| Private motion a respite to tenants | Send to a friend |
| Monday, 30 January 2012 22:35 |
 Urban dwellers in Tanzania usually have to face two headaches. One is employment, but once one is comfortable with a job to find accommodation is sometimes harder still. The reason is that there are so many impediments tied to finding accommodation that one has to contend with. For instance, it is common for landlords to ask for the family status of the seeker, if married or single. It is also common for landlords to ask for ‘key money’ and payment of rent six to twelve months upfront. What’s more, rents vary according to residential areas where one wants to live. Residential houses in central business districts of towns or cities fetch more rents than those in remote areas. So far there has been no control in the amount of rent charged on houses. However, a solution to this problem may be found sooner than later, if the proposed private motion by a legislator sees the light of the day. The Bumbuli Member of Parliament, Mr January Makamba, intends to table two private motions in the house, one of which is the Rental Housing Bill. He says lack of a law on rental houses has given landlords leeway to milk their tenants as earlier indicated, and yet they do not pay any tax on rental revenue. Worse still, there are some landlords who require rent payments in foreign currencies. No wonder that the value of the Tanzania shilling has been going down at horrifying speeds. It is payments like these that cause this situation, taking into account that there may be other service providers who demand payments in foreign money. This must be controlled at all costs. The Rental Housing Bill should have been introduced many years ago. Its absence has been conspiscuous by the number of posh buildings sprouting in our urban areas, making one wonder where their owners got the money to build them from. We hope the bill will at least regulate the amount of money that landlords rake from tenants. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
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