What
does the rent control act mean?
The Landlord can either increase the
rental of premises or ask a tenant to leave. An example of such a rent
increase in Chulia Street, George Town skyrocketed from rent from RM300 to
RM3000.
Who’s
suffering?
The people who can’t afford the
astronomical rent increases and are forced to find alternative housing.
There is a lack of low cost housing. The law allows the landlord to give
tenants a 3-month written notice requiring the tenant to vacate the
premises. After the expiry of the 3-month notice the landlord cannot force
the tenant to leave. They must go to court to obtain a court order
requiring the tenant to vacate the premises. There have been little
face-to-face negotiations between landlord and tenant.
Present
housing initiatives
Government has provided 500 rental
housing for the hard-core poor.
Needless to say there is a very long
waiting list of applicants for low cost units.
