Single Woman Denied House in Chennai After Male Tenant Complains
In a recent incident from Chennai, Bharathy Singaravel, a journalist with The News Minute, was denied a house simply because she is a single woman. The reason? A male tenant, already living on the same floor, said he wasn’t comfortable staying next to a woman living alone.
Bharathy shared her experience on Twitter on May 22, 2020, which quickly went viral.
“I almost finalized a place. Met the landlord, saw the house — everything was fine. But a bachelor renting on the same floor argued with the landlord saying, ‘How can you rent to a single woman next to me? Get a family instead,’” she tweeted.
She continued by saying the man was an advocate, which scared the landlord. Because of this, the landlord changed his mind and said he would only rent to a family.
Bharathy expressed frustration with the way single women are treated in the rental housing market in Chennai:
“This city has a weird obsession with renting only to families. Single women are the least preferred tenants. But it’s okay for a bachelor to rent a house — just not a woman near him,” she added.
She also criticized the fear and bias landlords show toward men in authority and said:
“It’s exhausting how men control housing decisions. The landlord was scared of the advocate and backed out.”
Despite the setback, Bharathy ended her post asking for help to find a new place:
“Still looking for a house. Budget: 12-13K, max 15K. No family-only restrictions please. I’m a single renter and plan to stay that way. Also open to flat shares.”
Her story gained massive attention online, sparking conversations about gender bias and housing discrimination in Indian cities, especially against single working women.
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