price regarding these office spaces.
Companies are more and more willing to rent fully-equipped offices with Internet access and parking facilities. However, in Port-Louis and Ebène, due to the growing number of buildings, it is quite difficult to get parking spaces easily. This stands as one of the reasons leading to the fall in rental prices. Demand for office spaces hence has shifted to locations like Quatre Bornes or Moka where parking facilities are more accessible.
Another trend which has been observed is that various companies are renting houses which are in turned converted into office spaces. Hence, prices tend to be lower, that is about Rs.25/sq.ft compared to the normal price of office spaces which ranges between Rs.50 and Rs.150/ sq.ft depending on its location, the current condition of the building and its size. For info, the rental price of office space at Bagatelle Shopping Mall stands at Rs.100/sq.ft.
Renting an IRS-RES unit
Luxury IRS (Integrated Resort Scheme) and RES (Real Estate Scheme) villas are also offered for rental. But how are these types of villas rented via a rental pool?
Isabelle Descroizilles, Managing Director at Evaco Holidays gives a clear-cut explanation: "Our rental pool system allows the homeowner to live within his residence as long as he/she wishes, no matter how many days in a year and the season. Rental yields generated are transferred to him in terms of real income."
Demand for Mauritian villas is still high, according to her : "Demand of villas in Mauritius from expats is on the rise. They are either on holidays, for work, with family, on honeymoon ou with friends. Very often, demand comes from retired foreigners who come to for long-term stay or to settle in the island. The comfort, freedom and personalized services which is being offered to them enable them to spend their holidays without constraints", she added.
She continues:"For example, at Domaine des Alizées, 1 to 2 to 3-bedroom fully-equipped apartments are offered for rental with the following facilities : (open-plan kitchens, TV, WiFi, washing machine, dishwasher, access to spa and lounge bar...".