In July of this year, the government submitted the Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) (Amendment) Bill 2021 (hereinafter referred to as the "Bill") to the Legislative Council. Some groups believed that the scope and strength of the protection of the Bill was still low It is expected that today (20th) groups concerned about the subdivided housing problem and subdivided housing tenants petitioned outside the Legislative Council, urging to support the implementation of the draft legislation as soon as possible and require the scope of control, including the initial rent.
After the government withdrew rent control and tenancy protection in 1984 and 2004, sub-divided tenants faced "upstairs" indefinitely. Landlords overcharged water and electricity, increased rents and forced evictions, but grassroots tenants had nowhere to complain. Today the Legislative Council resumed the second reading discussion on the "Bill". A group of subdivided tenants believed that the Bill did not regulate the initial rent and that the control over the quality of subdivided housing and safety hazards was insufficient. I went to the Legislative Council to petition, urging to support the implementation of the draft legislation as soon as possible and require the scope of control, including the initial rent.
Regardless of winter and summer, the water and electricity tariffs are the same
The 35-year-old Zhang Tai lives in a tenement house on Qingshan Road in Changsha Bay. A family of four lives in a residence of six, with a unit of only more than 100 square feet.
Mrs. Zhang and her husband have two children. The youngest son is only over 1 year old. Mrs. Zhang cannot go out to work and can only rely on her husband's income.
Mrs. Zhang said that at present, four people are forced to sleep on a small bunk bed in Shaanxi every day. There is only a mini window in the room. The kitchen and toilet need to be integrated. It’s so hard going up and down!"
Zhang Taizhi was increased in rent by the landlord last year. At that time, the landlord stated that "if you add 500 rent, you can leave." After negotiation by the real estate agent, the rent was finally increased by 300 yuan. The increase in rent made Mrs. Zhang very worried. "It will cost a little more than 700 to bury the utility bill. I don’t even know how (the landlord) will calculate the utility bill!” She said that regardless of winter and summer, utility bills and rent are charged at 4,100 yuan, lamenting “ Obviously, I won’t be able to turn on the air conditioner during the winter, but the money I paid is the same, and the electricity and water bills are not easy to see.”
The water and electricity facilities, kitchen and toilets in the house are damaged. The tenants will have to pay for the repair costs. Mrs. Zhang also pointed out that only two households are still living there. The remaining four households have moved out last year due to poor conditions, but the owners still want Increase rent before legislation.
Three mothers and daughters were forced to move to 80-sq. ft. sub-district rents rose to RMB 5,700 per month
Another sub-owner, Ms. Zhang and her two daughters, originally lived in a sub-divided unit with a saleable area of 80 feet. The landlord requested an increase in rent from RMB 5,000 to RMB 5,500 per month. The landlord later failed to increase the rent and used the house again. The department requested the installation of fire doors, forcing all three households on the same floor to move out.
At present, Ms. Zhang has just moved to another Kwun Tong unit of the same size, but the rent has risen to $5,700. Ms. Zhang pointed out that many friends who also live in sub-divided houses have recently been rented increased, urging the government to implement rent control and as soon as possible. Set the starting rent for the subdivided housing.
In addition, sub-divided tenants shared that every time they moved, they would face various safety problems, such as water leakage, ditch bursting, and concrete falling.
The spokesperson of the Kwun Tong Residents Concern Group, Chen Yingtong, said that the current draft does not stipulate the maintenance responsibility. If the owner evades the maintenance responsibility, the tenant only needs to notify the owner 30 days in advance. ".
She also pointed out that the problem of rent increases during the open window period has become more common. Some front-line colleagues have discovered that 20% of sub-divided households are facing the dilemma of rent increases and forced evictions.
The Social Association urges to strengthen penalties to prevent owners from making huge profits
Shi Lishan, deputy director of the Hong Kong Association of Community Organizations, said that as the legislative work for sub-divided tenants is underway, many landlords have been found to take advantage of this "window period" to increase rents in advance. The current draft does not include the regulation of initial rents. The Social Association recommends The government should stipulate that the rent of subdivided units shall not exceed 120% of the rent value of the Rating and Valuation Department to prevent any owners from making huge profits. It should also strengthen penalties for owners who evade the responsibility of repairs and maintenance. For example, tenants can deduct the rent before the repairs are completed. At the same time, an independent department should be established to deal with rental disputes.
Completely bid farewell to the sub-divided housing Special Administrative Region government. When did the Social Association approve that the government did not set the initial rent to promote the strengthening of regulation and improve the safety of sub-divided housing. The investigation found that the sub-divided rent management window period was tightly increased. Rent increase and overcharge of utility bills over 10,000 yuan of sub-household households sigh: the landlord likes to charge as much as it is
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