Much to the dismay of the tenants, the National Housing Development Corporation Limited (NHDCL) in Phuentshogling increases the house rent from this month. The tenants were notified of the ten percent increase on September 16. They said the office should at least wait until next year since the town relaxed COVID restrictions only in August.
There are eleven housing colonies with 506 units. As the country continues to battle the pandemic, the decision was the last thing the tenants expected. Most of them are in the low-income group who once lived across the border.
“I feel that it would be appropriate if the rent is increased only from next year. We just have a few more months for the year to end. The lockdown here affected us,” said Yeshi Lhamo, a resident at the NHDCL Colony.
Another resident, Sonam Choden living in one of the colonies said “We have seen private building owners waiving a certain percent of the house rent. We also hoped for the same but we paid the full amount. We are not happy with the recent notification.”
“Most of the residents here work in the private sector. Recently, during a meeting with the tenants, they asked me to request the corporation. But officials said they have to increase the rent after every two years,” said Tshencho Lham, Tshogpa.
Nearly three thousand people live in the colonies since 2018. According to the NHDC, they were supposed to increase the rent in July last year as per the agreement. And it was not done so because of the pandemic.
The corporation said the finance ministry had to top-up more than Nu 3.5 M to pay the loan since the amount of money collected from the rent was not enough. The rent ranges from Nu 4,000 to 7,000. The colonies were built to ease the housing crunch in the town.
Sonam Penjor, Phuentshogling
Edited by Tandin Phuntsho
