“The rent increases by Rs 500 every year. And the landlords have made it clear that they can remove anybody anytime as per their convenience,” says Pratima Karki*, a laborer from Dolkha. [break]
This is the plight of many people who pour into the Valley and find themselves trapped in tiny holes for which they have to pay a fortune, considering their standards. Unplanned urbanization is a major problem of the city where buildings are erected haphazardly, and every storey contains several miniscule compartments rented out purely for commercial purposes.
Moreover, people from all over Nepal thronging into the Kathmandu Valley in search of better prospects are squeezed into these little outlets, thus creating a lodging-related mayhem.
Photos: Bijay Gajmer
Nawaraj Rai, a restaurateur in Lalitpur, credits this situation to the brittle laws regarding the renting business and lack of proper vigilance from the government’s side.
“The government should be watchful about the living conditions of the citizens and the money that they pay as rent. Rooms and apartments are rented out without fulfilling the basic criteria like clean bathrooms and ample spaces. And people are forced to live in them because they have no other option,” he clarifies.
Pratima’s daughter who studies at a local government school in the tenth grade detests her lodging. The four family members are all cramped together in the tiny room. She has to arrange her study schedules according to her father’s news timings, her brother’s sports programs and her mother’s serials. Then there are three other families with noisy children living in the adjacent rooms that are separated from theirs only by paper-thin walls.
“We have a tin roof. It’s roasting during summers, freezing in winters and we can’t have a wink of sleep if it rains all night,” she shares.
It’s rather uncomfortable to live in such a place where people have no privacy and are congested to the point of suffocation. In addition, some people are really embarrassed regarding their own accommodations. They hesitate to invite their friends and relatives over and prefer to keep their location a well guarded secret.
A student at a reputed college in Kathmandu, Niraj Neupane* lives at a housing accommodation in Kirtipur, built solely for rental purposes. The building has seventy-five small rooms and around one hundred and fifty renters. These tenants are mainly students, jobholders, teachers and those trying for the Public Service Commission. The rooms cost Rs 3,000 each.
“This place isn’t a high-standard residence. The only good part about living here is that this locality is comparatively cheaper when it comes to vegetables and other foodstuffs,” he says.
Embarrassments aside, it’s not just uncomfortable but also unhygienic to live in shoddy conditions where even the basic necessities like water and toilets are in an unsatisfactory state. According to Niraj, the building has only two usable toilets and water is drawn from a well. Similar is the condition of Pratima’s family that has to share the sole bathroom with four other families and some thirty hostellers.
“We’re responsible for the sanitation and maintenance of these lavatories. We have to buy our own brooms, phenol and brushes,” shares Pratima.
These problems arise not just with individual tenants or families but also with businesses running in rented spaces. Nawaraj is annoyed that the landlords increase the rent when they see the business blooming. The tenant is left with no option but to pay the extra money since it’s a hassle to shift an established business to a different locality.
“They say they need to pay the rent tax. But we don’t know if they really pay it or not,” he says.
For many landlords, renting out their rooms and apartments is their sole means of earning. Therefore, they charge a few extra few Rupees per unit for electricity and also for the television cable network. Furthermore, it’s not that big a deal for them to remove a tenant if they find someone who is willing to pay higher.
Prafulla Shakya, a local resident of New Road, is a tenant as well a landlord. He runs a finance company in a rented apartment and also owns a shutter. He has always felt that rent depends on the locality.
“Paying rent is like buying clothes. Just like you pay more for the branded ones, the prime locations of the city are costlier,” he analyzes.
He further thinks that landlords are always vulnerable since they are dragged in if the tenant is found to be involved in any kind of criminal or immoral activity. That is why they are always on guard regarding their tenants’ daily activities. He has witnessed enough incidents of renters being chased away from their rented homes. But at the same time, he has also seen landlords being troubled by tenants who refuse to pay the rent and insist on staying on.
“Agreements should be made in writing to be on the safer side. And as far as rent tax is concerned, renters should pay their rent on time so that the landlords can pay the taxes,” he says.
Nawaraj too agrees with him that there should be a tangible agreement between landlords and their tenants. Since Nepal has no fixed laws when it comes to charging a certain amount of rent based on the number of rooms or facilities provided, it’s always better to maintain a good level of understanding between the two parties.
“Our laws are lenient and bendable when it comes to renters and landlords. So, right now, establishing good concord with our respective landlords or tenants is the best option available,” he says.
The renters’ law of Nepal and the provision of rent tax are still unclear to many. And even if people are aware, these things are easily neglected due to the lack of strict rules and regulations. As a result, there is no uniformity in the rate of rents, people are living in substandard dwellings and there is an overall state of mismanagement. In order to make things better and more systemized, laws should be widely publicized and strictly implemented so that the renting scenario can get a makeover for the better.
*Names changed
Lessee and lessor a law full of loopholes
In Nepal, most rental activities take place solely based on mutual agreements between the tenant and the landlord. When this happens, everything works out fine as long as both parties display shared understanding and concord. But the moment this ceases to happen, problems arise; and due to the lack of a proper law, it is difficult to find a solution.
Anantaa Rai, a shopkeeper at Jawalakhel, pays Rs 6,000 per month for two small rooms. She considers herself fortunate since her neighbor has been paying Rs 4,000 per month for exactly a similar but a single room with the same minimal facilities. She is one of the many tenants living in a multistoried house with many little rooms that seldom see sunlight. The landlord increases the rent by 10% every year and if anybody questions that or asks for more facilities, they are directly asked to leave.
