Unreasonable rental charges and landlords, a few of them, not abiding by the Tenancy Act, were some of the issues pointed during a public consultation review meeting. The review meeting, on the Tenancy Act, was held at the Gelegphu Dungkhag Conference Hall, yesterday.
“We have to abide by the house-owner’s decision. If we say that we cannot afford to pay, they asks us to vacate the house saying there are people willing to pay,” said one of the participants.
Others said, sometimes, they have to vacate within a short notice. “They lie to us saying they want to renovate when actually they want to rent it out to their relatives,” said another participant.
The lack of proper lease agreement between the house-owners and tenants is the reason for the failure of implementing the Tenancy Act, according to the Gelegphu Thrompon, Namgay.
The Thrompon said, henceforth it will be mandatory in Gelegphu, to draw an agreement between the landlords and tenants. They will also have to submit a copy to the concerned agency.
Other issues, such as, public awareness, and money receipts upon receiving the rents, were also discussed during the meeting.
The meeting, organised by the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement in collaboration with Gelegphu Thromde, was to collect feedback and opinions for the revision of the Tenancy Act. The report will be submitted during the parliament during the upcoming session.