The proposed new housing law will aid efforts to crackdown and penalise tenants who continue to default on rent payments in social housing schemes, the Minister of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure, Dr Abdulla Muththalib has said.
Successive governments have grappled with the issue of overdue rental payments for government housing units. According to the incumbent government, the accumulated figure of non-payments has now crossed USD 45 million.
Responding to a question on the public concerns over the issue on national radio, ‘Dhivehi Raajjeyge Adu’ ‘Ahaashey Bunaanan’ programme, Minister Dr Muththalib said the non-payment of rent is impeding the government from financing other social housing projects as it relies on rental collections to pay off existing loans on respective projects.
"Non-payment of rent is not only an obstacle to government revenue. Banks finance projects because they are feasible, so banks know if the loans are paid regularly. So non-payment of rent is an obstacle to other housing projects. It's a violation of the rights of others in need of social housing," he explained.
According to the Minister, the proposed new housing law will go a long way in addressing this long standing issue.
He explained that the social housing units are currently allocated on the basis of sale purchase agreements, making it difficult for the government to seize such units or penalise tenants who default on rent payments before a court ruling.
However, once the new housing law comes into effect, it will provide the necessary solutions to the inability of the government to penalise tenants.
"With this law, we will have the opportunity to take action against non-payment of rent without going to court. The 4,000 flats we are about to award will be registered under a rental agreement for 25 years. It will be easier to evict tenants defaulting on rent if it's purely a rental agreement. The ownership will be transferred after rent is paid for 25 years,” he explained.
The Minister assured that the government will begin allocating the 4,000 housing units to recipients in July.