“I can’t vouch for the others but I pay my rent on time. Sometimes, I even pay in advance. I have a shop here and everybody in this locality knows that I’m a law abiding citizen,” she claims.
The Civil Court of 2020 BS (1963) has a provision which states that there can be a written contract between the landlord and the tenant to legalize the settlement and no landlord can remove the tenant against the conditions mentioned in that document. However, if there is no legal document as such, the landlord should allow the tenant to stay for five years.
That being said, if the landlord requires the rooms for his/her personal use, s/he may ask the tenants to leave. The landlord can also remove the tenant if s/he does not pay the rent for a long time, poses moral threats and mortal danger to the landlord or is found to be engaged in criminal activities. This can, however, be done only when the landlord issues a thirty-five days’ prior notice so that the tenant can find new lodgings. And if the landlord lies about these things with an intention of getting a new tenant who would pay a higher rent, the removed tenant may file a complaint against the landlord at the court within thirty five days of the new tenant’s arrival.
And as far as rental tax is concerned, the landlord is supposed to pay 2% of the total rent collected to the local ward office and 10% of it to the tax office. Rent is usually increased by 10% every two years but this rate may vary, depending upon the mutual agreement between the landlord and the tenant.
Anantaa says that even if there are some laws in the picture, they are not publicized and many people are not even aware of their existence. The tenants and landlords are confused and ignorant, and even they know about it, due to the lack of stern authorities, they are easily overlooked.
“It’s easy to replace an existing tenant with a new one who pays higher rent. The landlord decides the increment in rent, and if we refuse to pay, we’re told to leave the very next day. Everything happens on the basis of a verbal agreement,” she reveals.
The absence of law, or rather the lack of strict laws, is creating such difficulties. Whether it is the landlord or the tenant, if either side is at fault, justice needs to be rendered. However, since there are no hard and fast rules and so much depends on verbal agreements, it is a rather abysmal scenario when it comes to the affairs related to rents, renters and landlords.
A high-end life
On the one hand, there are many who have converted tiny rooms and modest apartments into a home. And on the other hand, there are quite a few for whom living in a luxurious residence is just a regular part of the lodging package. With the mushrooming of multistoried buildings and high-rise complexes in the capital, lavish apartments have become the first choice of a certain stratum of the present-day society.
The trend of renting expensive apartments is common among foreigners in Nepal. Foreign diplomats, UN staff and embassy officials prefer such expensive apartments. Broker Sachin Bal clarifies that it is mostly foreigners who opt for such homes because Nepalis still do not believe in spending so much on a house when they can live a comfortable life at a lesser price. They would perhaps invest in a vehicle or purchase better furniture and go on holidays than spend an outrageous amount of money on such high-end apartments.
“Even if a Nepali and a foreigner were to work in the same company for the same salary, the former would opt for a cheaper apartment,” Bal explains.
Foreigners also choose to rent these apartments since they have no other option. According to the law of Nepal, a foreigner cannot own any personal property in Nepal. They can purchase assets on behalf of a registered company but they cannot purchase a house or land for themselves. Nepalis, on the contrary, can buy or build their own houses if they have the money.
These posh apartments cost so much for seemingly valid reasons. They have round the clock electricity, abundant water supply, good security system, ample parking space, swimming pools and proper furnishing. All one has to do is sign the required documents, pay the designated rent and bring in their luggage before settling down.
Prakash Subba, another broker, reveals that there are apartments that are even better that five-star suites and that those living in there tend to shift to these posh apartments at some point of time. The apartment complexes have their own management team that looks after the affairs of the buyers and the dwellers. He too, like Bal, says that the majority of this mass consists of foreigners. The payment schemes vary according to the requirements and they usually come with a one-year contract.
“These apartments are rented for around US$1,200 to US$1,800 per month. There are service apartments available too, and the rent for which are paid on a daily basis ranging from Rs 4,000 to Rs10,000,” says Subba.
As the demands for such high end apartments increase, the business prospects too swell in accordance for brokers and agents like Subba and Bal. They have websites with pictures, locality details and contact information for interested clients who want to rent or buy houses and apartments.
“Many people prefer to approach the apartments’ management team directly. But there are quite a few who prefer to operate through brokers and agents like us. We charge one month’s rent for our services,” he informs.
However, there are a few other foreigners who prefer suburb houses to apartments at and around the city centers. Stephen*, who works for a research project in Nepal, lives in a two-storey house at Budhanilkantha. Earlier, he used to live at Kupondole but he decided to move to the outskirts of the city to avoid pollution and the bustling crowd.
“The only problem that I’ve encountered is that of the rush hour traffic in the mornings and evenings,” he shares.
Stephen and his family go for hikes during the weekends and enjoy the privacy and peace in the lush landscape. Stephen never used the services of a broker for any of his residences in Nepal. He had come to know about the Kupondole residence through a flyer in a restaurant. And he said they landed up in this one after visiting the said neighborhood and asking around for a house to rent.
“We pay Rs 55,000 per month. I personally prefer this nice house to a congested apartment complex in the heart of the capital,” claims Stephen.
A home is a matter of personal choice. A person’s residence depends upon his/her income, interest and mindset. Regardless of the kind, color, size and model, residences are bought, sold and more often, rented. And this aspect of lodging is a major indicator of the class disparity in the urban economic and cultural setup.
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