Rental nightmares in Mauritius

@Cheryl one thing I don’t like about renting here is the lack of protection of a deposit. In UK we have tendency deposit schemes , the deposit is help by the scheme. if a landlord wants to keep a deposit  or part of it for damage for example they mediate and the landlord/owner must provide evidence to justify keeping it. This can also be disputed with evidence by the tenant.

In our situation we rented a pool villa in CDL where the pool was green for months and unusable, the Tv didn’t work (which we never used as we had our own TVs) and the villa had damp which meant wall paper fell of the walls, you could even see where a previous tenant (presumably) had bodge repaired this with glue. We did damage a door accidentally which we got quotes for to fix and was happy to pay for the repair.

The owner kept our full deposit and even demanded more money. no compensation for and unusable pool in a pool villa. just refused to refund the deposit so not much we could do about it with it going to court etc which would be even more hassle and expense.

The agents don’t do anything really to help you get it back they said it’s between you and the owner. So a lesson learned for us.

People told us we should just never pay the last month of the lease but we always keep our agreements and the contracts says you should. Maybe there is such a thing as being too honest!!

Apart from that in 3+ years and 3 properties we have had generally good experiences of agents and owners.

My advice is take lots of pictures when you move in and probably do what people advised us to do regarding the last month.

@STEVE15

The agency where suppose to follow through the entire contract to ensure that your exit is smooth and excellement with no outstanding and other issues hence the reason we do our best to work with client till the end of their contract but other hidden charges especially from landlord part as there has been many cases where tenant damages the property and disappear into tin air

@Cheryl

Five years renting in Mauritius – and why buying is a different challenge

We have been renting in Mauritius for five years and are have over the years tired to buy. Overall, we have been lucky renting and our experience has been mostly positive.

Our main complaint has been furniture in rental apartments. In our first apartment, the furniture was hand-me-down or charity-shop quality and did not match the rent we were paying. Still, one has to expect some of this: landlords naturally try to maximise profit, and they often know you rented the place over the phone before you arrived or only had a quick walk through.

Second, repairs and maintenance are a major concern. Many new buildings start looking worn out very quickly. In my experience, this is due to a general lack of maintenance in rental apartments, as well as a lack of skill among some contractors hired to do repairs. I once had to show a shower-door repair team how to install a glass shower door after they broke the first one.

Overall, our experience with landlords has been positive. They need rental income, and after a tenant moves out they often wait around four months on average for a new one. They also tend to be accommodating with foreign tenants, because foreigners generally pay higher rents—especially along the coast—compared with citizens renting in the centre, where the local market is financially much weaker.

Buying a house is a different story. The property market for foreigners in Mauritius appears artificially inflated, and this also pushes local prices higher. Many local citizens can no longer afford these prices. This is partly why the government requires developers to build SCIA schemes (which are still expensive) for Mauritians only. I have seen listings where the price list is effectively split between local and foreign buyers, with the foreigner buyer prices  around 40% higher than the local buyer’s price (Legal but not ethical in my opinion). In my view, this can leave foreign buyers stuck with a property that is very difficult to resell—potentially for years—because few local citizens will ever pay those prices as they can buy it for much less

This is just my personal experience, and I would be interested to hear from others

I am sorry that so many tenants have had bad experiences. I am on the reverse side of this. I am the landlord & rent my upstairs house & find it really hard to find good tenants. My last tenants were tenants from hell. They didn't pay rent for 5 months, refused to fix things they damaged & then further damaged the property before they left. This was really disappointing considering I was a good landlord & even did extras for them. Eg, I lent/gave them beer, wine, medicine when they had none. The reason they rent homes partly furnished is because it falls under a different law (Civil Code) which means it is more flexible & apparently easier to get tenants out if they default - this is what I have now been advised to do. I have also been advised to take foreigners/outsiders as tenants this time around because they are apparently more 'civilised' & less likely to default. The prices are higher for non locals apparently because it is assumed by locals they have more money - so I have been told??? This seems to happen with everything - I regularly get charged more because I am not a real Mauritian - even though I am Mauritian by birth. 

@STEVE15

It is not legal not paying the last month.