Syed Shemul Parvez :
House owners in the capital city increase the rent every year defying related laws, rules and regulation, alleged tenants. House rent control laws are available, but not enforced
According to tenants, when the New Year comes, many House owners increase the rent as they wish. Some owners even give notice to leave the house in a hurry. Although there is a house rent control law in the country, it is not enforced at all.
Tenants alleged that almost all the home owners in the capital raise the rent as soon as the month of January comes without consulting the tenants at all.
Ii is learnt that every year, during the month of December, most of the tenants become pensive realizing how much the owner is going to increase the rent for the New Year.
However, there are also exceptions. Some house owners have reduced the rent during the corona epidemic and stood by the tenants.
According to the data, at least two crore people live in Capital city Dhaka. People are heading to the capital every day in search of livelihood. As a result, the demand for rental housing is increasing. According to a report of Consumers Association of
Bangladesh (CAB), about 90 percent dwellers of Dhaka are tenants and around 80 percent house owners live on house rents. The report also says 28 percent owners misbehave with their tenants. Due to ignorance about House Rent Control Act, the tenants do not take legal action even after being repressed.
Ashraful Islam, a resident of city’s Badda, says that one year had not passed then, but at the end of November, he found that he would have to pay taka 3,000 more from the New Year. In such a situation house rent increase is very stressful for me.
Manik Ahmed, resident of city’s Mohammadpur, told the New Nation, “I’ve been in a flat for two years. In January last year, the rent was increased by one thousand taka. This year, the landlord also gave notice to increase rent by Tk same margin.
Not only rents of luxurious flats are increased, rent of slums is also increased. Aleya Begum lives in such a slum in Mohammadpur. She said in January, she will have to pay a rent of Tk 3500; otherwise she will have to leave the house.
Meanwhile, there is a law to control house rent in the country, but it is not enforced. Manzil Morshed, a Senior Supreme Court lawyer, said the lack of surveillance was the main reason for the chaos in this sector. He says those who legislate have failed miserably in this area. Asked why the law of 1991 is not enacted, the lawyer said most of the members of Parliament have houses in Dhaka. So they are not tenants; they are not interested in legislating.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) says the average house rent in various locations in city has increased by about nine percent over the past years. And because of the increase in rent, the cost of living has increased by nine percent.
Apart from this, there are complains of notice issuance of leaving the house, not giving adequate water, not providing security, closing the main gate of the house by 11pm, unregulated slip of house rent and home owners in the capital have been complaining about not renting out homes to big families or bachelors. In addition, many landlords and their families treat tenants badly.
