Legal reforms underway to resolve social housing rent default, Aslam says
According to Aslam, work is underway with the World Bank to reform the existing rent-to-own scheme.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
Government is working with the World Bank to amend the laws to address the problem of non-payment of rent for flats under the government-run social housing schemes and the work will be completed early next year, housing minister Mohamed Aslam announced on Monday.
Aslam was responding to a journalist's question regarding the growing issue of non-payment of monthly rent for flats allocated by the government for residential purposes, at a press conference held at the President's Office Monday to release the provisional list of land recipients under the Binveriya scheme.
Aslam said the government is working to resolve the issue of non-payment of rent by bringing significant changes to the laws.
Aslam said:
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Work is underway with the World Bank to reform the existing rent-to-own scheme
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The work will be completed by March or April next year
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The reforms will bring the rent-to-own scheme closer to similar models in other countries
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The reforms will serve as a major solution
Aslam said the government knew how many and who were defaulting on the rent payments. These include those who cannot afford to pay and those who do not pay on purpose, he said.
Urbanco has earlier said around 40% of tenants at Hiyaa flats, developed in Hulhumale Phase 11, default on their rent.
However, with complaints of high rents, the government has recently reduced the rent of Hiyaa flats. The rent for the flats will be MVR 6,300 per month inclusive of the MVR 1,000 maintenance fee for the next seven years. The rent payment period has been increased from 25 years to 27 years.
