Islamabad: Finding affordable accommodation a difficult task

[Naveed Yaseen]

Noor Aftab
A 38-year-old divorced workingwoman, living with her two daughters in a rented apartment in Sector G-8, has become sick and tired of shifting from one place to another to get an affordable accommodation.

Finding a decent house or apartment at an affordable rate is the problem of thousands of salaried men and women in twin cities.

Zohra Khatoon, who is working in a private company for 12 years, said: “It is itself not easy to bring up two little daughters with limited financial resources. When it comes to accommodation, I have changed three apartments in the space of around two years due to a sharp increase in rents.”

She said that she prefers to live in a multi-storey residential apartment as it provides the required security to her family. The rents of such apartments have increased to such an extent, which are out of reach of a salaried person, she added.

Zohra Khatoon said that the concerned authorities should take up the issue of promulgation of a rent control act in Islamabad without wasting any time so that a win-win situation could emerge for all stakeholders.

Non-promulgation of rent control act in the federal capital enables property owners to exploit the situation.

The associations for the rights of tenants help stabilise rents throughout the world but absence of such pressure groups in Rawalpindi and Islamabad has given rise to monopoly of property owners. Tenants have to shift business and residences when it gets difficult for them to afford rents. Property owners increase rents on their own as there are no set rules and procedures to legally bound them to follow certain criteria for increase in rents.

Ali Shah, a property dealer, said that when an owner spends millions of rupees on construction of a house or plaza, he would certainly expect a high rent as compared to ordinary houses and shops in the locality.

“Fixed rents can only be introduced in those localities where all houses are constructed in line with a uniform layout plan. It is not advisable to introduce such a step in localities where every house is different from the other in terms of construction,” he said.

Many believe that the haphazardly promulgated 2001 Act was primarily responsible for unchecked increase in property rents in Islamabad due to serious drafting and procedural lacunae. According to them, it was a “black law” resulting in victimisation of tenants.

The post-earthquake influx of rescue, donor and aid agencies into the capital contributed to an unaffordable and unjustifiable increase in property rents while property dealers and landlords secured unjust benefits.

According to some economic experts, devaluation of currency and increased inflation in last couple of years have caused decrease in buying power and increase in price hike, making it difficult for common people to amicably run domestic financial affairs.

The establishment of a large number of educational institutions, including private universities, is considered to be one of major reasons for increase in rents in the residential and commercial areas. The business of youth hostels is thriving both in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Thousands of students have acquired accommodations in these hostels where they have to pay high rents in the face of acute shortage of residential units.

Most private academic institutions do not have hostels for girls due to which the majority of female students face difficulties in finding out a viable accommodation.

Sajid Iqbal, a trader, said that the federal capital is badly in need of immediate promulgation of a proper rent control act as its absence has increased disputes between owners and tenants.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=182472