Tenants for Waiving House Rents for 3 Months

As economic activities came to a grinding halt amid the nationwide shutdown aimed at curbing the transmission of coronavirus, tenants in Dhaka and other cities urged the government to waive house rents and utility bills for three months from April.

Many say they are out of a job and do not have enough to feed their families. With the situation showing no sign of improvement, they say they are worried about their survival.

Small businessmen also requested the government to forgo utility bills to help them survive and continue the business.

During the shutdown, the low-income group who live from hand to mouth, such as rickshaw pullers, transport workers, day-laborers, hawkers, transport workers, employees of hotels, restaurants and different shops, markets, among others, have been hit the hardest.

According to the Bangladesh Labour Force Survey 2017, around 44 percent of dwelling houses in urban areas are rented. Housing and house rent take up 17.25 percent of monthly household consumption expenditure. By adding five percent of total spending on utilities, monthly housing-related spending becomes almost one-fourth of the total spending of a family, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data showed.

President of Bharatia Parishad Baharane Sultan Bahar said that around 90 percent of people are tenants in the capital while the rest 10 percent are house owners.

''The tenants are facing hardship as many of them are now jobless because of the lockdown-like situation. They can't feed their families properly in this situation, how they will pay rents!'' he said.

Bahar said he has been receiving complaints from tenants that house owners were creating pressure on them for rent even at this crisis moment.

''We request the government to waive house rents and utility bills for middle- and low-income people for April, May and June. We won’t survive if the government doesn’t stand by us,'' he said.

Bahar said a house owner in Dhaka's Kathalbagan forced a family to vacate the flat at night as the tenant failed to pay rent.

Akidul Islam, a street vendor, lives in a dilapidated house with his family in old Dhaka's Bangshal. He has to pay a monthly rent of Tk 8,000.

''I used to earn Tk 500-600 every day but I've had no income from March 26 when the government declared a holiday. It's extremely difficult for me to support my family but my landlord is mounting pressure to pay rent. I don’t know how I'll pay the rent and buy food for my family,'' he said.

University students, who supported themselves by offering tuitions, are in a pickle of trouble. With an acute shortage of residential facilities provided by the universities, many students like Masud Hasan are forced to live in shared apartments. The Jagannath University student said he has to pay Tk 6,000 as rent.

Source: UNB