Tenants groan as landlords hike rents illogically
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Jubair Hasan
Millions of tenants in the capital are the victims to the whims of a section of landlords, who on occasions, increase house rents illogically in the absence of any specific law to bar them from doing so. An abnormal hike in house rent has made the life of middle and lower income groups miserable as the house rent eats up a major portion of their monthly income. The house owners increase the rent by at least Tk 500 every year, depending on the size and location of the residential houses. Owners do often cite the higher holding tax and maintenance cost as the reasons for hiking the rent. But DCC officials claim they have not increased the rate of holding tax in last two decades. An HC bench issued a rule on May 17 last year on the government asking the latter to explain in four weeks why it should not be directed to enforce the Premises Rent Control Act. Four lawyers of Supreme Court on behalf of the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh filed the public interest litigation writ. One of the litigants claimed that the government was yet to give reply to the HC rule. The Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) in a report in 2009 said the house rent in capital scaled up by 321.16 per cent over the last two decades (1991-2009) and it has gone beyond the reach of the limited income group, who recently formed a platform to fight against the illogical hike. Seeking anonymity, a senior DCC official said landlords account for 17 per cent of the city population. A section of house owners have been constructing residential buildings in the capital one after another with the profits they made from tenants for years. "It has turned out to be a profitable business in recent times," he observed. "The law prohibits house owners from increasing rent whenever they like," senior lawyer of the Supreme Court Ahmed Azam Khan said suggesting that the government should enact a law incorporating imprisonment as punishment besides fines for violating the law. If any house owner wants to increase rent, he has to apply to the rent controller or follow the deed made while renting out his or her house, the lawyer added. CAB President Kazi Faruque said some owners increase house rents irrationally.
Millions of tenants in the capital are the victims to the whims of a section of landlords, who on occasions, increase house rents illogically in the absence of any specific law to bar them from doing so. An abnormal hike in house rent has made the life of middle and lower income groups miserable as the house rent eats up a major portion of their monthly income. The house owners increase the rent by at least Tk 500 every year, depending on the size and location of the residential houses. Owners do often cite the higher holding tax and maintenance cost as the reasons for hiking the rent. But DCC officials claim they have not increased the rate of holding tax in last two decades. An HC bench issued a rule on May 17 last year on the government asking the latter to explain in four weeks why it should not be directed to enforce the Premises Rent Control Act. Four lawyers of Supreme Court on behalf of the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh filed the public interest litigation writ. One of the litigants claimed that the government was yet to give reply to the HC rule. The Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) in a report in 2009 said the house rent in capital scaled up by 321.16 per cent over the last two decades (1991-2009) and it has gone beyond the reach of the limited income group, who recently formed a platform to fight against the illogical hike. Seeking anonymity, a senior DCC official said landlords account for 17 per cent of the city population. A section of house owners have been constructing residential buildings in the capital one after another with the profits they made from tenants for years. "It has turned out to be a profitable business in recent times," he observed. "The law prohibits house owners from increasing rent whenever they like," senior lawyer of the Supreme Court Ahmed Azam Khan said suggesting that the government should enact a law incorporating imprisonment as punishment besides fines for violating the law. If any house owner wants to increase rent, he has to apply to the rent controller or follow the deed made while renting out his or her house, the lawyer added. CAB President Kazi Faruque said some owners increase house rents irrationally.