How to protect tenants' rights?
Munima Sultana | Wednesday, 9 July 2008
APPROXIMATELY 90 per cent of an estimated 15 million Dhaka city population are tenants. Though a majority, they are voiceless due to lack of proper laws and also because they remain unorganised.
There is no law and no initiative to protect their rights, said a functionary of the Consumers' Association of Bangladesh (CAB).
The existing "Premises' Rent Control Ordinance 1991" is proving inadequate to protect the tenants' rights, he added. The law was formulated to serve the interest of the house owners, he said.
Prof Mahbubunnabi of Urban Planning Department of BUET said the house rent increases due to imbalance in the demand and supply of houses for the low and middle income groups.
In Dhaka, availability of flats of less than 1,000 square feet in size, does not match the demand. At the same time, an owner's return from a flat is lower than the investment of same amount in other sectors. All these factors work for increasing house rent in the city, he said. The rising construction costs as well as daily expenses have added the burden on the tenants, he said.
According to Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB), with a yearly 10 per cent growth, the real estate players supply on an average 6,000 flats.
A CAB survey shows that house rent in the Dhaka city increased by 249.62 per cent in 17 years. Usually, it said, the owners used to increase house rent once a year or after every two years. But in recent times, the practice was broken to raise the rents every six-month.
The CAB survey found that the annual house rent increase in Dhaka city was 17.40 per cent in 2001, 13.49 per cent in 2002, 8.40 per cent in 2003, 9.96 per cent in 2004, 7.89 per cent in 2005 and 14.14 per cent in 2006.
According to a recent FE report, house rent saw an abrupt rise of 10 to 25 per cent in and around the city just after the recent announcement of dearness allowance (DA) for public servants in the proposed budget for fiscal 2008-09. Earlier, the rent was increased twice in the beginning of the year and six month prior to that showing the ground of unusual rise in daily expenses and in the cost of construction materials.
All the while, the low and middle income groups suffered more than the others due to the soaring house rents.
The FE report said that rent of apartments rose by 10 per cent in the city's posh residential areas and 20 per cent for small and medium-sized apartments in other areas. The rent increased at Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Jatrabari and Jurain. The monthly house rent was increased by Tk 500 to Tk 1,000 in these areas where a majority of the middle and lower-middle class people live.
CAB General Secretary Qazi Faruque said no one seems to know which department should formulate a law to protect the tenants' interests and rights.
"There is hardly any organisation to raise its voice against such abnormal rise in house rent," the CAB general secretary said.
Prof Nazrul Islam, an urban planner said, the government, particularly the ministries for housing and finance have some responsibility to intervene in to control or at least regulate house rent, as it hits the low and middle income groups the most.
Prof Mahbubunnabi, however, said worldwide rent control ordinance is hardly found effective in favour of the tenants due to the issues like costs of maintenance and repair. But there are some interventions from the governments in different countries to keep the rents stable.
He said the government can develop municipal or council housing for low and middle income people for a balanced supply of flats. "It would be like supply of products at subsidised rates to regulate the market," Prof Mahbubunnabi said.
In the United Kingdom, he said, the council housing was introduced to increase the supply of flats for both the government and non-government functionaries and employees to get a home at prices lower than in the private renting market.
There is no law and no initiative to protect their rights, said a functionary of the Consumers' Association of Bangladesh (CAB).
The existing "Premises' Rent Control Ordinance 1991" is proving inadequate to protect the tenants' rights, he added. The law was formulated to serve the interest of the house owners, he said.
Prof Mahbubunnabi of Urban Planning Department of BUET said the house rent increases due to imbalance in the demand and supply of houses for the low and middle income groups.
In Dhaka, availability of flats of less than 1,000 square feet in size, does not match the demand. At the same time, an owner's return from a flat is lower than the investment of same amount in other sectors. All these factors work for increasing house rent in the city, he said. The rising construction costs as well as daily expenses have added the burden on the tenants, he said.
According to Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB), with a yearly 10 per cent growth, the real estate players supply on an average 6,000 flats.
A CAB survey shows that house rent in the Dhaka city increased by 249.62 per cent in 17 years. Usually, it said, the owners used to increase house rent once a year or after every two years. But in recent times, the practice was broken to raise the rents every six-month.
The CAB survey found that the annual house rent increase in Dhaka city was 17.40 per cent in 2001, 13.49 per cent in 2002, 8.40 per cent in 2003, 9.96 per cent in 2004, 7.89 per cent in 2005 and 14.14 per cent in 2006.
According to a recent FE report, house rent saw an abrupt rise of 10 to 25 per cent in and around the city just after the recent announcement of dearness allowance (DA) for public servants in the proposed budget for fiscal 2008-09. Earlier, the rent was increased twice in the beginning of the year and six month prior to that showing the ground of unusual rise in daily expenses and in the cost of construction materials.
All the while, the low and middle income groups suffered more than the others due to the soaring house rents.
The FE report said that rent of apartments rose by 10 per cent in the city's posh residential areas and 20 per cent for small and medium-sized apartments in other areas. The rent increased at Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Jatrabari and Jurain. The monthly house rent was increased by Tk 500 to Tk 1,000 in these areas where a majority of the middle and lower-middle class people live.
CAB General Secretary Qazi Faruque said no one seems to know which department should formulate a law to protect the tenants' interests and rights.
"There is hardly any organisation to raise its voice against such abnormal rise in house rent," the CAB general secretary said.
Prof Nazrul Islam, an urban planner said, the government, particularly the ministries for housing and finance have some responsibility to intervene in to control or at least regulate house rent, as it hits the low and middle income groups the most.
Prof Mahbubunnabi, however, said worldwide rent control ordinance is hardly found effective in favour of the tenants due to the issues like costs of maintenance and repair. But there are some interventions from the governments in different countries to keep the rents stable.
He said the government can develop municipal or council housing for low and middle income people for a balanced supply of flats. "It would be like supply of products at subsidised rates to regulate the market," Prof Mahbubunnabi said.
In the United Kingdom, he said, the council housing was introduced to increase the supply of flats for both the government and non-government functionaries and employees to get a home at prices lower than in the private renting market.