Barisal tenants suffer as house rents skyrocket

A massive hike in house rent and increased harassment by house owners are taking their toll on tenants with a fixed income in Barisal city. After the recent announcement of a new pay scale for government employees, house owners in the city have almost doubled the rent by taking advantage of a shortage of houses in the city, local sources told The Independent. The sources said that renting out houses has become a lucrative business, as owners are cashing in on the situation. Common people, mostly belonging to the fixed-income group, are bearing the brunt of the soaring house rent.
The Independent visited rented houses in different parts of the city to have a first-hand experience of the plight of tenants. Rashmoni Das is a homemaker residing at Mollik Road. Her husband has not been keeping well. She said they had to change their house twice in the last 10 months as they were harassed by landlords pressing for a rent hike.  
Samina Yasmin, a school teacher of Jhautola, said her previous landlord suddenly increased the rent by Tk. 2,000. When she refused to pay, he cut off her water supply and told her to leave the house. She and her family were left with no option but to oblige.
Advocate Hiron Kumar Das Mithu, president of Gonoforum, Barisal district, is a tenant himself. He said although he fights to secure justice for his clients in court, he failed to get justice for himself when he was harassed by his landlord.
Ranjeet Datta, secretary of the Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh, Barisal unit, said they had submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner of Barisal and organised “human chains” several times in the city, demanding justice for tenants, but to no avail. Barisal has become an expensive city. Poor and middle-class people cannot afford to live here, he added.
Ranjeet Kumar, CEO of Barisal City Corporation, said the BCC has no law to protect tenants from being harassed by landlords. “If there are complaints, we negotiate the matter through local councillors,” he added.           
According to BCC sources, there are over 12 lakh people in 383 square km of Barisal metropolitan area. But the number of houses is inadequate to meet the growing demand, they said.
Some government officials said they have urged the authorities concerned to build more houses to accommodate the growing population, but to no avail. Some landowners are unable to construct houses, as they have been denied loans by commercial banks and other financial organisations.

Barisal tenants suffer as house rents skyrocket

A massive hike in house rent and increased harassment by house owners are taking their toll on tenants with a fixed income in Barisal city. After the recent announcement of a new pay scale for government employees, house owners in the city have almost doubled the rent by taking advantage of a shortage of houses in the city, local sources told The Independent. The sources said that renting out houses has become a lucrative business, as owners are cashing in on the situation. Common people, mostly belonging to the fixed-income group, are bearing the brunt of the soaring house rent. The Independent visited rented houses in different parts of the city to have a first-hand experience of the plight of tenants. Rashmoni Das is a homemaker residing at Mollik Road. Her husband has not been keeping well. She said they had to change their house twice in the last 10 months as they were harassed by landlords pressing for a rent hike. Samina Yasmin, a school teacher of Jhautola, said her previous landlord suddenly increased the rent by Tk. 2,000. When she refused to pay, he cut off her water supply and told her to leave the house. She and her family were left with no option but to oblige. Advocate Hiron Kumar Das Mithu, president of Gonoforum, Barisal district, is a tenant himself. He said although he fights to secure justice for his clients in court, he failed to get justice for himself when he was harassed by his landlord. Ranjeet Datta, secretary of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh, Barisal unit, said they had submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner of Barisal and organised human chains several times in the city, demanding justice for tenants, but to no avail. Barisal has become an expensive city. Poor and middle-class people cannot afford to live here, he added. Ranjeet Kumar, CEO of Barisal City Corporation, said the BCC has no law to protect tenants from being harassed by landlords. If there are complaints, we negotiate the matter through local councillors, he added. According to BCC sources, there are over 12 lakh people in 383 square km of Barisal metropolitan area. But the number of houses is inadequate to meet the growing demand, they said. Some government officials said they have urged the authorities concerned to build more houses to accommodate the growing population, but to no avail. Some landowners are unable to construct houses, as they have been denied loans by commercial banks and other financial organisations.