Draft rent laws changes published

Wilfred L Camilleri

Nov 29th 2008, 15:02

The draft rent laws are a joke. The injustice to owners perpetrated by various government over th years continues unabated. Where's the justice and fairness when fixing the minimum rent at 1960 levels? That's almost fifty years ago! On top of that structural repairs are the responsibility of the landlord and the law suggests that this is a "fairer balance between the financial cost of repair and rate of return"! How can anyone call an annual rent of €185 per annum a "fair rate of return"? The only way rent reform laws will be fair is to allow landlords to charge market value rents, period. If this causes hardship to tenants, the hardship should be alleviated by government subsidies and should not be borne by the landlord. The injustice, lack of fairness, and outright refusal of the government to do what's right, continues with these proposed laws.