House rents in Sylhet city keep soaring for the recent years much to the suffering and anxiety of the tenants. Apathetic towards the hardship of the tenants, the owners mostly raise rents of their houses just as per their whim ignoring the existing law. According to the house rent law, no owner can increase the rent of his/her house unilaterally or force to give an advance for it; but the provisions are hardly abided by the house owners. The owners only make a verbal deal with the tenants, which is considered to be final and for absence of a written agreement, the renters sometimes force the tenants to give increased rents without any notification. Abdur Rahman, a tenant in Sunarpara Residential Area in the city, said an apartment with three rooms plus a dining space and two bathrooms was rented out at Tk4,500 to Tk5,000 one year ago while such flat now goes on rent at around Tk 8,000 to Tk 9,000 excluding the utility bills.
Similarly, the rent for an apartment with two rooms and a dining space was around Tk 3,000 to Tk 4,000 last year while it is now around Tk 5,000 to Tk 6,000.
Boshor Ali, owner of a house on the Airport Main Road in the city, told that they did not make any written deal with the clients as they valued maintaining a good relation with the tenants.
Nagorik Forum chairperson Sylhet Masud Khan said, ‘Although tenants who comprise of about 80 per cent of the total 5 lakh population of the city have already been victimised to unbridled house rent hike, the related law is not being enforced to protect their rights.’
Due to spiraling house rents, tenants, especially those form the fixed income group and upper middle and lower middle classes, have to surrender at least 50
per cent of their monthly salaries for their lodging, which eats away a substantial amount from their total family expenditure, he added.
According to the Premises Rent Control Act 1991, there should be a written deal between the house owner and the tenant, and the owner should provide money receipt for the rent to the tenant, Masud further said.
SCC revenue officer said, ‘House owners raise rents every year but most of them don’t pay tax regularly.’
