There were no specific programmes to encourage and increase the supply of rental housing units through the private sector in Ernakulam until recent times .  A large part of the demand for rental housing was from the lower and middle-income groups.  When analyzing the typology of the private rental market in the context of the Rent Control Act, the dominant form of renting in Ernakulam district is partial renting.  This is true of even of sites and service projects where the people that were allotted living spaces were seen utilizing only a part of the constructed premises for supplementing their income. 
 
Partial renting also takes the form of ‘paying quest’ arrangements where the occupant has little security, or ‘leave and license’ arrangements for short periods with limited security of tenure.  There is no organized private sector effort to offer rental housing for the public, barring the initiative of a few charitable institutions to provide lodgings, or of voluntary agencies to provide hostels for working women.
 
The rates of return from renting out (even for new houses) are much lower even at market rents than those returns available on alternate investments.  The rates are much lower if potential appreciation of other assets including real estate is considered.  The rate of return is comparable only for houses built in the seventies, or those purchased from public agencies, where the investment is much lower.  However when considering the rents being charged for the luxury Villas Ernakulam district is seen to have one of the highest rentals, which is unseen anywhere else in the state.
 
The rates of return would, of course, go up to the extent when maintenance is neglected, and the property is under-valued for taxation purposes.  Despite the high and growing rental levels especially for the middle and higher income groups, the rates of return are low on account of the high cost of construction and the high rate of municipal taxes.  As compared to 21 percent return on equity or 15 percent on gold and silver, the estimated rate of return on rental housing is less than 10 percent.