House Rent Hike
Owners in the capital have raised house rent twice in last six months' time. According to a report published in a leading Bangla daily, owners hiked the rent last June immediately after the budget announcement. The rationale there was the mandatory provision for filing tax returns. Came new year and up went the rent again. This has by now become a culture for the owners at the advent of a new year. Rise in the price of the utilities was their excuse this time though there never quite is any dearth of a pretext. On one hand they would raise rent at the slightest change in the index of living cost, on the other, they make sure that none of these raises are there in 'record'. Receipts of real transactions, be it of bills, annual raises or advances, are not given to tenants who perforce accept these unfair and one sided conditions which more often than not are used as an effective device to change tenants.
It is clear house owners in Dhaka are taking an unfair advantage of the increasing demographic pressure on the metropolis. And people of the fixed income group are the worst sufferers. We feel it is time the 1963 House Rent Ordinance was reviewed. Having said that we also feel mere reviewing won't do. History teaches, mere formulation or revision of rules would not have any effect unless the root of the problem is addressed.
Evidently, today's market reality has given houseowners the scope to be manipulative. There are far too many houseseekers compared to the dwelling facilities available. Unless there is an expansion of housing facilities, the problem will only grow bigger. Now is the time for the government to address the issue. A suitable policy package and investment for a planned and affordable real estate growth is what the doctor ordered. Private sector is coming into the real estate business increasingly. But unless a governmental policy is in place followed by its strict observance , private sector's arrival will be limited to business and it will not be of any help to the people who suffer most --the middle and the lower middle class.
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