The trend not only causes urban population to soar but also leads to steep rise in rental properties meant for commercial and residential purposes. It also makes finding a house or rooms to rent that would suit ones" needs as well as pocket very difficult. [break]
And in lack of renting rules and regulation, the tenant"s woe does not end after leasing a house or rooms, rather it increases.
Unscrupulous house owners, their pestering demands for advance payment, the lack of basic facilities -- toilets, dirking water, electricity -- and random increment of rent beset the lives of tenants in Kathmandu.
On the other hand, house owners have complaints of their own against tenants making noises, moving out secretly without paying rent, not taking proper care of the rented property, threatening landlords and much more.
Taking all these into consideration, now, the government officials are pulling their socks up to monitor and manage the renting related problems. With the direction from the Prime Minister"s Office (PMO), which has been receiving a deluge of complaints from tenants and landlords through Hello Sarkar, the unit established at PMO to hear and address daily complaints of people, Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) has started drafting renting guidelines.
´Most of the complaints are from tenants in which they claimed to have suffered unnecessarily and unduly from the house owners. Taking the complaints from tenants and landlords into account, MoUD is preparing property renting guideline to manage the helter-skelter renting trends in the valley,´ informed Chief Secretary Leela Mani Poudyal. According to Poudyal, tenants" complaints include high cost, increase in rent time and again, lack of facilities as well as bad behaviors of the landlords, among others.
Suresh Prakash Acharya, the spokesperson at MoUD, informed that the ministry has started its study to draft the house renting guideline, which will include features of the renting rules and obligations to be followed by occupants and landlords alike.
´The ministry has been preparing the House Renting Directive, which would define the minimum condition for renting a house, its standard, facilities and the rights of tenants and house owners. The study is under way and the guideline would be completed within the next fiscal year,´ Acharya informed.
According to the Ministry, 90 percent of the houses in Kathmandu have been let. However, most of the house owners have been evading the house rent tax so far. The government has imposed 10 percent tax in realty rent. Lack of the systems and basic tenets for property renting has given rise to many problems.
Landlords don"t have even a clue what his tenants do or where sh/e works, breeding mistrust between them. On the other, tenants are forced to endure house owner"s highhandedness and pay a high rent even they are devoid of drinking waters, electricity among other facilities. According to Acharya, mostly the tenants would feel a sigh of relief after the introduction of the renting guidelines.
´After the guideline comes into effect, the tenants and landlords should sign the document defining terms and conditions of the lease beforehand. The new provision will also help to find the house owners evading taxes,´ stated Acharya.
Krishna Hari Baskota, the Secretary at PMO, informed that the government would fix the minimum and maximum price for renting houses based on location, area, facilities, among others. ´The guideline would clearly define how munch rent to pay and what facilities to be provided,´ said Baskota, adding that the tenants should also perform their social security duties and responsibility to make their surrounding safer and better place to live in.
He also informed that landlords extorting high rent and providing little facilities for the occupants would not be tolerated after the new rule comes to effect.
According to Baskota, students would also benefit after the introduction of the new guideline.
´We have proposed to make a concession in the house rent for the genuine, laborious and poor students studying in Kathmandu,´ he added.
He also hoped that the new house rent guideline would also solve the problems faced in the course of voter list collection, vaccination campaign, and migration related problems. ´If a house owner provides the information about his tenants to the concerned authorities and police, only then, it would be easier for the government to deliver public services and maintain security in the city,´ he added.
The guideline will be acceptable to both parties
Suresh Prakash Acharya
Spokesperson, Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD)
When will the guideline on renting come into effect?
We have started deliberations on this issue. We will start the process of drafting the guidelines from August, when the new fiscal year begins. If everything goes as planned, the guidelines will come into effect by the end of the next fiscal year. We are doing our best to introduce the guidelines at the earliest.
Can you elaborate on the contents of the guideline?
As I mentioned before, we have just started discussing this issue. Therefore, I cannot certainly say anything about the guideline at this point. We had a meeting in this regard a month ago, where we dwelt on the problems facing the house owners and the tenants both. They always have tussle or misunderstanding with each other. So, in the guideline, we will try to fix ceilings for house rents as per the facilities provided by house owners. We will also take into account locations, condition as well as environment while fixing the ceilings. And we will also make it mandatory for the tenants to pay house rent on time. This will be beneficial for both the house owners and the tenants.
Why is the government preparing to introduce such a guideline now?
It is often heard or reported that house owners badly treat their tenants. On the other hand, it is also heard that tenants do not pay rent at all or on time. In many cases, both house owners and tenants end up being disappointed with each other. The guideline will help them sort out differences between them.
Introducing guidelines is often easy compared to implementing it. How will the government implement the guideline?
I am sure that these guidelines will be implemented because this will help both parties. For an instance, if someone is forced to pay high rent and his house owner is not providing drinking water, he will definitely seek such guideline. Similarly, if a house owner is not getting rent on time, he will also look for the guideline. The biggest strength of the guideline is that it will be acceptable to the both parties.
Will the guideline contain provisions of punishment for those who violate the rules?
Certainly, those who violate the guidelines will be punished. But, at this point, I don"t know what kind of punishment will be given as we have not yet decided it yet.
Interviewd by Pratibha Rawal
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